Agenda item

To discuss the planning process and how Parish Councils can feel more engaged and listened to with Sally Canter from Wiltshire Council Planning.

Parish Councils are invited to send questions in advance prior to the meeting, so that Planning Officers can ensure they have the correct information available on the night.

(Please send questions to jane.vaughan@wiltshire.gov.uk and entitle your email Disc 25 Sept.)

The Town & Parish Council were given the opportunity prior to the meeting to submit questions.

From Broad Town Parish Council (via Parish Clerk Mrs E Diamant)

·         If imposing pre-conditions can the Planning Department ask to be notified when the build is starting so that they can check the pre-build conditions have been met, and there should be more stringent penalties if these have not been met. There are many instances where pre-build conditions have been applied but have not been submitted and approved prior to development starting, and WCC only follow this up if an enquiry is raised by the public.

·         To help fulfil the need for transparency can all documentation relating to the application be posted on the website and if they have different numbers then have links between the two. Especially refers to post-approval documentation such as any pre-build condition submissions and approvals.

·         The consultation dates for planning applications are getting shorter (often less than one month).  This means that there is not enough time to present the information to the Parish Council prior to the PC meetings.  Planning are not generally keen to extend the consultation date for this process to occur.  Can planning comment on why the dates are getting shorter and suggest a resolution to this.

From Clyffe Pypard Parish Council (via Parish Clerk - Rosemary Greenway and Cllr Peter Gantlett)

·         Why do you encourage the supply of new holiday homes in rural situations which may support the local economy through the summer and make decisions against permanent small houses for young people, with local connections, which would support their own community all year round. 

In South Wales and other coastal villages holiday homes have caused a collapse of their economy.’

·         Should people be allowed to extend their homes Adlib - especially in rural villages causing dwindling numbers of small houses suitable for young people I.e. first-time family homes. I am told that this has been restricted in Stroud.

·         Change of use for public houses ; The context is the Trotting Horse in Bushton /Clyffe Pypard that was given change of use on the basis it was marketed at a commercial value; The question relates to what constitutes a commercial value ; Several of the planning committee , including Toby Sturgess ( who used to be a valuer ) cast doubts on the value put on the Trotting Horse; I have no wish to rerun the arguments over that planning application , however some clarification would be welcome as we currently have  a second pub closed in our parish and do not want to see that go the same way.

·         Is there evidence of when Neighbourhood Plans have influenced planning decisions ; A lot of time has gone into producing these plans , including in CP where we are still working on ours, it would be interesting to know when any of them have been used.

Cricklade Town Council (via Duncan May):

·         Are there any training sessions arranged on planning issues for Cllrs to attend who wish to do so? These sessions should include planning updates and tips?

·         Does a Neighbourhood Plan once ‘made’ carry sufficient weight, what is Wiltshire Council’s view on this?

·         Cricklade’s Neighbourhood Plan is due to be reviewed in the next couple of years. Does Wiltshire Council have a view on what a Town or Parish Council should address this or, are there any matters that Councils need to look at in greater detail.

Lydiard Tregoze Parish Council (via Parish Clerk Rose Love):

·         The Parish Council continuously has issues with timing of planning application notifications and the Commentary deadline.  We regularly receive the Monday list of new applications to find the deadline for objecting/supporting/commenting for a specific application is BEFORE our next scheduled monthly meeting.  At least one application had the commentary deadline and projected decision date set within three weeks of our being notified.  

·         We have raised this issue repeatedly with the Planning department.  Why is there such a short turnaround time?  This prevents local councils from fulfilling their statutory obligations, i.e. alerting the public through a posted agenda, giving the public the right to voice an opinion at an open meeting before Council votes in objection/support, etc.  The Council has requested that applications require NO LESS than six weeks commentary period from the time of notification.  Not six weeks from when an application is first filed, but six weeks from when the weekly lists are emailed on Mondays.  We have never had a reply to this request.

·         Will the Planning Committee ever consider extending the Commentary timeframe for all planning applications?

From Lyneham & Bradenstoke Parish Council (via Wiltshire council Member):

·         They would like to see the parish council comments specifically referred to in the officer report (Sally did say they would put an extra heading for this already, I have not checked that this has happened).

·         How well do we expect Parishes to know the planning policy framework? Are we expecting them to be experts and quote policies, or is it sufficient to simply add local knowledge?

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council (via Gill Welsman-Clarke):

·         To support transparency can all documentation relating to an application that has more than one number have links between them, especially when they refer to post-approval documentation such as any pre-build condition submissions and approvals?

·         Consultation dates are getting shorter (often less than one month). This makes it extremely difficult for the Town Council to fulfil its statutory obligation to call a planning meeting to enable Councillors to discuss the application and for residents to attend to put their views forward before the deadline for submission of comments. This can result in Town Council Officers time taken up in requesting deadline extensions and Wiltshire Council Planning Officers time taken up following their procedures to determine whether they can or cannot grant this extension in an extremely tight timeframe. Additionally when the Town Council is in summer recess, planning committee members are on holiday and so we are unable to call a meeting in which it is quorate. This again bypasses our statutory obligation to hold a meeting for residents to attend and Councillors to discuss and send comments by consultation deadline. Can this deadline be extended to SIX WEEKS consultation period for submission of comments from date of application received? If not, can the Council advise how this issue can be resolved?

·         Our neighbourhood plan was adopted in 2018, is there any evidence that this has influenced planning decisions? Have they been used as part of the reason in refusing an application? If not, is there any reasons why they haven’t?

·         How well are Town Councillors expected to understand the planning policy framework and Core Strategy? Is it expected for them to be experts and quote policies or is sufficient local knowledge of benefit to Wiltshire Council when making their decisions?

·         Training sessions on understanding National and Regional planning policies would be helpful for Councillors / Officers to attend who wish to do so? In particular when those policies have been updated, such as the National Planning Policy Framework 2019.

·         Issues arise when the planning portal to access planning application details posted on Wiltshire Council website is down, particular around an application deadline or for some period of time, [as in the recent incident of when the website has not been working for a nearly a week; 6/9/19 until 12/9/19 and they have been advised that it may still take some time to resolve]. Councillors are not able to access plans/ documentation prior to meetings and residents aren’t able to add their comments. It seems more regular. How are the Planning Department going to resolve this issue of when the site is down?

·         Training sessions, for those Councillors/ Officers who wish to attend, on understanding planning enforcement would also be helpful and in particular understanding section 106 / CIL agreements that impact on Town Council and their enforcement?