Agenda and minutes

*P&L 63         

Apologies were received from Cllrs Parker, Cann OBE and Hockridge.

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.

[If Councillors have any questions relating to predetermination, bias or interests in items on this Agenda, then please contact the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting]    

*P&L 64         

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

Cllrs Moyse, Roberts and Pearce all declared a personal interest in agenda item 5 (Minute *P&L 67 below refers) by virtue of knowing or having known the applicant.  They remained in the meeting and took part in the debate and vote thereon;

Cllr Sanders declared a personal interest in agenda item 5 (Minute *P&L 67 below refers) by virtue of knowing the author and her husband of a reference presented to Committee in support of the applicant.  He remained in the meeting and took part in the debate and vote thereon;

Cllr Yelland declared a personal interest in agenda item 5 (Minute *P&L 67 below refers) following reference to the Citizens Advice Bureau during the debate, by virtue of being a member of the Citizens Advice Bureau.  She remained in the meeting for the remainder of the debate and took part in the debate and vote thereon.

Meeting held on 7 March 2017

PART TWO – ITEMS WHICH MAY BE TAKEN IN THE ABSENCE OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS ON THE GROUNDS THAT EXEMPT INFORMATION MAY BE DISCLOSED (if any).

If any, the Committee is recommended to pass the following resolution:-

RESOLVED that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that exempt information is likely to be disclosed as defined in Part I of Schedule 12(A) to the Act.

*P&L 65         

The Minutes of the Planning and Licensing Committee Meeting held on 7^th March 2017 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

*P&L66       

RESOLVED

Thatin accordance withSection100(A)(4)oftheLocal Government Act 1972,thepublicandpressbeexcluded fromthemeetingduringconsideration of thefollowing items  of  businessas  the  likely  disclosureof  exempt informationasdefinedin paragraph1 ofSchedule12Ato the Act isinvolved.

Open Committee

*P&L67       

Considerationwasgiventoanexemptreportwhichsoughttodetermine whether a licenseeremaineda ‘fitandproper’ persontoholda Hackney CarriageDriverLicencewiththisAuthorityinaccordancewithsection61 of theLocalGovernment(MiscellaneousProvisions)Act1976.

TheLicensingCase Managerintroducedthereport.   TheLicenseewasinattendanceatthemeetingandgiventhe opportunitytoaddresstheCommittee.  SomeMembersaskedquestions of theLicensee andtheLicensingCase Manager.

(Atthispoint,theChairman adjourned themeetingtoenablethe Committeetomakea decision.  TheSolicitorremainedinthemeetingin an advisorycapacity).

TheDecision

The meeting reconvened and the Chairmanthenproceededtoannouncethe decision.

*P&L 68         

  RESOLVED

Thatthe public and press be re-admitted to the meeting.

*P&L 69         

The COP Lead Development Management presented the latest set of Performance Indicators and outlined the key information for Members consideration.  He advised Members that the month of March 2017 had been particularly busy for receipt of applications.

Members raised a number of questions regarding enforcement matters.  The COP Lead updated Members on staffing levels and also confirmed that he would present a more detailed breakdown of outstanding incomplete cases that were being dealt with by the backlog team.  One Member noted an increasing trend in the number of enforcement cases being reported but accepted that some enforcement cases were complex and took a significant amount of time to reach a conclusion.  He also asked that the minutes reflect that West Devon Borough Council and Dartmoor National Park Authority were now working together on a particular enforcement issue which was beneficial.

Members also asked if officers were routinely following up section 106 agreements, and the position regarding discharge of condition applications prior to commencement.  The COP Lead advised that in respect of the discharge of conditions that were applied to approved applications there was not the officer resource to visit and actively check each application, and a key link had been lost now that building control work was open to other providers.  In terms of section 106 agreements, there had been weaknesses in the system but the monitoring of agreements was being reviewed and as part of the process it was proposed to actively engage Locality Officers.

To see Letters of Representation and further supplementary information relating to any of the planning applications on the agenda, please select the following link and enter the relevant Reference number: http://westdevon.gov.uk/searchlanding

*P&L 70         

The Committee considered the application prepared by the Development Management Specialists and considered also the comments of Town and Parish Councils together with other representations received, which were listed within the presented agenda reports and summarised below, and RESOLVED:

(a)      Application No:  4058/16/FUL         Ward: Exbourne

Site Address: Risdon Farm, Okehampton, Devon EX20 3AJ

Installation of a 13.2kW ground mounted photovaltaic array

RECOMMENDATION:            Conditional Approval

COMMITTEE DECISION:  Conditional Approval

*P&L 71         

The Committee received and noted the updated list of Planning Appeals including enforcement appeals.