Agenda, decisions and 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.

Audio recording – 1 minute 38 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ruth Brown.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 4 September 2025.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 4 September 2025 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Audio Recording – 1 minute 51 seconds

Councillor Nigel Mason, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Ian Mantle seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 4 September be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

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 minutes 38 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 confirmed the procedure for moving to debate on an item.

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

(5)   The Chair confirmed the cut off procedure should the meeting proceed at length.

Audio recording – 2 minutes 46 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 confirmed the procedure for moving to debate on an item.

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

(5)   The Chair confirmed the cut off procedure should the meeting proceed at length.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

The Chair confirmed there were no registered speakers in attendance.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 29 seconds

The Chair confirmed that no registered speakers were in attendance.

REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGER

To consider the confirmation of Tree Preservation Order TPO/00221 (2025) – W1 & W2 – comprising trees of various species.

The Chair advised that this item had been DEFFERED to a future meeting of the Committee.  

Audio recording – 4 minutes 35 seconds

The Chair advised that this item has been DEFERRED to a future meeting of the Committee.

N.B. The Locum Planning Lawyer entered the Chamber at 19:09

REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGER

Variation of condition 5 (re-worded to allow Plots 1 & 10 to be exempt from Permitted Development restrictions) of planning permission 24/02624/RM granted 17.04.2025 for Reserved Matters application for approval of appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for outline application 22/02942/OP granted 18.09.2024 for 10 dwellings

RESOLVED: That application 25/01834/S73 be GRANTED planning permission subject to the conditions set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager.

Audio recording – 5 minutes 5 seconds

The Senior Planning Officer advised this application had been brought before the Committee due to it slightly exceeding the 0.5-hectare threshold, being 0.56 hectares.

The Senior Planning Officer then presented the report in respect of Application 25/01834/S73 supported by a visual presentation consisting of plans and photographs.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Louise Peace

·       Councillor Martin Prescott

·       Councillor Bryony May

·       Councillor Emma Fernandes

In response to questions the Senior Planning Officer advised that:

·       The developer was seeking permission to make roof alterations to Plots 1 and 10.

·       It would be the right of the householder once the dwellings was occupied and not the developer to install dormer windows.

·       This planning application complied with policy D1 of the Local Plan and was only seeking partial relaxation of permitted development rights for two of the plots as detailed in paragraph 4.3.1 of the report.

·       This application would not have any impact on the parking concerns raised by the Committee in April 2025, as outlined in paragraph 4.3.2 of the report.

·       As this application had not been restricted under Class C permitted development rights internal conversion of the roof spaces into habitable dwellings could be undertaken without obtaining planning permission, as detailed to in paragraph 4.3.5 of the report.

·       No reason had been provided by the developer as to why they had selected Plots 1 and 10 for this variation.

·       Granting this application could set a precedent for the other householders to make similar applications for their properties, but every planning application received would be considered in its own rights.

Councillor Nigel Mason, as Chair, proposed to grant permission and this was seconded by Councillor Emma Fernandes.

The following Members took part in the debate:

·       Councillor Claire Billing

·       Councillor Tom Tyson

·       Councillor Emma Fernandes

·       Councillor Martin Prescott

·       Councillor Louise Peace

·       Councillor Ian Mantle

·       Councillor Val Bryant

·       Councillor Dave Winstanley

Points raised during the debate included:

·       The Committee was required to support this application if there was not a suitable planning reason to reject it.

·       Future occupiers of the properties would have the right to internal conversion of the roof spaces into habitable accommodation without obtaining planning permission, due to the non-restriction of Class C permitted development rights in the original application.  

·       There was some concern around granting this application could then set a precedent for the other properties on the development to also request a variation to their roof space.

·       The conditions included by the Committee when this application was originally considered were added over concern about the undesirable housing mix of the properties being all 4-bed dwellings, affordability, roof extensions and increased cars and traffic.

·       Removal of permitted development rights should only be considered when there was a concern about the development rights, which was not the case with this application.

·       Members needed to accept the decision made by the previous Committee and to consider this application in its own merits.

In response to points raised during the debate, the Locum Planning Lawyer advised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGER

To update Members on appeals lodged and any decisions made.

The Principal Planning Officer provided an update on Planning Appeals.

Audio recording – 43 minutes 16 seconds

The Principal Planning Officer (Development Management) presented the report entitled ‘Planning Appeals’ and advised that:

·       The had been one appeal withdrawn which had been submitted alongside a planning application. The planning application would be brought before the Committee at a future meeting.

·       There had been three appeal decisions all of which had been dismissed.

·       It was interesting to note that the hearing for the agricultural workers dwelling was dismissed due to there being no evidence that a property of this type was justified in that location. However, the Inspector did conclude that if the proposal had been for a market house under the grey belt, it would have been approved.

In response to a question from Councillor Louise Peace, the Principal Planning Officer advised that details of appeals could only be publicised once a start date had been given and this could sometimes take up to 18 months.