Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.   

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 8 December 2014.

That subject to the above the minutes be received, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 December 2014 were submitted. 

Accuracy

Minute 42 - Supplementary Protocols (Member/Officer Relations).  Phillips Ann Earlam to read Phillipa Ann Earlam.

RESOLVED:

That subject to the above the minutes be received, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To consider the enclosed application for dispensation and any other requests that are received before the meeting.

(a)       That Councillor John Lamb be granted dispensation under paragraphs (d) and (f) of the Standards Committee (Grant of Dispensations) (Wales) Regulations 2001 to speak on sites, and not his own, which have been submitted for inclusion in the LDP.  To leave the room once spoken and before the vote takes place, on the basis that he had not previously spoken against any of those sites;

(b)       That Councillor Hilary Lamb be granted dispensation under paragraphs (d) and (f) of the Standards Committee (Grant of Dispensations) (Wales) Regulations 2001 to speak on sites, and not her own, which have been submitted for inclusion in the LDP.  To leave the room once spoken and before the vote takes place, on the basis that she had not previously spoken against any of those sites; and

(c)        That Councillor Peter York be granted dispensation under paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) of the Standards Committee (Grant of Dispensations) (Wales) Regulations 2001 for a period of 12 months (ending 8 February 2016) to speak and vote on planning application number 052922 relating to two wind turbines and in the Monitoring Officer’s view, on any other similar applications.

Application for dispensations from Councillors John and Hilary Lamb to speak only about other sites which have been submitted for inclusion in the LDP

The Chief Officer (Governance) reported on requests for dispensations received following despatch of the agenda from Councillors John and Hilary Lamb of Northop Hall Community Council.  Their requests were to speak only about sites, other than their own, which had been submitted for inclusion in the new Local Development Plan (LDP).

Mr Lamb addressed the Committee on behalf of himself and his wife and explained that they had both served on Northop Hall Community Council for 25 years.  They owned a small field in Northop Hall which their son had applied for it to be included in the LDP for small scale housing development.  They had prejudicial interests in relation to consideration of their site by the Community Council and would leave the room whilst their site was being discussed. 

However, they also believed that it could be perceived that they had prejudicial interests in all of the candidate sites because should they vote against any of the other sites for inclusion in the LDP, it could be the view that they were doing so to favour their own site by excluding others.  They therefore did not wish to vote on any sites in the LDP but they did feel that it would not serve the interests of the public if they were excluded from participating in the debate about other sites given their vast experience gained during the last 25 years. 

Of the 11 Northop Hall Community Councillors, five had less than two years’ experience, with no experience of the LDP process.  Included in that number was the Chairman who had 18 months experience as a Councillor and two Councillors having less than six months experience.  For the reasons stated, they believed that it would be in the public interest to allow them to participate in the LDP debate in relation to the other candidate sites, not their own, without the right to vote.

The Chief Officer explained the LDP process which was where plans were developed by local planning authorities in order to provide the economic, social and environmental needs of the County and provided the opportunity for engagement with a variety of stakeholders early on in the process, such as Town and Community Councils.

The Chief Officer (Governance) asked if Northop Hall Community Council had the facility for public speaking at meetings and Mr Lamb explained that public speaking was allowed at the discretion of the Chair.  Following the response, the Chief Officer clarified to the Committee that Mr and Mrs Lamb had no right to address the Community Council as members of the public as it was at the discretion of the Chair and if the Committee did not grant dispensation there was no avenue for them to share their knowledge.

He advised that it was inappropriate for them to speak on their own land which had been included in the LDP  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

That in light of having heard from the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment), the Committee were satisfied that the issues raised in the Public Services Ombudsman’s Annual Letter 2013/14 were being addressed.

The Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) provided the Committee with details on the procedures put in place following the two complaints on unauthorised development and noise and other nuisance issues, information which had been requested by the Committee at the meeting in November 2014.

                        The Chief Officer explained the importance of being upfront and clear with objectors and developers on abatement notices with proactive work being undertaken with both parties.

                        There was now a prompt in the back office system where complaints could be progressed and it was his aim to move towards a ‘self-service’ system on Flintshire’s website where the status and stage of complaints could be tracked.

                        Previous practice had been to submit quarterly reports to Town and Community Councils on enforcement issues and work was currently being undertaken with Town and Community Councils to ascertain what information they would find useful which could then be provided on the Website.

                        Robert Dewey suggested that a more explanatory status, other than ‘under consideration’ could be provided on the website with an indication of when further information was expected.  The Chief Officer said that process was due to be introduced  for Planning applications however it would be a considerable amount of work, due to the backlog, to input that data for enforcement issues.

                        In response to a question from Phillipa Earlam on where the information was kept, the Chief Officer explained that Enforcement Officers had access to the database which held all of the information.  However, with the aim to move to an on-line process, the details would be available on the website but with some of the appropriate data fields being restricted.

                        Councillor McGuill asked about the process for issuing enforcement notices following a complaint. The Chief Officer explained that an Enforcement Officer would undertake a site visit and determine if there had been a breach of planning control.  If there had not, an enforcement notice would not be served.  The complainant would be written to with information as to why the complaint was not being progressed.  He added that it was important that Town and Community Councils were aware of the enforcement process and for solutions to be negotiated wherever possible to reduce the number of enforcement notices being served.

RESOLVED:

That in light of having heard from the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment), the Committee were satisfied that the issues raised in the Public Services Ombudsman’s Annual Letter 2013/14 were being addressed.

(a)       That item on North Wales Standards Conference be deferred until after October;

(b)       That an update be provided on the vacancy on the Standards Committee; and

(c)        That further information be provided on the planning process, particularly where a decision was taken that a resolution made by the Committee had been a significant departure from policy.

The Chief Officer (Governance) explained that the North Wales Standards Conference had been rescheduled from April and would now take place in October.  The item would be moved on the Forward Work Programme.

Following a request from Ken Molyneux, the Chief Officer said the following items could be added onto the Forward Work Programme:

·         Update on the vacancy on Standards Committee

·         Further information on the planning process, particularly where a decision was taken that a resolution made by the Committee had been a significant departure from policy

RESOLVED:

(a)       That item on North Wales Standards Conference be deferred until after October;

(b)       That an update be provided on the vacancy on the Standards Committee; and

(c)        That further information be provided on the planning process, particularly where a decision was taken that a resolution made by the Committee had been a significant departure from policy.

FOR INFORMATION

                        The Chief Officer (Governance) referred to the Protocol on the Use of IT by Members, which had been circulated for information following a request at the meeting on 8 December 2014.  Also circulated for information, following despatch of the agenda, was the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) Social Media Guidance.

There were three members of the public in attendance.

There were three members of the public in attendance.