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 Councillors Ruth Brown and Sadie Billing.

Audio recording – 1 minute 26 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ruth Brown and Sadie Billing.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 30 January 2025.

The Chair advised that the Minutes from the 30 January 2025 were added to the Agenda in error and had been approved at the Planning Control Committee meeting on 25 February 2025.

Audio Recording – 1 minute 46 seconds

The Chair advised that the Minutes from the 30 January 2025 were added to the Agenda in error and had been approved at the Planning Control Committee meeting on 25 February 2025.

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 10 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.

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

Audio recording – 2 minutes 12 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.

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

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

The Chair confirmed that the registered speakers were in attendance.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 23 seconds

The Chair confirmed that the registered speakers were in attendance.

REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGER

To consider the confirmation of Tree Preservation Order TPO/00215 (2024).

RESOLVED: That a decision on the confirmation of TPO/00215 be DEFERRED to allow for a new provisional Tree Preservation Order to be issued with an amended plan that provided for a revision in the extent of the land covered by a TPO.

Audio Recording – 4 minutes 43 seconds

N.B. Councillor Bryony May declared an interest due to a friendship with the Objector and left the chamber.

The Planning officer presented the report of the Tree Preservation Order (TPO) - TPO/0215 supported by a visual presentation consisting of photographs and plans.

In response to a point of clarification from Councillor Louise Peace, the Planning Officer advised:

·       The responsibility for maintaining the trees was with the landowner.

·       The TPO was bought to the Planning Control Committee due to the receipt of an objection during the public consultation.

The Chair thanked the Planning Officer and invited the Objector, Mrs Paula Davies, to speak against the TPO. Mrs Davies thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided the Committee with a verbal presentation, including that:

·       The TPO ran across the full boundary of her property resulting in additional work for her when maintaining her garden.

·       She does welcome the TPO as when trees had been removed previously by the landowner they had not been replaced.

·       The TPO did not include the definition of a tree, and she was unsure what she would be able to prune without requesting permission from the Council. Due to personal health circumstances, it would not be possible for her to complete paperwork when doing gardening.

·       The only other land affected by the TPO would be a community plot.

·       She had not received any notice of the TPO and she only found out about it 5 days after it was enforced.

·       She requested the boundaries of the TPO be changed to allow 1m grace between her property edge and the area covered by the TPO.

 The following Members asked for points of clarification:

·       Councillor Emma Fernandes

·       Councillor Martin Prescott

·       Councillor Tom Tyson

·       Councillor Louise Peace

·       Councillor Nigel Mason

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

·       All trees were considered equal in a TPO.

·       Provisional TPO’s needed to be confirmed within 6 months of serving.

·       The purpose of the TPO was to protect green infrastructure network and create a barrier between residential and commercial properties, Therfield Heath and the highway. and the highway.

In response to points of clarification the Development and Conservation Manager advised:

·       A change to the boundaries was possible if a new TPO was drawn up with altered boundaries.

·       The Conditions under a planning permission normally require any tree that dies to be replaced within 5 years

·       This Provisional TPO would expire at the end of May if not confirmed by Members today.

·       If a new TPO is put in place, and there were no objections received it would not come back to this Committee but would be decided by officers under delegated powers.

In response to a point of clarification, Mrs Davies advised she would not have an objection to a future TPO in the area if the boundaries were changed.

In response to a point of clarification, the Senior Planning Solicitor advised:

·       The law that covered TPOs was wide-ranging and the current TPO met  ...  view the full minutes text for item 138.

RESOLVED: That application 24/02343/FPP be REFUSED subject to the reasons set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manage and supplementary document.

Audio Recording – 45 minutes 58 seconds

The Senior Planning Officer presented the report of Application 24/02343/FP supported by a visual presentation consisting of photographs and plans.

The following Members asked for points of clarification:

·       Councillor Nigel Mason

·       Councillor Martin Prescott

·       Councillor Caroline McDonnell

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

·       Although it did not look like the site was being used for agricultural purposes he understood that it was until 2018.

·       This was a retrospective application for the change of use from agricultural to a Class B8 for storage and distribution purposes.

·       There was an enforcement investigation on this site.

·       There was nothing in the application about manufacturing

The Chair thanked the Senior Planning Officer and invited Mr Tim Wise to speak against this application. Mr Wise thanked the chair for the opportunity and provided the Committee with a verbal presentation, including that:

·       He represented 30 objectors who all lived in Codicote and surrounding areas.

·       This site has been brought to the attention of the Council several times over the last 14 months.

·       During that time, the use of the site had changed and the road leading to the site entrance had been destroyed by HGVs, which used the road almost daily.

·       There had been instances of HGVs reversing blind from a country road onto the 60MPH highway, which was unsafe for other road users.

·       Hertfordshire Highways had advised that the road was unusable for HGVs.

·       Church Wood and Crouch Green Wood had suffered environmentally due to non-native plants being planted around the site boundary.

·       The current site use was unsustainable especially considering it is Green Belt land.

In response to points of clarification from Councillor Nigel Mason, Mr Wise advised that:

·       The lane that was being inappropriately used was the one opposite the dinosaurs and permanently has a flood sign on it.

·       Turning either way coming out of the lane would cause a HGV to cross over onto the other side of the carriageway.

The Chair thanked Mr Wise for his contribution and invited Mr Simon Warner to speak in support of the application. Mr Warner thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided the committee with a verbal presentation, including that:

·       The site was classified as grey belt, not Green Belt.

·       The applicant had tried to negate any damages done during site transition, including the replacement of fences and clearing ditches.

·       Similar sites had been converted into housing, instead the applicant has tried to make the site something with benefit to the local area.

·       He also wished to add equestrian area to the site which could add to the community.

·       The current permission allows for the site to be used for agricultural purposes without restriction, the applicant was happy to work within any restrictions laid down by the Council under a new permission.

·       The HGVs did use the site, but if it returned to agricultural usage then the lane would be used by large agricultural vehicles.

·       The applicant would also be willing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 139.