Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 9 September 2020

DM.21/20         

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 9^th September 2020 were confirmed as a correct record by the Chairman

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.22/20         

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

Cllrs R Rowe and B Taylor both declared a personal interest in application 0857/20/HHO as she they were Members of the South Devon AONB Partnership Committee.  Both Members remained in the meeting and took part in the debate and vote thereon;

Cllr J Brazil declared a personal interest in application 0265/20/ARM as he was the Local Ward Member.  Therefore Cllr Brazil stood down as Chair for the afternoon session (during which this application was presented) and the Vice Chair, Cllr R. Foss chaired the afternoon session.  Cllr Brazil 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.23/20         

The Chairman announced 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.24/20         

The Committee considered the details of the planning application 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)       2545/19/FUL   “Land at Venn Lane”, Norton

Parish:  Stoke Fleming

Development:   Retrospective application for change of use of land to provide site for the Stagecoach bus depot and highway improvements. 

Case Officer Update:      There were no updates

Speakers included:         Supporter – Ms A Burden; Parish Council – Cllr S Coupar; Ward Member – Cllr H Reeve; Neighbouring Ward Member – Cllr H Bastone

Recommendation:         Conditional approval

During questions with the Case Officer, it was clarified that, should this application be approved, Condition 4 would be updated to reflect that the application is retrospective; a new condition would be applied to move the gates in by six metres to allow vehicles to pull off the road before the gates were opened; condition of hedge planting would involve Members; and an additional condition would be added to ensure that, if the site were vacated in the future, then it would be returned to its original condition and for agricultural use.

During the discussion Members noted that the site was outside of the development boundary as defined in the Joint Local Plan (JLP) and the agreement made during the Baker Estates application that Venn Lane would form the boundary with no further development beyond this lane.  Some Members felt that approval would set a precedent and potentially allow increased development in the countryside.

It was also noted that while the Case Officer’s report made mention of the 260 chalets nearby, no mention was made of the houses right next to this site, which would be affected by noise and fumes, and overlooking, and no mention was made of Environmental Health consultation. 

Although the Case Officer had stated there were no traffic problems as the site and the field behind had been used for park and ride for the Dartmouth Royal Regatta, the Ward Member clarified that Highways had been so concerned about traffic that the Regatta had had to install traffic lights on this road.  In addition, this park and ride facility had not been used for the last two regattas.  It was felt that screening was very poor and that there had been no photograph supplied during the report that looked towards Venn Road.  Members also felt that alternatives sites had not been explored enough and that the industrial area in the Bakers Estate could be one such potential site. 

Members acknowledged the importance of public transport and that a suitable site for Stage Coach was needed, however, due to access issues, visual amenity, and development outside of the JLP boundary, this site was not appropriate.

In the event of the recommendation for refusal being approved, the Head of Development Management informed Members that, as a retrospective application, there would then be  ...  view the full minutes text for item DM.14/20

DM.25/20         

Members reviewed the performance indicators as outlined in the presented agenda report.

In discussion, particular reference was made to:

(a)   Quarter 1 dropped significantly because of the delays due to lockdown resultant from the Covid-19 Pandemic

(b)     Figures during May were relatively normal for that month, but June had seen exceptionally high numbers in terms of new planning applications received.  Fee income is down compared to last year due to a drop in Major Applications.

(c)     Pg 32, enforcement – in Q1 larger amount than previous Quarter, number of cases closed still more than new ones being opening so workload was still coming down even although some staff were diverted onto covid duties earlier in the year, reducing resources.

** Upon the conclusion of the above agenda items, the meeting will be adjourned and reconvened at 2.00pm**

DM.26/20         

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.