Meeting documents

SSDC Area West Committee
Wednesday, 18th March, 2015 6.00 pm

Venue: Village Halls

Contact: Jo Morris 01935 462055  Email: jo.morris@southsomerset.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

161.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Previous Meeting held on 18th February 2015

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 18th February 2015, copies of which had been circulated, were taken as read and, having been approved were signed by the Chairman as a correct record of the proceedings.

162.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Linda Vijeh and Martin Wale.

163.

Declarations of Interest

In accordance with the Council's current Code of Conduct (adopted July 2012), which includes all the provisions relating to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI), personal and prejudicial interests, Members are asked to declare any DPI and also any personal interests (and whether or not such personal interests are also "prejudicial") in relation to any matter on the agenda for this meeting. A DPI is defined in The Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012 No. 1464) and Appendix 3 of the Council’s Code of Conduct. A personal interest is defined in paragraph 2.8 of the Code and a prejudicial interest is defined in paragraph 2.9. 

Members are reminded that they need to declare the fact that they are also a member of a County, Town or Parish Council as a Personal Interest.  As a result of the change made to the Code of Conduct by this Council at its meeting on 15th May 2014, where you are also a member of Somerset County Council and/or a Town or Parish Council within South Somerset you must declare a prejudicial interest in any business on the agenda where there is a financial benefit or gain or advantage to Somerset County Council and/or a Town or Parish Council which would be at the cost or to the financial disadvantage of South Somerset District Council.  If you have a prejudicial interest you must comply with paragraphs  2.9(b) and 2.9(c) of the Code.

In the interests of complete transparency, Members of the County Council, who are not also members of this committee, are encouraged to declare any interests they may have in any matters being discussed even though they may not be under any obligation to do so under any relevant code of conduct.

Planning Applications Referred to the Regulation Committee

The following members of this Committee are also members of the Council's Regulation Committee:

Councillors. Mike Best, Angie Singleton and Linda Vijeh

Where planning applications are referred by this Committee to the Regulation Committee for determination, in accordance with the Council's Code of Practice on Planning, Members of the Regulation Committee can participate and vote on these items at the Area Committee and at Regulation Committee.  In these cases the Council's decision-making process is not complete until the application is determined by the Regulation Committee.  Members of the Regulation Committee retain an open mind and will not finalise their position until the Regulation Committee.  They will also consider the matter at Regulation Committee as Members of that Committee and not as representatives of the Area Committee.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

164.

Public Question Time

This is a chance to ask questions, make comments and raise matters of concern.

Parish/Town Councils may also wish to use this opportunity to ask for the District Council’s support on any matter of particular concern to their Parish/Town.

Anyone wishing to raise matters in relation to items on the agenda may do so at the time the item is considered.

Minutes:

No question or comments were raised by members of the public.

165.

Chairman's Announcements

Minutes:

There were no announcements from the Chairman.

166.

Area West Committee - Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 143 KB

Minutes:

Reference was made to the agenda report, which informed members of the proposed Area West Committee Forward Plan. 

The Area Development Manager (West) advised that there were no updates to the Forward Plan and that he was happy to take suggestions for future items to be included on the Plan.

In response to member questions, the Area Development Manager advised that it was the intention to have an update on the Making It Local Programme from the Assistant Director (Communities).  The Chard Regeneration Board was aware that the Committee had requested regular updates on the Chard Regeneration Scheme and it was hoped that an update would be given after the next Board meeting.

NOTED.

167.

Report for Area West Committee on the Performance of the Streetscene Service pdf icon PDF 354 KB

Minutes:

The Streetscene Manager summarised the agenda report, which informed members of the performance of the Streetscene Service in Area West for the period April 2014 – March 2015.

During the ensuing discussion, the Streetscene Manager noted the comments of members and responded to questions on points of detail.  Members were informed that:-

·         In 2014, the Streetscene Service had successfully tendered for two Rights of Way maintenance contracts, both of which had gone well.  The Service would know by May 2015 if they would be continuing to deliver the service on behalf of the County Council;

·         A member congratulated the Streetscene Service on the litter work that they had undertaken along the A303 and A37;

·         A member thanked the Streetscene Manager and his team for their partnership work with Chard Town Council;

·         SSDC was responsible for litter clearance on the highway.  Litter on the live carriageway of the A303 was the responsibility of the Highways Agency;

·         The Streetscene Manager was happy to involve any willing parishes with the Parish Ranger Scheme;

·         A revised dog bin policy was currently being worked upon and it was the intention to ask for member comments as it was being developed.

