Agenda and minutes

*DM&L.57    

In the absence of the Committee Chairman, Cllr Southcott  stepped up from Vice-Chair to become Chairman and then  nominations were sought for the appointment of a Vice-Chairman for the duration of this meeting and it was then:

RESOLVED

That Cllr U Mann be appointed Vice-Chairman for the duration of this Committee meeting.

*DM&L.58       

There were apologies received from Cllrs Cheadle, Leech and Moody. Cllr Vachon substituted for Cllr Cheadle, Cllr Renders substituted for Cllr Leech and Cllr Ewings substituted for Cllr Moody.

In accordance with the Code of Conduct, Members are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, Other Registerable Interests and Non-Registerable Interests including the nature and extent of such interests they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting;

*DM&L.59    

Cllr N Jory declared in relation to application 4004/22/FUL, that from 2002-2009 he was the bursar of Mount House School, which subsequently merged with Kelly College to form Mount Kelly. His three children had attended Mount House School and two had attended Kelly, however they had left the school many years ago. He had no further association with the College. He stated that, in regard to application 0107/22/OPA, which was inside his Ward, he would exercise his right to speak on the application and would withdraw from the Committee at that point.

Cllrs Renders stated that he had received an email from one of the Governors of Kelly College, as had others on the Committee responding to some points outlined in the committee report.

Cllr Mann declared a non-registerable interest in application 4004/22/FUL, in that her son attended Kelly College. Also, with her involvement with the Tavistock Neighbourhood Plan, talks had been had with the Applicant in regard to the development plan within Tavistock, green space designation and sports fields. She was not present at those talks. She also declared that in respect of Application 0107/22/OPA she had met with the current Neighbourhood Plan group in Lamerton purely to discuss the process of producing a Neighbourhood Plan.

Cllr Ewings declared an interest in application 0034/24/FUL due to her son-in-law’s family owning the property mentioned in the report, known as Gatherly Farm, the land and the Grade Two Listed farmhouse. She confirmed she had no pecuniary or personal interest in the land or farm and remained in the meeting and took part in the debate and vote thereon.

To consider those items which, in the opinion of the Chairman, should be considered by the Meeting as matters of urgency (if any). 

*DM&L.60    

There were no items of urgent business brought forward to this meeting for consideration.

Meeting held on 16 April 2024 and the Minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee held on 9 April 2024;

*DM&L.61    

The Minutes from the Development Management and Licencing Committee meeting held on 16 April 2024 and the Licensing Sub Committee held on 9 April 2024 were agreed as a true and correct record.

*DM&L.62    

Prior to the applications being heard, the Monitoring Officer made a statement setting out the legal framework for the determination of planning applications so that members of the public who might not be familiar with how planning applications were to be determined, could understand the approach that the Committee needed to follow. The following points needed to be taken into account;

•        Regard was to be had to development plan policies and other material considerations;

•        Material considerations were those about development or use of land;

•        Decisions were to be taken in accordance with the development plan unless other material considerations suggested otherwise.

•        The Committee would need to establish whether a development proposal complied with the development plan read as a whole

•        Where policies conflicted, the Committee had to undertake a balancing exercise involving the use of its planning judgement; and

•        Development plan policies must be read sensibly; with words having their ordinary and natural meaning.

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: https://apps.westdevon.gov.uk//PlanningSearchMVC/

*DM&L.63    

The Committee proceeded to consider the reports and presentations that had been prepared by the relevant Planning Officer on the following applications and considered the comments of the local town and parish councils together with other representations received, which were listed within the presented agenda report and summarised below:

(a) Application No. 4004/21/FUL            Ward: Tavistock North

Site Address: Former Hazeldon Preparatory School, Parkwood Road, Tavistock PL19 0JS

Development: Refurbishment of Hazeldon House to form single dwelling (including demolition of non-listed structures), demolition of all other structures (including former classrooms blocks) on site, the erection of 10 open market dwellings, reinstatement of the original access, restoration of parkland, associated infrastructure (including drainage and retaining structures), landscaping, open space, play space, removal of some trees, parking, and boundary treatments.

Recommendation: Refusal

Key issues for Committee consideration:

Principle of Development/Connectivity, Housing mix, Heritage,

Design; Trees; Landscape Character and Appearance

Affordable Housing, Loss of Playing Fields, Previously Developed Land, Residential Amenity, Highways, Flood Risk and Drainage, Ecology and Biodiversity Energy Efficiency and Climate Change, Planning Balance and Conclusion                   

Case Officer Introduction:

The Planning Case Officer presented his report to the Committee.  By way of an update to his report, the Officer stated that a letter had been received from the applicant dated 10 May 2024 challenging the planning judgement but in Officers’ views, it did not raise any substantive issues. As part of his presentation, the Officer referred to the key issue being the sustainability of the location.  In summary, the Officer informed the Committee that this application was a finely balanced one but recommended that the application be refused for the reasons set out in report.

A Member asked how the development could be deemed ‘isolated’ given it was on the A386. The Planning Case Officer said in the report that he referred to case law that had settled the approach to be followed to determine whether proposals were isolated from a settlement but that in policy terms this was a different question in to whether or not a site was well-connected in terms of access to services and facilities.

In response to a Member’s question regarding the use of the parkland and whether it would be available for the public, the Conservation Officer stated it would be determined by a management company of a prospective developer connected to Hazeldon House.

Public Speakers:

Supporter – Mr Hollinshead

During his presentation, Mr Hollinshead stated that some of the policy decisions remained in dispute. The site sits within the gateway to the town of Tavistock. The scheme for 10 houses would ensure the preservation of Hazeldon House. Mount Kelly was an educational charity and risked being in breach of that status if any funding was to be used to restore the rapidly deteriorating listed building. The listing was applied for by West Devon Borough Council without prior warning or consultation.

Local Ward Member – Cllr U Mann

She stated that, when she had spoken to people around the town, the feedback  ...  view the full minutes text for item *DM&L .63/23

*DM&L.64    

The Head of Development Management took the Committee through one of the planning appeal case listed in the published agenda papers and Members proceeded to note the content of the update.

*DM&L.65  

The Committee received an update from the Head of Development Management on the Undetermined Major Planning Applications that were listed in the published agenda papers and proceeded to note the contents of the update given.