Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Cllrs Mollie Groom and Howard Marshall.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2015.

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2015 were presented.

Resolved:

To approve as a true and correct record and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2015.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements through the Chairman.

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

Members of the public who wish to speak either in favour or against an application or any other item on this agenda are asked to contact the officer named on the front of this agenda or to register in person no later than 2:50pm on the day of the meeting.

The Chairman will allow up to 3 speakers in favour and up to 3 speakers against an application and up to 3 speakers on any other item on this agenda. Each speaker will be given up to 3 minutes and invited to speak immediately prior to the item being considered. The rules on public participation in respect of planning applications are detailed in the Council’s Planning Code of Good Practice.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution which excludes, in particular, questions on non-determined planning applications. Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Wednesday 8 July 2015. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

The Committee noted the rules on public participation.

To consider and determine planning applications as detailed below.

The Planning Officer introduced the report which recommended that authority to grant planning permission be delegated to the Area Development Manager subject to the completion of a Section 106 agreement to address on site affordable housing provision and subject to conditions. The application was for a residential development comprising 13 dwellings with associated gardens, parking, drainage, and landscaping. It was noted that the site was previously developed land and located within framework boundary of the village.

The proposal was considered to be of high quality design with good boundary treatments and was well received by local residents. The Planning Officer highlighted that a stream was situated to the north of the site. It was explained and there had been previous issues with flooding but that the proposal and previous phase of development had improved drainage in the locality; the Drainage Officer had no objections to the current proposal.

There were some initial concerns from internal consultees regarding the design and character of the original proposal and it was noted that the applicant had made revisions in response to these. The Planning Officer drew attention to late items which demonstrated that the Trees Officer and Urban Design Officer had no objections to the revised proposal.  

It was explained that the Affordable Housing Team had sought and received plans to meet the local demand for affordable housing. The current proposal would provide 40% affordable housing which was considered to meet local need by the Affordable Housing Team; it was highlighted that this was a relevant material consideration under government guidance in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

The Planning Officer commented that marketing had been required to safeguard existing business uses under the North Wiltshire Local Plan policy BD 2 to establish whether there was continued demand for employment use. The marketing of this site had been undertaken for a period of 18 months and all forms of commercial operation had been advertised. It was clarified that one relevant expression of interest had been received but that it had been dismissed by the site owner as below market value. It was also highlighted that marketing for such a change of use was no longer required under the Wiltshire Core Strategy policy, which was adopted on 20 January 2015. The key dispute between the applicant and officers was the valuation placed on the land. Officer went on to identify that there were a range of material circumstances and considerations in favour of the development proposal that must be weigh in the balance against the harm identified. On balance officer considered that at the current time the benefits outweighed the harm and justified a departure from the development plan.

The Committee then had the opportunity to ask technical questions and it was confirmed that the marketing carried out by the applicant had been reviewed in detail by Estates and Economic Development and was considered to be sufficient.

The Committee questioned if similar employment land and buildings nearby were available or had been sold and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

Any other items of business which, in the opinion of the Chairman, should be taken as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.