Issue - meetings

            That planning permission be granted for a further 6 month period subject to the conditions detailed in the report of the Head of Planning.

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Planning in respect of this application.  The usual consultations had been undertaken and the responses received detailed in the report.

            The officer detailed the background to the report and explained that the mast had originally been sited on the Shotton Lane Social Club, but had been relocated to this site when the club burned down.  A temporary mast had been put on this site for a period of six months to allow a permanent site to be found.  This had now expired and an alternative location had not yet been secured.  It was recommended that a temporary consent be granted for a further six months or until a new site was ready.   

            Councillor R.C. Bithell proposed the recommendation for approval which was duly seconded.

            Councillor C.M. Jones read out a statement from Councillor A. Minshull who had been intending to speak as local Member, but had had to leave the meeting to attend a prior engagement.  She said that the residents had been willing to allow consent for six months but that a further six months, as proposed, was unacceptable.  There were now four masts on the site and she queried whether there was a policy of mast sharing.  She asked that the application be refused by Committee. 

            Following a query from Councillor W.O. Thomas, the officer explained that the moving of the mast to this site had been under emergency powers and that there was a reasonable distance between the housing and the masts.  It had been hoped that the mast would be relocated to a site of a garage but this had not been possible. 

            RESOLVED:

            That planning permission be granted for a further 6 month period subject to the conditions detailed in the report of the Head of Planning.