Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 4 November 2020;

DM.33/20

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 4 November 2020 were confirmed by the Committee as a true and correct record.

DM.34/20         

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.35/20       

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

Cllr G Pannell declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in application numbers 1770/20/FUL (Land at Lower Mill Park, West Alvington) and 2840/20/FUL (Higher Hareston, Brixton), by virtue of the agent for both applications currently working for him in a private capacity.  Cllr Pannell therefore withdrew from the meeting for the duration of these two applications.

Cllrs R Rowe and B Taylor both declared a personal interest in applications 1585/20/FUL (Wessex Way, Dartmouth), 4063/19/FUL (Beadon Road, Salcombe), and 1770/20/FUL (Land at Lower Mill Park, West Alvington) as 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;

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

DM.36/20         

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.37/20       

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:

7a)    1585/20/FUL            Land adjacent to Dartmouth Park and Ride site, Wessex Way, Dartmouth

Parish:  Dartmouth and East Dart

Development:   Construction of new two storey Health and Well-being Centre and associated external works (READVERTISED). 

Case Officer Updates:                      

Following the tree officer’s holding objection, there had been a revision to the number of trees to be removed resulting in a reduction from around 15 down to 7 with more mature trees remaining.  The holding objection had therefore been lifted;

Proposed revisions to Conditions 2, 3 and 4 were highlighted;

A request had been received from Devon County Council (DCC) Drainage department whereby the drainage condition was to be pre-commencement but agreement had been reached for this to be pre-construction beyond slab level. 

The Biodiversity Officer had raised concerns regarding the western hedge as this was a bat fly zone, but the amended plans, with reduced tree loss, had seen these concerns lifted; 

Devon County Council Highways originally raised concerns about the layout which had been resolved with the amended plans.  However, there remained concerns regarding the amount of free parking for the Health and Wellbeing Hub, which was felt could be insufficient.  Therefore DCC had asked for a Section 106 Agreement to be entered into whereby, if parking over-spilled into nearby residential areas then, a contribution would be given to implement a residents’ permit scheme. Some local residents had expressed concern over the out of town location but the area was noted as being well served by public transport (although this was disputed by the Objector) with other services nearby giving the area sustainability in its own right.

Speakers included:       Objector – Ms L Gunnigle; Ward Members – Cllrs H Bastone, J Hawkins, and R Rowe;

Committee Decision: 

That approval be delegated to the Head of Development Management, in conjunction with the Chairman of the Committee to conditionally grant planning permission, subject to a Section 106 legal obligation for the following: A contribution towards the design and implementation for a residents’ parking scheme on surrounding streets, at any time over the next 10 years, should on street parking for the use of this facility spill into such areas.

(NB. in the event that the Section 106 legal Agreement remains unsigned six months after this resolution, that the application would be reviewed by the Head of Development Management in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, and, if no progress were made, delegated authority would be given to the Head of Development Management to refuse the application in the absence of an agreed S106 Agreement).

Conditions:

1. Time limit

2. Accord with plans

3. No external lighting until agreed with LPA

4. Adherence to Ecology report

5. Unexpected contamination

6. Protection of hedgerows

7.  ...  view the full minutes text for item DM.27/20

The following item will not commence before 3.00pm

DM.38/20         

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.  When questioned, clarification was given that costs were only awarded against the Council if the Inspector felt that the authority had acted inappropriately or unreasonably.  The Head of DM proceeded to commit to providing an update at the next meeting that set out the recent appeal costs that had been incurred by the Council.

DM.39/20                                 

The Committee was presented with a report that sought to adopt a Development Management Action Plan and noted that the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Panel would receive a progress update within the next six months;

In discussion, reference was made to:

(a)     consistency of approach with West Devon Borough Council.  Whilst noting that a revised Planning Delegation Scheme was to be presented to the Council meeting on 17 December 2020 for adoption, Members recognised the benefits of the Scheme being the same as that for West Devon Borough Council;

(b)     the Section 106 Agreement process.  Officers confirmed that it was intended for a Member Training session to be convened in the New Year on the Section 106 Agreement process;

(c)     outline planning permissions.  In response to some concerns raised, officers committed to reviewing the matter of outline planning permissions;

(d)     the role of local town and parish councils in the planning process.  The Committee was assured that local town and parish councils would continue to be consultees in the planning process;

(e)     the evolving nature of the Action Plan.  Members noted that the Action Plan would be a living document that would evolve over the coming months and years;

(f)       the definition of ‘significant or complex’ applications.  When questioned, officers confirmed that clarity around these definitions in the Action Plan would be forthcoming in due course.

It was then:

            RESOLVED

1.       That the Action Plan (as attached at Appendix A of the presented agenda report) be adopted; and

2.       That it be noted that the Overview and Scrutiny Panel will receive a progress update on the Plan within the next six months.