The Chairman expressed her thanks to the Streetscene Service for all their hard work which was very much appreciated.  She commented that the service was very much in the public eye and that the response to problems identified had been dramatic.

NOTED.

168.

Area West - Reports from Members on Outside Organisations pdf icon PDF 82 KB

Minutes:

Ilminster Forum

Cllr. Carol Goodall gave a presentation updating members on Ilminster Forum.  She gave an overview of the projects that Ilminster Forum had been involved with which included:

·         Monthly Market

·         Community Website

·         Market Town App

·         Library Garden Project

·         Flower troughs on routes into the town

·         Litter Picks

·         Future projects planned included a Making It Local Project and a refresh of the Community Plan

NOTED.

169.

Chard Young Peoples Centre - Assessment of nomination under Community Right to Bid (Item for information) pdf icon PDF 276 KB

Minutes:

Members noted the decision to place "Chard Young Peoples Centre" onto the SSDC Register of Assets of Community Value, following a nomination made by Streetspace South Somerset.

NOTED.

170.

The Portman Arms, East Chinnock - Assessment of nomination under Community Right to Bid (Item for Information) pdf icon PDF 295 KB

Minutes:

Members noted the decision to place "The Portmand Arms" onto the SSDC Register of Assets of Community Value, following a nomination made by East Chinnock Parish Council.

NOTED.

171.

Planning Appeals pdf icon PDF 79 KB

Minutes:

The Committee noted the details contained in the agenda report, which informed members of two planning appeals, which had been received.

NOTED.

172.

Schedule of Planning Applications to be Determined by Committee pdf icon PDF 87 KB

Minutes:

Members noted the Schedule of Planning Applications to be determined by the Committee.

173.

Planning Application 14/05126/FUL - Little Brympton, Allotment Road, Chiselborough pdf icon PDF 429 KB

Minutes:

Application Proposal: Retention of wooden building for residential use for temporary period of 3 years (retrospective)

The Planning Officer introduced the report and with the aid of slides and photographs summarised the details of the application as set out in the agenda.  Particular reference was made to the history of the site and the previous permissions.  He advised that additional correspondence had been received from the Chair and Clerk of Chiselborough Parish Council in support of the application subject to personal permission only and the protection of future development.  He further updated that twelve letters of support had been submitted with the application which had not been mentioned in the agenda report.  The key considerations were:

·         Isolated location - paragraph 55 of the NPPF requires ‘special circumstances’ to allow isolated homes

·         Does the proposal constitute ‘special circumstances’?

·         Setting a precedent

The Planning Officer’s recommendation was for refusal.

In response to questions from Members, the Planning Officer confirmed that:

·         The photographs shown had been taken just before Christmas;

·         The applicants had been on site since June 2014 and the site was working progress;

·         The applicants were renting the land;

·         He was unsure why the suffixes on the previous planning applications were different and confirmed that all permissions were temporary and all applications were identical;

·         Guidance stated that successive temporary permissions should not be granted however in this instance there were specific circumstances to the applicant;

·         The Legal Services Manager advised that three of the previous permissions were granted prior to the current policy guidance;

·         For unknown reasons the structure had remained on the site and it had only been brought to the Council’s attention that the structure was occupied in summer 2014;

·         Because of the change in policy he felt that it was only fair to give the applicants a chance for the application to be looked at afresh;

·         He had concerns over the lack of justification in terms of functional need for the applicants to live on the site;

·         It was noted that a number of years had lapsed with their being no permission on the site;

·         Policy SS2 was now adopted but could have been given significant weight because of the stage of preparation of the emerging local plan;

·         He was of the opinion that Policy SS2 did not apply as the building was outside the rural settlement and was approximately 200 metres from the nearest dwelling;

·         The issue of isolated dwellings was not defined under planning guidance and was subjective to judgement based upon individual circumstances.  He had made the judgement that the temporary building was significantly far from the nearest dwelling.

The Committee was then addressed by Rhys Davies, Amy Stroup-Allen, Sue Hasell and Carolyn Milner in support of the application.  Their comments included:

·         Support for the educational element of the proposal;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

·         Support for low impact and environmentally sustainable lifestyle;

·         Support for the applicants providing the village and local area with flowers and vegetables;

·         There was a high level of support from the local community;

·         The owner  ...  view the full minutes text for item 173.

174.

Date and Venue for Next Meeting pdf icon PDF 17 KB

Minutes:

Members noted that the next meeting of the Area West Committee would be held on Wednesday 15th April 2015 at the Henhayes Centre, Crewkerne.