Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from:

·       Cllr Andy Oliver (Chairman) – Cllr Sven Hocking in the Chair.

·       Cllr Richard Budden – substituted by Cllr Trevor Carbin

·       Cllr Charles McGrath

·       Cllr Rich Rogers – substituted by Cllr Robert Yuill

·       Cllr Ian McLennan

The Committee noted the following Committee Membership changes:

·       Cllr Richard Budden was appointed as a full member, replacing Cllr Trevor Carbin who would remain as a substitute.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2023 were presented.

Resolved:

To approve as a correct record and sign the minutes.

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

Cllr Bridget Wayman noted for openness that she was a member of the AONB Partnerships Panel.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

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 register no later than 10 minutes before the start of the meeting. If it is on the day of the meeting registration should be done in person.

The rules on public participation in respect of planning applications are linked to in the Council’s Planning Code of Good Practice. 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.

Members of the public will have had the opportunity to make representations on the planning applications and to contact and lobby their local member and any other members of the planning committee prior to the meeting. Lobbying once the debate has started at the meeting is not permitted, including the circulation of new information, written or photographic which have not been verified by planning officers.

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 Friday 21 July 2023 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on Monday 24 July 2023. 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.

To receive details of completed and pending appeals and other updates as appropriate.

The committee received details of the appeal decisions as detailed in the agenda.

It was;

Resolved:

To note the Appeals Report.

Proposed highway depot for Wiltshire Council comprising of one covered building with associated external yard area, to include 1000T salt store, 4no. vehicle bays, vehicle circulation area and two storey welfare accommodation. External yard area to include a vehicle wash down, weighbridge, fuel filling facilities and a battery store with ecological water treatment system to south of site.

Public Participation

There were no registered speakers.

The Planning Team Leader, Adam Madge, introduced a report which recommended that the application for a proposed highway depot for Wiltshire Council comprising of one covered building with associated external yard area, to include 1000T salt store, 4no. vehicle bays, vehicle circulation area and two storey welfare accommodation. The external yard area to include a vehicle wash down, weighbridge, fuel filling facilities and a battery store with ecological water treatment system to the south of site. The application was recommended for Approval with conditions.

Proposed elevation drawings, illustrations and photos of the site were shown and explained.

It was explained that the application process had taken some time. There was an established strategic need for a salt store in the area. Highways had found it difficult to get to the current salt sore in the Mere area during spells of bad weather. Other sites had been explored as set out in the report. 

Concerns had been raised around lighting on the site, due to the location in the AONB. The proposed lighting, as outlined in the report was reported to meet with the minimum standards as set out in the Dark Sky policy.

The Chairman read information relating to the proposed lighting on the site, which had been provided by the Case Officer. The Committee noted that  lighting would be dimmed to 10% at night when no person was on site to provide a level of security for the building and site.

There would be an automatic activation of the lights if triggered by a person, bringing the light up to 100% (pure down light only). 20 minutes after a movement trigger, the lights would return to 10% and stay there until daylight. This format of lighting was the same as was used at the railway stations in the area.

The site was in the AONB. The proposed lighting was considered acceptable as the site would have minimal usage, only when weather conditions required salt to be spread.

This application had been brought to committee as the applicant was Wiltshire Council and there had been one objection from a third party and an objection from the Parish Council.

Members of the committee then had the opportunity to ask technical questions of the officer. Details were sought on the level of lighting proposed. The report stated the lighting would meet E2 standards and not E0 standards. The Division Member Cllr Bridget Wayman noted that in an AONB, the application should be conditioned to meet Dark Sky standards E0, which required lighting to be completely off when not in use, rather than reduced to 10%. The Officer explained that a maintained 10% of lighting was for safety, CCTV and operational reasons and that the proposed E2 did comply with Dark Sky policies. 

Clarification on the alternative site exploration process and reasons for the proposed site being chosen was provided. The current site was found to be suitable after a lengthy process had been carried out  ...  view the full minutes text for item 183.

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