Meetings

Meeting Details

Meeting Summary
Development Management Committee
18 Dec 2023 - 18:30 to 20:30
Occurred
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Standard Items
1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
To receive any apologies for absence. 


01

 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Williamson and Capewell.

 

 

2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

You have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in a matter to be discussed if it relates to something on your Register of Interests form. You must declare the interest and leave the room while the matter is dealt with.

You have a Personal Interest in a matter to be discussed if it affects
•    your well being or financial position
•    that of your family or close friends
•    that of a club or society in which you have a management role
•    that of another public body of which you are a member to a greater extent than others in your ward.
You must declare a personal interest but can speak and vote on the matter.

Whenever you declare an interest you must say why the interest arises, so that it can be included in the minutes. 

02

 

There were no declarations of interest declared at the meeting.

 

 

3 MINUTES

 

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on the 29 November 2023.

 

Minutes to follow.

 

 

03

 

The minutes of the meeting held on the 29 November 2023 were confirmed.

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

 

04

 

The Committee received and considered the Planning Officer's report which presented  a proposed change of use of part of a care home from dementia care facility (Use Class C2) to 20 residential bedrooms (sui generis use) to temporarily house families or individuals deemed as being homeless, for a period of 3 years from first occupation.

 

Members received a presentation from the Planning Officer which looked in detail at the proposal for the site, including details of comments that had been received with regard to the site.

 

Councillor Freeman asked with regard to bin storage and asked if Officers could identify where these would be located. The Planning Officer confirmed the location of the bin storage.

 

Councillor Murray-Smith asked with regard to the external appearance and whether this would be remedied before it is brought back into use. The Planning Officer advised that this would not be considered as a condition for the site but that bringing the building back into use would mean that the surrounding land would be better maintained.

 

Councillor Bird asked with regard to the management of the site and whether a management plan would be included. The Planning Officer advised that a management plan is to be secured under proposed Condition 8. An early draft of this provided to officers included "House Rules" to be followed by those living there.

 

Councillor Martin asked with regard to the sizing of the family rooms which would accommodate no more than 5 people. The Planning Officer advised that this would be best addressed within the management plan for the site which would ensure the appropriate level of occupancy for the room sizes.

 

Councillor Martin asked with regard to the use of the facility and the residents who would be using the facility. The Interim Head of Planning advised that it was hoped that a management plan would encompass a number of finer details which would sit outside of the remit of planning but Members were being asked today to decide if the application was suitable for the site.

 

Councillor Mogford commented on the concerns that had been raised with regard to noise and asked whether these could be alleviated by having suitable external doors to prevent the noise. The Interim Head of Planning advised that the proposed use at this site, given its proximity to, and the nature of surrounding uses, would not,  in his opinion, warrant having a  restrictive condition being placed upon any planning permission issued.

 

Councillor Pilkington queried the room sizes. The Officers hereby confirmed the room sizes exceeded the minimum sizes outlined in the Housing Act.

 

Claire Wilkins, Housing Delivery Manager hereby addressed the Committee to answer any questions from the Committee.

 

Councillor Murray-Smith asked with regard to the intended use of the building and whether any visiting would be included within the management plan. Claire Wilkins confirmed that residents would not be allowed visitors during the day or at night time.

 

Councillor Martin asked with regard to the length of stay possible at the property, and whether a management plan would cover this. It was confirmed that the planning application was for a 4 year temporary application (allowing a year to establish legal particulars and preparation and the 3 years' occupancy or use) and that the proposed use could not extend beyond this period without a further grant of planning permission.

 

Councillor Murray-Smith asked with regard to the temporary application and how this would be affected by those staying within the property if only valid for three years. The Interim Head of  Planning advised that the application sought to provide Members with the confidence that the application secured what was expected. Councillor Murray-Smith asked whether the application included details on what temporary use included, it was advised that this was a sui-generis application but would be covered by a management plan which would work alongside the application if approved.

 

Councillor Boyd commented that he felt this was needed in the town.

 

Councillor Martin agreed with Councillor Boyd that the facility was needed but raised some concern with regard to the facility being used by families.

 

Councillor Pilkington raised some concern with regard to the kitchen facility if all rooms were to be filled. The Planning Officer advised that the facility had two kitchens on each floor.

 

Councillor Annison moved to approve the report subject to the conditions as detailed within the Planning Officers report.

 

Following a vote it was RESOLVED :

 

That application 06/23/0815/CU be approved, subject to the proposed conditions listed within the published agenda report, and delegated authority being provided to the Head of Planning to make any required amendments to the published conditions and / or informative notes.

 

 

 

Report attached.

 

 

05

 

The Committee received and considered the Planning Officer's report which proposed a replacement of an existing unit with a storage container to be used as a retail unit. Members were advised that this was a retrospective application.

 

Members received a presentation from the Planning Officer which looked in detail at the proposal for the site, together with the proposed elevations and site plans. Comments from relevant authorities were also summarised.

 

Councillor Pilkington moved to approve the application and following a vote it was

 

RESOLVED :

 

That application 06/21/0245/F be approved, subject to the proposed conditions listed within the published agenda report, and delegated authority being provided to the Head of Planning to make any required amendments to the published conditions and / or informative notes.

 

 

6 ANY OTHER BUSINESS
To consider any other business as may be determined by the Chairman of the meeting as being of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration.

06

 

The Interim Head of Planning advised that Members would be receiving a list every Monday to show the live applications that have been allocated and this now allows for 14 days for Members to be alerted to the applications to allow time for Members to call-in if they wish for these applications to be considered by the Committee.

 

Councillor Mogford asked if a list of all applications that have been approved could also be provided to Members. The Head of Planning advised that work was ongoing on this matter and it was being looked into the possibility of this being added to a suite of new reports. It was also identified that the team were currently using an out of date IT system which was causing some delays.

 

 

Additional Meeting Documents

Attendance

Attended - Other Members
Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
Apologies
NameReason for Sending Apology
Antony Capewell 
Bernard Williamson 
Absent
NameReason for Absence
No absentee information has been recorded for the meeting.

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

 

Councillor A Wright (in the Chair); Councillors Annison, Bird, Boyd, Freeman, Galer, Green, Martin, Mogford, Murray-Smith and Pilkington.

 

Councillor Newcombe attended as substitute for Councillor Williamson.

 

Mr A Chrusciak (Interim Head of Planning), Mr R Parkinson (Development Manager), Mr R Tate (Planning Officer), Mr M Joyce (Planning Officer) Ms C Whatling (Monitoring Officer), Mr D Zimmerling (IT Support) & Mrs S Wintle (Democratic Services Manager).

 

 

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