To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors DW Greenow & RI Matthews.

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

Councillor GHR Goodwin was appointed named substitute for Councillor DW Greenow and Councillor G Powell for RI Matthews.

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 14th November, 2008.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 9th January, 2009 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman

To receive any announcements from the Chairman.

The Assistant Chief Executive Legal & democratic read out the contents of a letter which had been received from the Government Office for the West Midlands.  The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government had directed that the Council should not grant planning permission on the wind turbines application set out in Agenda item No.6 for the meeting, until she had considered whether it should be referred to her for determination.  She had said however that the Committee could consider the application and be mindful to refuse it if saw fit, and that the applicants would still have the right to appeal. 

The Head of Planning and Transportation outlined the options available to the Committee which were to:-

(a)               be mindful to approve the application as recommended and seek the views of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government as to whether it should be referred to her for determination;

(b)               make a decision contrary to the recommendation taking into consideration all the apropriate material planning issues, the Councils policies, Government policies and the impact of the scheme on the landscape and historic setting or;

(c)               to defer the matter in the light of the further representations made and to seek more information from the applicants about the proposal.

He said that the application was a complex one and that the special meeting had therefore been arranged to consider it, with more time being allocated for public speaking.  He asked the committee to focus on the policies contained within the Herefordshire Unitary Development Plan and all the material planning considerations including Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 22, which was a very clear policy introduced by the Government to support schemes which involved sources of renewable energy.  These policies and considerations needed to be weighed carefully upon the impact of such a scheme on the historic landscape of the area and the affect that it would have on nearby residents. 

The Chairman said that at this juncture he would proceed with the presentation of the application and public speaking.  If it was subsequently decided to defer the application and the matter was considered at a future meeting, he would allow public speaking to take place for a second time in view of the considerable public interest about the application.

For:      Mr Corker per Mr Wilson Dulas Ltd Unit 1 Dyfi Eco Park Machynlleth Powys SY20 8AX.

To consider a planning application which has been submitted to the Committee because of its strategic importance to the County.

Ward: Mortimer

The Principal Planning Officer presented the report of the Head of Planning and Transportation about a planning application for the provision of four wind turbines and associated works at Reeves Hill in the northwest of the County, on land comprising approximately 3.81 hectares across three separate farm holdings.  He explained the process that had been involved in preparing the report and the extensive consultations that had been undertaken with the public, interested parties and groups, statutory undertakers and Powys County Council.  He showed slides of the application site and a visual impression of what the turbines might look like when viewed from different locations and distances to indicate what their impact might be on the landscape and historic setting of the area.  He drew attention to the following corrections to the report and read out the updates which had been received since it had been printed:-

Corrections to the report

paragraph 1.2  - ‘Within 2km of the site are approx. 15 isolated dwellings’  should be ‘Within 1km of the site’;

paragraph 2.1 referred to Planning Policy Guidance 7 should be Planning Policy Statement 7;

paragraph 6.2 - the Energy White Paper dated February 2007 should be February. 2001; and

paragraph 6.86  - Tipton Farm House was 600 metres from the site of the nearest proposed turbine, not 600 metres from the application site.

Shobdon Airport

The Manager of Shobdon Airport had objected to the application on the grounds that the Airport believed that the proposed development would have a significant impact upon flight safety in the Shobdon/Presteigne area.  He had contended that because the site was only 6nm from the air traffic zone of the airfield, in difficult weather conditions a pilot who was diverted to Shobdon Airport would be unable to see the turbines.  He was also concerned about the impact of the proposed development on other activities at the airport such as gliding and microlights and the impact on navigational and communication facilities used at the airfield

Officer Comments

The issues raised by the airport manager were not considered to be sufficient material planning grounds for refusal of the application.  Other relevant air traffic consultees had raised no material planning objections to the application. The airport operated with a license obtained from the Civil Aviation Authority which had not raised the matter as an issue in their response to the application.

The Georgian Group

Further comment has been received from the Georgian Group that was concerned about the impact of the proposed development on the late-Georgian designed landscape of international significance. It also considered that the impact had been underplayed in the Environmental Statement to an extent that was seriously misleading. They were particularly concerned about the impact on Brampton Bryan Park and Stanage Park.

Officer Comments

The issues raised by the Georgian Group were noted but the application site was not subject to special landscape designation and officers were of the opinion that although there would be some impact on views from both parklands, it would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

20/02/09;

13/03/09 – additional meeting to deal with referred planning application green-waste composting facility; office / welfare facility, storage building, weighbridge, hardstanding process area, car parking, ancillary infrastructure and landscaping at Upper House Farm, Moreton-on-Lugg and;

03/04/09;

15/05/09

13/03/09; 03/04/09; and 15/05/09