Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Members are required to notify any substitutions by midday on the day of the meeting.

Late substitutions will not be accepted and Members attending as a substitute without having given the due notice will not be able to take part in the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Michael Muir.

Having given due notice Councillor Joe Graziano substituted for Councillor Muir.

Audio recording – 1 minute 54 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Michael Muir.

Having given due notice Councillor Joe Graziano would substitute for Councillor Michael Muir.

Members should notify the Chair of other business which they wish to be discussed at the end of either Part I or Part II business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no other business notified.

Audio recording – 2 minute 12 seconds

There was no other business notified.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chair of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda.  Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)   The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be recorded.

(2)   The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

(3)   The Chair clarified matters for the registered speakers and advised that there were two applications each with a listed building consent application, as well as a main planning application. Due to this there would be one presentation for each application covering both issues and speakers would be provided 10 minutes speaking time. Voting would take place individually on each item.

(4)   The Chair advised that Section 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution applied to the meeting.

(5)   The Chair advised that a Delegated Decision was published in the Members Information Service on  14 June 2024 regarding the Labour and Co-Operative membership of the Planning Control Committee, therefore Councillors Amy Allen and Ian Mantle became full members, and Councillor Sean Nolan as a reserve member.

(6)   The Chair confirmed that the Planning Appeals listed on the Planning Control Committee agenda for the 13 June 2024 had been included for consideration at this meeting.

Audio recording – 2 minutes 17 seconds

(1)   The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be recorded.

(2)   The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

(3)   The Chair clarified matters for the registered speakers and advised that as there were two applications each with a listed building consent application, as well as a main planning application. Due to this there would be one presentation for each application covering both issues and speakers would be provided 10 minutes speaking time. Voting would take place individually on each item.

(4)   The Chair advised that Section 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution applied to the meeting.

(5)   A Delegated Decision was published in the Members Information Service on the 14 June 2024, regarding the Labour and Cooperative membership on the Planning Control Committee, therefore Councillors Amy Allen and Ian Mantle became full Committee Members and Councillor Sean Nolan a reserve member.

(6)  The Chair confirmed that the Planning Appeals listed on the Planning Control Committee Agenda for 13 June 2024 had been included for consideration at this meeting.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

The Chair confirmed that the registered speakers were in attendance.

Audio recording –  7 minutes

The Chair confirmed that the registered speakers were in attendance.

REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGER    

Part change of use and conversion of ground floor restaurant to four hotel rooms (C1 use) and one retail (E(a) use) and bar unit, to include insertion of two windows to rear elevation and internal alterations.

RESOLVED: That application 24/00181/FP be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager, with the removal of Conditions 4 and 5 and the following amendment to Condition 3, to read:

“Condition 3

The opening hours of the Restaurant (Use Class E) and Retail bar units (Use Class E) hereby permitted shall only be permitted between 09:00 hours and midnight hours Monday to Sunday.

Reason: To protect the residential amenities of existing residents and to comply with the provisions of policy D3 of North Herts Local Plan 2011-2031.”

Audio Recording – 7 minute 27 seconds

The Planning Officer gave a verbal update and advised that:

·       The Applicant was informed of pre-commencement conditions and had since provided the planning officer with some of the information, required by the conditions.

·       The hours pre-commencement condition requiring opening times was replaced with a condition that the opening hours be 9am to Midnight from Monday to Sunday. Environmental Health were consulted and approved these hours and unless a variance of the application was received then they would not need to reconsider the opening hours.

·       The Agent had supplied the Planning Officer with the sound proofing details and they were sent to Environmental Health who confirmed they were acceptable. The Conservation team had not been consulted and therefore this condition had been moved to the listed building consent to ensure there were no detrimental impacts from sound proofing.

·       An updated floor plan had been added with a commercial bin storage area highlighted.

·       The floor plan and sound proofing details were distributed via ModGov, which would supersede the original floor plan.

·       The material samples condition stands and had not changed.

·       A request was made by the Agent that the joinery details condition be updated to change this from a pre-commencement condition to ‘prior to any work on windows or doors’.

The Planning Officer presented the report in respect of Application 24/00181/FP and 24/00182/LBC supported by a visual presentation consisting of photographs and plans.

The following Members asked points of clarification:

·       Councillor Tom Tyson

·       Councillor Louise Peace

In response to the points of clarification, the Planning Officer advised that:

·       The large white canopy with two double doors would be the main entrance to the restaurant and the smaller single door as the entrance to the cheese and wine bar.

·       There was currently no permitted change from a hotel to residential.

The Development and Conservation Manager confirmed that there was no permitted change of use from hotels to residential dwellings. Whilst there was permitted change of use form Class E to residential dwellings  it was not applicable in this case because the building was listed.

The Chair invited the Member Advocate Objector, Councillor Alistair Willoughby to speak against the application. Councillor Willoughby thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided the Committee with a verbal presentation, including that:

·       The plan says buildings cannot be used if they will cause serious harm or damage to the heritage sight but due to this building being vacant for a longer period the benefits to the public outweighed the damage to surroundings.

·       There was a lack of viability testing for the restaurant, the cheese and wine bar or for the third section that would be taken out of commercial use.

·       A third retail or hospitality site should take the remaining space.

