Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 8 September 2021;

DM.26/21         

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 8^th September 2021 were confirmed as a correct record by the Committee.

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.27/21         

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

Cllr B Taylor declared a personal interest in applications 4277/20/FUL, 1099/21/FUL, 2855/21/HHO, 2133/19/VAR and 2720/21/FUL (Minutes DM.29/21(a), (b) (d) (f) and (h) below refer) as he was a Member of the South Devon AONB Partnership Committee.  The Member remained in the meeting and took part in the debate and vote thereon;

Cllr K Kemp declared a personal interest in application 2133/19/VAR (Minutes DM.29/21 (f) below refers) as she knew the applicant.  The Member remained in the meeting and took part in the debate and vote thereon.

Cllr R Foss declared a personal interest in application 2133/19/VAR (Minutes DM.29/21 (f) below refers) as he had eaten at the establishment.  The Member 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.28/21         

The Chairman noted the list of members of the public, town and parish council representatives, and Ward Members 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.29/21         

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)    4277/20/FUL     Lantern Lodge Hotel, Grand View Road, Hope Cove, TQ7 3HE

Parish:  South Huish

Development:   Amendment to previously approved 2101/19/FUL for additional installation of 2 no. concealed gas tanks below lawn.

Case Officer Update:             One extra objection letter of representation had been received.

Speakers included:                 Supporter – Simon Bird; Parish Council – Cllr J Hocking; Ward Members – Cllrs M Long and J Pearce;

The Ward Members were in agreement that had the original application come before the Committee with this proposed energy supply, there could have been a very different outcome to that decision.  This was because the original application’s energy credentials tipped the balance to supporting the development. One Ward Member disputed the applicant’s claim that there was no space on site for an electrical substation.

During the debate, Members stated that this request was a retrograde step and would lead to future costs to replace the then obsolete form of energy, and approval would be difficult to defend in light of the Council’s declaration of a climate change emergency.  Members also expressed concerns regarding the structural integrity of the cliff to cope with the hole that the gas tanks would require.  It was also noted that the Western Power Distribution had not confirmed that they were unable to provide an enhanced electricity supply to the site only that they could not guarantee the ability to provide this until legal agreements were secured to run cables through land outside of the applicant’s control.

A motion to defer the application was proposed and seconded but declared lost on the vote.

Recommendation:                Conditional Approval

Committee decision:            Refusal

Reasons for Refusal: 

Proposal, by virtue of its reliance on fossil fuels, was considered to represent a retrograde step for the application site compared to the previously proposed scheme, for the redevelopment of this site in terms of means of energy provision.  It would not positively contribute to support the Joint Local Plan’s aims to increase the use and production of renewable and low carbon energy to contribute to national targets for reducing carbon emissions.  Furthermore, insufficient evidence had been submitted to show that the necessary agreements could not be reached to bring an enhanced electricity supply to the site, as previously proposed, as the means of energy provision for the site to negate the need for reliance on fossil fuels. 

6b)    1099/21/FUL     Land adjacent to Manor Cottage, South Milton, TQ7 3JQ

Parish:  South Milton Parish Council

Development:  New 3 Bedroom detached dwelling (Resubmission of 2731/20/FUL)

Case Officer Update:                          

The Case Officer clarified the definition of in-fill and that, whilst the report for Dev32 had not been submitted, this would be required if the application was conditionally approved.

Speakers included:                 Objector –  ...  view the full minutes text for item DM.29/21

DM.30/21

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

The Head of Development Management, provided further details on specific recent appeal decisions.  One Councillor thanked officers for the work done on one application which had resulted in the Inspector upholding the decision of the Council.

DM.31/21         

The list of undetermined major applications was noted.