To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors ACR Chappell, H Davies, KS Guthrie, RI Matthews and RV Stockton.

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

Councillor J Fishley was appointed named substitute for Councillor KS Guthrie.

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 receive any announcements from the Chairman.

Reeves Hill Wind Turbine Planning Application

The Head of Planning and Transportation said that following the special meeting on 12th February, details about the application and the views of Members had been forwarded to the Government Office for the West Midlands, which would decide during the nerxt few days whether or not to call in the application for determination.  He explained the process involved if the application was called in which was likely to result in the outcome not being known for some six to nine months.  If it was decided not to call the application in, the process was likely to take approximately two months to put the necessary details in place for the Section 106 Planning Obligation, further consultation and refinement of the issues that had been raised, such as noise issues and any apropriate attenuation measures required.

ISO9001

The Head of Planning and Transportation said that the Service had been recently reassessed and had continued to meet the ISO9001 standard for training and service delivery.  The Committee expressed their appreciation for the hard work of the Officers on enabling the Council to continue to meet the required standards.

To receive the attached report of the Northern Area Planning Sub-Committee meeting held on 14th January 2009.

RESOLVED: That the report of the meeting held on 14th January, 2009 be received and noted.

To receive the attached report of the Central Area Planning Sub-Committee meeting held on 7th January and 4th February 2009.

RESOLVED: That the report of the meetings held on 7th January and 4th February, 2009 be received and noted.

To receive the attached report of the Southern Area Planning Sub-Committee meeting held on 21st January 2009.

RESOLVED: That the report of the meeting held on 21st January, 2009 be received and noted.

For:        Mr.  J.  Jarvis per  Graham Frecknell Architects, 9  Agincourt  Street,   Monmouth,  Monmouthshire, NP5 3DZ

Ward: Kerne Bridge

The Southern Team Leader presented the report of the Head of Planning and Transportation for the alteration of a door to a sash window on the rear elevation, together with retrospective consent for the demolition of 2 defective chimneys and construction of a chimney on the north elevation.  He advised that the removal of the defective chimneys had been undertaken with the authorisation of the Council’s Conservation Manager in view of concerns that had been raised about the weather damage which they had suffered during recent storms.  The Committee agreed with his recommendation that the application should be approved.

RESOLVED

That Listed Building Consent be granted subject to the following condition:

1.      D01 (Time limit for commencement (Listed Building Consent)).

Reason: Required to be imposed by Section 18(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

Informatives:

1.      N19 - Avoidance of doubt - Approved Plans.

2.      N15 - Reason(s) for the Grant of PP/LBC/CAC.

For:            Garway CP School, per Herefordshire Council, Property Services, Franklin House, 4 Commercial Road, Hereford, HR1 2BB

Ward: Pontrilas

The Senior Planning Officer presented the report of the Head of Planning and Transportation about an application for the erection of a WT6000 6kw wind turbine on the north-western corner of the school grounds.  She advised that the blades would be mounted on a 15m high-galvanised steel tower with the three matt black blades forming a 5.5m swept area (maximum height 20.5m). A 1.8m high mesh fence with access gate would be erected at the base of the tower and 8 photovoltaic arrays each measuring 1.57 x 0.8m would be mounted on the roof of the school building.  He said that a letter and supporting powerpoint presentation had been received from Garway Primary School providing the following information:

‘’Garway primary school is one of only a handful of schools in Herefordshire to have achieved their 2nd Green flag award. We have a very dynamic “pupil-led” eco committee and “green” culture and the children are encouraged to grow their own vegetables (using their own worm compost); to recycle paper, foil and cans and to conserve water through the use of home-made water hippos. They have even made their own animal homes to increase the bio-diversity in the school grounds.

During the summer term of 2008, year 6 pupils undertook an audit of energy use within school. Their findings enabled them to identify the school’s carbon footprint and they were horrified to discover that every kilowatt hour of electrical energy used at school produced 1 kg of carbon dioxide, enough to fill a balloon 1 metre in diameter!

The children then looked into the various sustainable energy options available and identified a wind turbine and solar panels as the most viable technologies for our school. This research coincided with the launch of two capital grant schemes:

• the Community Sustainable Energy Programme (CSEP); and

• Phase 2 of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme.

After submitting two business cases we received confirmation in June 2008 that our applications for 100% funding under these two schemes had been successful. The proposed renewable energies will reduce our electricity costs by 50%.

Throughout the entire process we have kept parents and local residents informed of our progress via:-

• articles in the local parish magazine;

• an open afternoon at school during Grounds week in May 2008;

• a powerpoint presentation to governors and parish councillors delivered by the children themselves on Monday 14 July; and also

• letters delivered to 70 of our immediate neighbours (on 16 September) to allay any fears they may harbour with regard to noise pollution

Our application was then approved by Garway parish council on 1 December.

In summary, we feel that as the problems of climate change and dwindling fossil energy resources are becoming more and more apparent, it is important that our children understand the need:-

• to reduce energy costs;

• to understand how their behaviour effects carbon emissions;

• that climate change can be tackled in the first instance by installing these renewable energy technologies in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 96.

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

13th March, 2009