To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs R.I. Matthews, R. Preece and Mrs. S.J. Robertson.

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

The following substitutions were made:

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

There were no declarations of interest made.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 1st October, 2004.

RESOLVED:   That the Minutes of the meeting held on 25th November, 2004 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman.

The Chairman reported on the following matters:-

JULIE PRESTON  - CHIEF PLANNING SERVICES OFFICER

Julie will regrettably be leaving the Council at the end of January 2005.  She has been a much valued officer in the delivery of Planning Services and will be missed particularly for her advice and presentation skills when advising Members in Committee.  Many Members will have know Julie in her time with the Leominster District Council before she joined Herefordshire Council and have fond memories of their working relationship with her.

TEAM LEADER CENTRAL AREA

Following interviews last week, Bernard Eacock had been appointed as the new team leader for the Central Area.  Mr Eacock had previously worked for Herefordshire Council as a senior planning officer until January 2003 when he left the Council to join the Brecon Beacons national Park planning Authority, to work as a development control team leader for major projects.  He will start work for the Council early in the New Year.

UDP PUBLIC INQUIRY

The UDP Pre-Inquiry meeting involving the Inspector, Mr Clive Richardson, objectors and other interested parties was held in the Shire Hall on Wednesday 24 November 2004.  The Inquiry would commence on 8 February 2005 to hear representations in connection with over 3000 objections and was expected to finish in June following which the Inspector will prepare a report containing his recommendations.

NATIONAL INCREASE IN PLANNING APPLICATIONS

Members may have seen news coverage of the problems being caused by large increases in planning applications being made to Council’s across the country.  In the late 1990’s Local Planning Authorities were receiving around 211,000 planning applications in England and Wales each year.  By 2003/04 this figure had risen to around 335,000.  Herefordshire Council had experienced even larger increases recently with 3,700 applications being received in 2003/04.  This figure was projected to increase to around 4,500 by the end of 2004/05.  Although such increases resulted in increased levels of fee income they inevitably place significant additional pressure on staff and IT resources which do not increase at the same rate.

To receive the attached report of the Northern Area Planning Sub-Committee meeting held on 6th October and 3rd November.

RESOLVED: That the report of the meetings held on 6 October and 3 November 2004 be received and noted.

To receive the attached report of the Central Area Planning Sub-Committee meeting held on 27th September, 20th October and 17th November, 2004.

RESOLVED: That the report of the meetings held on 27 September, 20 October and 17 November 2004 be received and noted.

To receive the attached report of the Southern Area Planning Sub-Committee meeting held on 29th September and 27th October 2004.

RESOLVED: That the report of the meetings held on 29 September and 27 October 2004 be received and noted.

To consider a planning application which has been referred to the Committee by the Head of Planning Services because the Central Area Planning Sub-Committee is minded to approve it, contrary to the Council's Planning Policies and officer recommendations.

Ward: Hollington

The Development Control Manager said that the Central Area Planning Sub-Committee was mindful to approve the application and that it had been referred to the Committee by the Head of Planning Services because approval would be contrary to the Council’s planning policies.  He explained that approval would be contrary to South Herefordshire’s District Local Plan policies SH11 (Housing in the Countryside) and GD1 (General Development Criteria).

In accordance with the criteria of public speaking Mr Cook spoke on behalf of Little Dewchurch Parish Council and Mrs Francis spoke in support of the application.

The Development Control Manager said that the application was recommended for refusal because it constituted a new dwelling in the open countryside. He also said that although there was a case of need and that the Officers were very sympathetic towards the circumstances of the applicants, personal reasons could not outweigh the planning policies stipulated by the Government and by the Council.  He felt that the applicants had not made sufficient investigation into the alternative ways in which their accommodation needs could be met. 

Councillor WJS Thomas, the local Ward Member, disagreed with the appraisal by officers and felt that planning permission should be granted.  He was of the opinion that weight should be given to a number of considerations including the applicant’s health problems and the potential for the proposal to assist in their quality of life; the importance of farm diversification and how the bed and breakfast business ensured the viability of the farm. He also felt that the proposed bungalow would not have a significantly greater impact than that of the storage building that it would replace; and the scattered nature of the settlements in this part of the County meant that many dwellings were outside village envelopes.  A number of Members spoke in support of the application and commented on the need for flexibility and awareness in considering such applications; some felt that the development plan should take local need into account in respect of small developments, particularly where there was a pressing need demonstrated by the applicants which was tied to an existing agricultural business.  Those in favour felt that material considerations could play a major part in the decision and that the layout of the existing buildings did not easily lend them to conversion of the residential accommodation. 

The Chairman drew attention of Members to the fact that although officers and Members were sympathetic to the personal circumstances of the applicants, the Committee needed to ensure that the proposals complied with established and adopted planning policies.  In the case of the application this was not so and he strongly advised Members to vote against.  The Committee discussed all aspects of the application, the circumstances facing the applicants and were reminded of the Councils planning policies and the reasons why they were in place.  Having considered all the aspects involved, the Committee felt that in the case of this application an exception could be made particularly in view of its being tied  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

To consider a planning application submitted on behalf of a Member of the Council.

Ward: Ross-on-Wye East

RESOLVED: That planning permission be granted subject to the following conditions:

1      A01 (Time limit for commencement (full permission) )

            Reason: Required to be imposed by Section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

2          A06 (Development in accordance with approved plans )

            Reason: To ensure adherence to the approved plans in the interests of a satisfactory form of development.

