Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 2 December 2020 ;

DM.40/20         

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 2^nd December 2020 were confirmed as a correct record by the Chairman. 

DM.41/20         

The Chair informed the Committee of the sad news of the recent loss of Cllr Foss’ wife.  Cllr Foss had had a very difficult few months which he had faced with courage and determination and he was in the thoughts of all Members at this very sad time.  Since Cllr Foss had tendered his apologies for this meeting, the Chairman invited nominations to serve as Vice-Chairman for this Committee meeting.

It was subsequently:

RESOLVED

That Cllr Holway be appointed to be Vice-Chairman for the duration of this Committee Meeting.

Members are invited to declare any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests, including the nature and extent of such interests they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting;

DM.42/20         

Members and officers were invited to declare any interests in the items of business to be considered and the following was made:

Cllr H Reeve declared a personal interest in application 2795/20/FUL, as the application site was in the vicinity of a relative’s property and she remained in the meeting and took part in the debate and vote thereon;

The Chairman to advise the Committee on any requests received from members of the public to address the meeting;

DM.43/20         

The Chairman noted the list of members of the public, and town and parish council representatives who had registered their wish to speak at the meeting.

To see Letters of Representation and further supplementary information relating to any of the Applications on the agenda, please select the following link and enter the relevant Planning Reference number: http://apps.southhams.gov.uk/PlanningSearchMVC/

DM.44/20         

The Committee considered the details of the planning applications prepared by the Planning Case Officers as presented in the agenda papers, and considered also the comments of Town and Parish Councils, together with other representations received, which were listed within the presented agenda reports, and RESOLVED that:

6a)    3285/20/FUL        Rose Cottage, Landscove, Ashburton, TQ13 7LT

Parish:  Staverton

Development:   Retrospective change of use of existing shed from domestic use to use for commercial motorcycle maintenance and servicing. 

Case Officer Update:    Following publication of the Officer’s report on the website, the applicant had made a late submission countering points made in the report.  These were outlined to the Committee and the Case Officer responded to each point raised.

Speakers included:       Supporter – Mr Gray-Thompson; Parish Council – Cllr Catherall; Ward Member – Cllr J Hodgson;

Recommendation:       Refusal

The Ward Member confirmed to the Committee that no member of the public had complained about this business and countered the Case Officer’s assertion that there would be increased traffic were the application to be approved, but rather there would be increased traffic following refusal as the business would have to move to a near-by town, and the applicant would then be making 12 extra journeys per week to travel to and from the new locale.  The Ward Member’s view was that the new policies outlined in the Case Officer’s reason for refusal were active after this business had been established.

Some Members outlined their support for the business as it had been operating for over five years already, noted that the business had the support of the Parish Council and neighbours, and that it was sustainable as there was no similar business nearby thereby showing a business need.  A Member moved conditional approval of the application that was subsequently seconded.  Before the vote was taken, a discussion was had regarding what conditions would be applied should the application be approved.  These included, but were not limited to, conditions regarding noise, opening hours, and ensuring the business use was restricted to motor cycle maintenance should the present applicant cease to operate.  Members were asked to consider the following key issues:  Principle / Sustainable Development; Design, Visual Impacts and the SWD Landscape Character Area (1E); Neighbouring Amenity.

Committee decision:  Conditional approval

Conditions:      

1.  The development hereby approved shall only be used for the maintenance, servicing and / or repair of motorcycles and for no other purpose.

Reason: In order to ensure compliance with JLP Policy TTV26 and to prevent uses which might be inappropriate for this rural location.

2.  No maintenance, servicing or repair of motorcycles shall be carried out and no deliveries accepted or despatched except between the hours of 9am and 6pm Monday to Friday, or 9am to 1pm on Saturdays, and not at all on Sundays or Bank Holidays

Reason: To protect the amenities of local residents from noise in accordance with JLP Policies DEV1 and DEV2.

6b)  2795/20/FUL        Land at SX 711 588, North East of Horsebrook Farm,  ...  view the full minutes text for item DM.34/19

DM.45/20         

The Officer gave an update on the annual Housing Position report which had been recently published. The Council now had a 6.1 year land supply with 1,449 homes built last year, cumulatively this is 653 homes above target. Going forward there had been identified a supply of over 8,200 deliverable homes.  Members noted that this report reflected the huge improvement the Joint Local Plan (JLP) had brought to the Council’s planning environment.  The Joint Local Plan team were thanked for their hard work.  Some Members commented that local infrastructure was not keeping pace with homes development but it was noted that the Council’s ability to counter this was limited to Section 106 Agreements, which could not counter all concerns.

The Officer confirmed that an interactive JLP website was now available and all three Local Planning Authorities had direct links to this.  It would be used to provide news and updates, and mapping was beginning to be included. 

Following a Member enquiry, the Officer confirmed that some sites had been deemed no longer viable.  The only sites included in the JLP were those which were deliverable on National Planning Policy Framework criteria.  It was confirmed that viability would be looked at over the coming year including a review of developers who had not progressed with their approved planning applications as this could impact on housing numbers. 

The Authority Monitoring Report would be produced in February 2021 and would also include the split between brownfield and green field sites.  Members would be invited to a future Briefing on this matter.

DM.46/20         

Members noted the list of appeals as outlined in the presented agenda report.  

The Head of Development Management (DM) provided further details on specific recent appeal decisions. 

DM.47/20         

Members noted the list of undetermined major applications.

The Head of DM committed to sending Members the definition of what constituted a major application and confirmed this definition was set by Central Government.