Agenda item
Items to be deferred
Decision:
That agenda item 6.1 be deferred to the next available meeting of the Committee.
Minutes:
Prior to considering the items recommended for deferment, the Chief Officer (Planning, Environment & Economy) advised on the following matters:-
· Training has recently been provided by the Welsh Planning Inspectorate but only one date had been made available to Members. It had been agreed that the Chief Officer would obtain a copy of the presentation and re-deliver the training to those Members who had been unable to attend. A date for the training had been arranged for 12th July at 5.30 p.m. and an e-mail confirmation would be sent to Members in due course;
· Members of the Committee will have received an e-mail from the Senior Solicitor that a previous decision of the Planning Committee on Dollar Park had been considered by the Court of Appeal. There had not been time to add the report to the agenda for this meeting, therefore the decision would be reported to the June meeting. The decision vindicated the Planning Officer for all the work she had done on this application;
· Members of the Committee will have also received an e-mail from the Development Manager explaining the Welsh Government’s (WG) recent decision to consult on the dis-application of paragraph 6.2 of Technical Advice Note (TAN) 1 and how much weight is given to the lack of a 5 year land supply for housing when determining applications for residential development. The WG consultation ends on 21st June and it was proposed that a report would be submitted to the next Planning Strategy Group meeting on 15th June to agree a consultation response on behalf of the Council.
Councillor Richard Jones commented on the recent Court of Appeal decision, as detailed above, and suggested that, whilst Emma Hancock, the Planning Officer who had dealt with the application was no longer with the Authority, a letter should be sent to her thanking her for her work and informing her of the decision, which was important in terms of a professional view point. The Committee agreed that the Chairman send a letter to Emma Hancock from following the meeting.
Councillor Chris Bithell advised of a recent meeting he had attended with the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs where it had been announced that Planning Policy TAN 1 would be suspended. He had welcomed this announcement but noted that now WG were merely consulting on the dis-application. He encouraged all Members to respond to the consultation individually.
Councillor Jones asked whether, given the suspension of Planning Policy TAN 1, it was possible to stop and re-examine planning applications where there had been weight given to this Policy and permission had been granted but certificates had yet to be issued. The Chief Officer advised that all applications were being reviewed in light of the WG consultation. For planning applications where the Committee had previously made a resolution, these had been granted in line with correct information at that time. A letter had been sent to the Inspectorate to highlight the suspension of TAN 1 in view of any appeals being considered. He agreed to circulate a copy of the list of appeals awaiting decision to the Planning Committee following the meeting. The Senior Solicitor confirmed that the consultation on TAN 1 was irrelevant to the planning decisions previously made by the Committee.
Items to be deferred
Agenda item 6.1 - Outline Application for Residential Development at Megs Lane, Buckley (057056)
The Chief Officer advised that the above item was recommended for deferral. He also advised that the following item had been withdrawn:
Agenda item 6.2 – Outline Application for the Erection of a Dwelling at Bayonne, Hafod Road, Gwernaffield (058124)
Councillor Jones moved the deferral which was seconded and agreed by the Committee.
RESOLVED:
That agenda item 6.1 be deferred to the next available meeting of the Committee.