·       Originally there was discussion of a stairway being necessary for access to electrical and boiler, with the staircase being in the restaurant, but that had changed and now it was said that there is access already via the communal spaces.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGER    

Part change of use and conversion of ground floor restaurant to four hotel rooms (C1 use) and one retail (E(a) use) and bar unit, to include insertion of two windows to rear elevation and internal alterations.

RESOLVED: That application 24/00182/LBC be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager, with the following amendment to Condition 3, to read:

“Condition 3:

Full joinery details of the proposed new timber doors (internal) and windows to a metric scale and 1:1 scale drawings of the proposed glazing bars hereby granted consent, shall be submitted to and agreed, in writing, by the Local Planning Authority before any works commence to alter internal doors or external windows.

Reason: To safeguard the character and appearance of the listed building to which this consent relates and to comply with Policies SP13 and HE1 of the North Hertfordshire Local Plan 2011 to 2031.”

Audio Recording – 1 hour 13 minutes 10 seconds

Councillor Ruth Brown proposed to approve the planning application and Councillor Tom Tyson seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That application 24/00182/LBC be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager, with the following amendment to Condition 3, to read:

“Condition 3:

Full joinery details of the proposed new timber doors (internal) and windows to a metric scale and 1:1 scale drawings of the proposed glazing bars hereby granted consent, shall be submitted to and agreed, in writing, by the Local Planning Authority before any works commence to alter internal doors or external windows.

Reason: To safeguard the character and appearance of the listed building to which this consent relates and to comply with Policies SP13 and HE1 of the North Hertfordshire Local Plan 2011 to 2031.”

REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGER    

Change of Use from restaurant (Class E from the 1/09/2020) to C3 (residential) to create two x 1-bed flats. External window alterations to rear elevations.

RESOLVED: That application 24/00537/FP be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager.

Audio Recording – 1 hour 14 minutes 57 seconds

The Senior Planning Officer gave a verbal update and advised that there was no mention of the Baldock Neighbourhood Plan as none of the policies were relevant to the application.

The Senior Planning Officer presented the report in respect of Application 24/00537/FP supported by a visual presentation consisting of photographs and plans.

The Chair invited Councillor Alistair Willoughby to speak against the application. Councillor Willoughby thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided the Committee with a verbal presentation, including that:

·       Whilst the application was on hold for three years, a local plan had been adopted which has come with many changes to the area, meaning the application must take into consideration all the new impacts on it.

·       Converting a commercial space into residential would lead to less income for the community and fewer jobs, threating the viability.

·       There was no need for more houses in the area, and the current commercial use was successful so why stop it.

·       The report stated that there had been several ownership changes in recent years which indicated that the business was unsuccessful, but it was unclear where this view had come from.

·       There was a better opportunity for the town if the space was changed into a commercial use again rather than into a residential use.

The Chair invited the Agent, Mr Neil Gaskell to speak in support of the application. Mr Gaskell thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided the Committee with a verbal presentation, including that:

·       The location was on the edge of the town centre and so footfall was limited in the area meaning people attending a shop there was unlikely.

·       The size of the space was also impractical for the running of a restaurant as the premises could only fit 18 covers.

·       The Licensing Committee had imposed restrictions regarding music, windows and acoustic separations which made it difficult to run a bar on the site.

·       The acoustic separation of the ceiling to limit the noise upstairs meant that the ceiling was lower and reached head height.

·       There had been no public objections to the application

·       There had been no commercial interest and the owner has lost money due to no one taking up the place for commercial use.

In response to a point of clarification from Councillor Tom Tyson, Mr Gaskell advised that:

·       There had been no interest indicated in this building being taken over as an Asset of Community Value.

·       The license had lapsed but the license was on the property not the owner.

·       Additionally, the agent was informed that it was unlikely the license would be granted again due to how residentially surrounded it is.

·       The Chair thanked Mr Gaskell for his presentation and invited the Senior Planning Officer to respond to any points raised.

The Senior Planning Officer advised that the previous decision for this application was considered under saved policies of the previous Local Plan and emerging policies of the now adopted Local Plan. In  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGER    

Replacement double casement window to ground floor of rear courtyard and north-east courtyard elevations, together with refurbishment of mullion transom leaded light window on north-east courtyard elevation. Internal alterations.

RESOLVED: That application 24/00538/LBC be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager.

Audio Recording – 1 hour 37 minutes 15 seconds

Councillor Ruth Brown proposed to approve and Councillor Sadie Billing seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That application 24/00538/LBC be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager.

The Development and Conservation Manager presented the Appeals Reports from the meeting of the Committee on 13 June 2024.

The Development and Conservation Manager presented the report entitled Planning Appeals and informed the Committee that:

·       Five appeals had been lodged since April through written representations procedure.

·       The Committee was informed of the three appeals procedures; the written procedure where was an exchange of written statements, the hearing procedure which was an exchange of written procedures and a hearing presided over by an inspector with round table discussion, and public inquiry which was a semi judicial process that involves barristers and cross examination and re-examination of expert witnesses.

·       The appeals were modest scale developments and the majority had been refused.

·       The matters of the appeals related to the Green Belt, character and appearance, and effect upon a neighbour.

·       The Council had been notified of the intention to submit an appeal through the public inquiry procedure and if that appeal was lodged it would be reported at the next meeting. It related to the residential development at Rhee Spring in Baldock put in by Chalkdene.

·       The reason for refusal was related to failure to deliver the required amount of affordable housing, as they were offering two units, significantly less than the required 40%.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the report.