3             Before any work commences on site details of the colour intended for the external roofing material shall first be submitted to and be subject to the prior written approval of the local planning authority.

            Reason:  To ensure that the development is satisfactory in appearance.

Informative

1          N15 - Reason(s) for the Grant of Planning Permission

To consider the Draft Development Brief for the Frome Valley Haulage Depot, Bishops Frome and approve it for public consultation purposes with a view to it forming interim supplementary planning guidance to the Unitary Development Plan. (A copy of the draft is enclosed separately for Members of the Planning Committee)

Ward: Frome

The Forward Planning Manager presented a draft Development Brief for the Frome Valley Haulage Depot, Bishops Frome.  He advised that the Brief had been prepared to guide the future development of the site which had been identified for a housing allocation of 15 units within the emerging Unitary Development Plan (UDP). The Brief had been prepared jointly between the Council and developers of the site and provided additional details to supplement the policies of the UDP.  The preparation of the Brief had followed an initial submission from the landowner’s agent and internal consultation to ensure that all site issues and requirements were addressed, particularly those requiring planning obligations. The Draft had been approved by Planning Committee on 16^th July 2004 for consultation purposes and consultation has been conducted by the Parish Council. Consideration had been given to the issues raised by the Parish Council in preparing the final version of the Brief. The issues raised concerned open space provision, pedestrian crossing access, dwelling numbers and car parking provision. The Brief has been altered to include as a requirement, a pedestrian crossing point to access the existing footpath on the opposite side of the carriageway but it was not possible within the context of the policies of the UDP to make further changes.

The aim of the Brief was to:

• establish the development framework in a positive and enabling manner providing a development concept early in the development plan process;
• identify development requirements before land values are set to ensure the delivery of viable schemes;
• provide greater certainty; and
• promote good design standards and address plan policy issues

Councillor RM Manning, the local Ward Councillor, welcomed the proposals and enquired if provision could be made for up to 30 car parking spaces within the scheme.  The Forward Planning Manager said that this level of detail would be appropriate for any future planning application and was not something that would be included within the brief. Councillor RM Manning also advised that no formal play area should be provided within the site, and that this was the view of the Parish Council. It was agreed that the brief be amended to reflect this, with commuted payments being sought in lieu of on site provision.  

RESOLVED: That the Draft development brief for Frome Valley Haulage Depot, Bishops Frome, be adopted as amended as interim Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Unitary Development Plan.

To inform members of the consultation process undertaken on the updated Supplementary Planning Guidance.

Wards: County-wide

The Team Leader (Strategic Planning) presented the report of the Forward Planning Manager and the Head of Strategic Housing Services about the consultation process undertaken on the updated Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) for the provision of affordable housing.  He said that the Cabinet Member (Environment) had authorised the updating of the SPG in July following which a consultation process had been undertaken.  He outlined the aims of the SPG and provided the Committee with details of the comments which had been received.  He also said that some nine organisations had been consulted including developers and social landlords and from the responses minor changes had been proposed to the SPG.

resolved: That it be recommended to the Cabinet Member (Environment) that the updated document, including the suggested amendments be adopted and published as an updated version of the existing Supplementary Planning Guidance

To present to members the results of the Herefordshire Housing Land and Herefordshire Employment Land Studies 2004. (a copy of the documentation is enclosed separately for Members of the Planning Committee)

Wards: County-wide

A report was presented by the Team Leader (Strategic Planning) about the results of the Herefordshire Housing Land and Employment Land Studies 2004.  He said that the study was based on annual surveys and that this year employment land had also been included.  He advised that the Studies helped to provide part of an annual monitoring report on the effectiveness of the Councils planning policies.  He also said that as part of the changes to the planning system brought about by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 there was a requirement for the Council to prepare an Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) to Government on progress in preparing the documents set out in the Local Development Scheme (LDS), and on how far planning policies were being achieved.  The content of the AMR would be developed over time to meet the requirements of the new system and would be submitted to Cabinet via the Planning Committee at the appropriate stage.  An important part of the AMR would be the presentation of evidence regarding the extent to which policies within Local Development Documents were being achieved and in particular the number of dwellings built in Herefordshire during the period. 

A considerable amount of monitoring was already undertaken within the Council and this was provided to the Regional Planning Body to present in its annual monitoring report.  In addition a report outlining the results of the annual Housing Land Study had been presented for information purposes to the Planning Committee each year since 1999.  It had revealed that of the 661 dwellings completed in the current year, 69% had been constructed on brown field sites.  There had been 94 affordable dwellings constructed and since 1996 some 777 had been built.  Government advice suggested a target of 30 dwellings per hectare which compared to an average of 11 per hectare in the rural area of Hereford and 27 per hectare within the urban areas.  183 hectares of employment land had been identified within the study but of this 73 hectares was constrained for a number of reasons.  Members were concerned that in some cases where land had been identified for future employment use the owners were tending to wait to see if it could be designated for residential use.  It was important for land identified for employment use to be retained as such to help with the future provision. The Team Leader (Strategic Planning) said that the results of the studies were used to help with the determination of planning applications and could be used as evidence to determine whether land should be developed for industrial or residential purposes.

RESOLVED: THAT

(a)the results of the Herefordshire Housing Land Study 2004 and Employment Land Study 2003-2004 be noted;

(b)               the Herefordshire Housing Land Study 2004 and Employment Land Study 2003-2004 be published as a record of the housing and employment land position in the County.