To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors ME Cooper and SPA Daniels. 

To receive details any details of Members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

There were no named substitutes present at the meeting.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

GUIDANCE ON DECLARING PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS AT MEETINGS

The Council’s Members’ Code of Conduct requires Councillors to declare against an Agenda item(s) the nature of an interest and whether the interest is personal or prejudicial.  Councillors have to decide first whether or not they have a personal interest in the matter under discussion.  They will then have to decide whether that personal interest is also prejudicial.

A personal interest is an interest that affects the Councillor more than most other people in the area.  People in the area include those who live, work or have property in the area of the Council.  Councillors will also have a personal interest if their partner, relative or a close friend, or an organisation that they or the member works for, is affected more than other people in the area.  If they do have a personal interest, they must declare it but can stay and take part and vote in the meeting. 

Whether an interest is prejudicial is a matter of judgement for each Councillor.  What Councillors have to do is ask themselves whether a member of the public – if he or she knew all the facts – would think that the Councillor’s interest was so important that their decision would be affected by it.  If a Councillor has a prejudicial interest then they must declare what that interest is and leave the meeting room.

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 April 2008
(to follow).

RESOLVED:            That the Minutes of the meetings held on 9th April, 2008 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to The name of councillor R Mills.

To note the procedural arrangements for the meeting.

The Committee noted the procedural arrangements for hearing appeals to ensure that the laws of natural justice were followed to give a fair hearing to the applicants and to the Licensing Officers.

To consider an application made by Mr Youngto deviate from the standard condition number 1.1. for a new Hackney Carriage vehicle licence.

A report was presented by the Licensing Officer about an application for a hackney carriage vehicle licence by Mr WR Parfitt. He explained that the licence had expired on 31March 2008 and that Mr Parfitt had applied to renew it on 2 April.  The Council’s licensing conditions stipulated that applications received after the date of expiry would be treated as new applications and that the appropriate conditions and fees would apply. In the light of this, the licence had not been renewed and the matter instead had been referred to the Committee for determination.  Mr Parfitt explained the particular personal circumstances which had prevented him from renewing his licence.  He also said that when he had attempted to renew his licence, he had found that the Licensing Office was only open two days per week instead of five and he felt that this had exacerbated the situation because he had not been able to renew on time. 

Having considered all the circumstances regarding the application, the Committee accepted Mr Parfitt’s explanation of the situation and decided that the application for renewal of the licence could be granted. 

RESOLVED THAT:

an application from Mr WR Parfitt to deviate from the standard condition number 1.1, for a new application for a hackney carriage vehicle licence, be granted.

EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS 

In the opinion of the Proper Officer, the following item will not be, or is likely not to be, open to the public and press at the time it is considered.

RESOLVED:         that under section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12(A) of the Act, as indicated below.

This item discloses information relating to any particular applicant for or recipient of or former recipient of, any service provided by the authority.

To consider authorising the serving of a repairs notice under Section 48 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) on the owner of a building at Much Marcle.

Following a recommendation by the Conservation Manager, the Committee authorised the serving of a Repairs Notice under Section 48 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 on the owner of a Grade 1 listed building at Much Marcle to ensure its preservation.  If the owners fail to comply with the Notice, the building will be acquired under a Compulsory Purchase Order, subject to the approval of the Secretary of State.  The building will then be disposed of to a third party who is willing to carry out the work required by the Repairs Notice and to reimburse the Council for its costs in acquiring it.