Agenda item

That agenda item 6.4 – Application for outline planning permission – Erection of a detached bungalow at Belmont, South Street, Caerwys (050169) be deferred.    

The Head of Planning advised that deferment of the following application was recommended:

Agenda item 6.4 – Application for outline planning permission - Erection of a detached bungalow at Belmont, South Street, Caerwys (050169) – a request from the applicant to defer the application had been received to allow for further work on the application to be undertaken

On being put to the vote, deferment of the application was agreed. 

Agenda Item 7

Councillor P.G. Heesom requested that agenda item 7 be deferred as he felt that short notice of the agenda item had been given to Members.  He also requested that a special meeting be held within the next 10 days to consider the item as the date for the appeal Inquiry was 30 January 2013.  In response, the Democracy & Governance Manager said that the normal notice had been given to Members and the local Member had been notified in advance that the report was being submitted.  He felt that to defer the application would be a disadvantage to the Council but that if the Committee wanted any further information, he suggested that consideration be given to excluding the Press and Public from the meeting. 

Councillor R.C. Bithell felt that the application should be dealt with at this meeting.  Councillor A.M. Halford said that as the former Chair of Planning, the issues had given her cause for concern and that Councillor Heesom’s request to defer was about protecting the residents of Prince of Wales Avenue.  Councillor C.A. Ellis asked why determination of the application could not be deferred for a month as the Inquiry was not due to be held until 30 January 2013 and the next Planning Committee meeting was scheduled to be held before that date.  She said that this would allow a meeting to be held between Councillor Heesom and officers within thenext 10 days and for the findings to be reported to the January 2013 Planning & Development Control  Committee meeting. 

The Democracy & Governance Manager referred to a circular about costs being awarded to either party if the Inspector felt that either party had acted unreasonably.  He spoke of costs which had been awarded against Flintshire County Council in the past and reminded Members that costs increased as the appeal drew closer.  The report detailed a course of action and the Democracy & Governance Manager said that the longer the delay in deciding on the approach to take, the higher the award of costs against Flintshire County Council could be.  His advice was to consider the report today. 

Councillor H.G. Roberts said that there was currently no reason to support deferment but that if reasons became apparent during discussion of the item that deferment was required, then this could be considered at that time.  Councillor M.J. Peers concurred with these comments.  Councillor D. Butler queried why the request to defer the discussion was taking place now as he felt that it could have been requested prior to the meeting and agreed that the report should be considered at this meeting. 

In response to the suggestion by Councillor Ellis to defer the discussion to the January 2013 meeting, the Head of Planning said that the evidence for the appeal had to be submitted prior to the next meeting of the Planning & Development Control Committee. 

Councillor Heesom was concerned that the evidence before Members was misleading and reiterated his request for a special meeting to be held to consider the report. 

On being put to the vote, the proposal to defer consideration of the report was LOST. 

Agenda item 6.1

The Democracy & Governance Manager commented on application 6.1 (Full application – erection of 20 no. semi-detached dwellings, part reconfiguration of existing (unadopted) road and extending to form new road layout) and the supplementary report which had been sent out to Members in advance of this meeting.  He said that it was important that Members had clear written advice before reaching a decision, which he did not feel that Members currently had.  At the time of the agenda setting meeting, advice had not been received from the Valuation Office which led to the original report not receiving the normal consideration by others prior to despatch of the agenda.  The information had now been received and this led to the supplementary report being issued.  He advised that Members needed to decide whether to deal with the application today or defer it to a subsequent meeting to allow one comprehensive report to be considered by the Committee at the next meeting.  The Head of Planning said that it was the first time that the principle of viability had been before the Committee.  Councillor M.J. Peers proposed that the application be dealt with at this meeting. 

Councillor A.I. Dunbar sought advice on his position in relation to agenda item 6.1.  In response, the Democracy & Governance Manager suggested a short adjournment to allow him to advise Councillor Dunbar.  Following the adjournment, Councillor Dunbar indicated that he would leave the meeting during the determination of agenda item 6.1 (Full application – erection of 20 no. semi-detached dwellings, part reconfiguration of existing (unadopted) road and extending to form new road layout).   

RESOLVED:

That agenda item 6.4 – Application for outline planning permission – Erection of a detached bungalow at Belmont, South Street, Caerwys (050169) be deferred.