Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received on behalf of Councillors Phil Smith and Carol Wood.

To note any urgent items of business which the Chairman has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items of business to consider.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations of interest made.

To consider the minutes of the last meeting held on 29^th November 2023.

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor John Ritchie

RESOLVED that the Minutes of a Planning Committee held on 29^th November 2023 be approved as a correct record.

Committee considered a detailed report in relation to the above application.

The application was previously reported to Planning Committee on 1st November 2023, when it was resolved to grant planning permission subject to the completion of a S106 Planning Obligation; the S106 agreement had not yet been completed.

It was noted that contributors to the planning application were not given the opportunity to address Planning Committee due to a procedural error.

In light of this, it was necessary for invitations to contributors to address the Planning

Committee be offered and in order to do this, it was also necessary for the Planning

Committee to reconsider the application.

The original report was included at Appendix 1 to the report with the relevant extract

from the supplementary update report included at Appendix 2. The Officer recommendation remained unchanged.

Mark Fitzpatrick (agent) attended the meeting and spoke for the application.

Simon Jaggs attended the meeting and spoke against the application on behalf of local residents.

A Member raised several concerns, one due to pollution from the nearby A38, and

highway safety. The Principal Planner advised Committee that both Environmental

Health and Derbyshire County Council Highways had been consulted and had not

raised any concerns with the proposed development.

Referring to the site visit undertaken by Committee Members on Friday 27th October

2023, a Member raised his concern that the site had been found to be water logged,

and he questioned what measures would be put in place to prevent flooding if the

application was approved. The Principal Planner advised Committee that currently the site was unmanaged and therefore no measures were in place, however, subject to approval this would be managed under the conditions as set out in the report.

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Rob Hiney-Saunders

RESOLVED that the application be APPROVED subject to prior entry into a Section106 legal agreement containing the following planning obligations:

1) Limitation over the occupation of the dwellings to affordable housing,

2) Procedures for the transfer and adoption of open areas and play space,

3) Maintenance sums for open areas and play space.

AND subject to the following conditions:

1. The development shall be begun before the expiration of three years from the

date of this permission.

To comply with the requirements of Section 51 of the Planning and Compulsory

Purchase Act 2004.

2. The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the

following approved drawings and documents, unless otherwise required and/or

approved under other conditions of this planning permission:

• Revised drawings submitted 26/06/2023:

o FP-22001-P-117 REV P0 Revised Walk-Up Apartments (Plot No's 34-41

Inclusive) - Elevations & Floor Plans

o FP-22001-P-204 REV P0 Revised 2b4p House Types 2d - Elevations &

Floor Plans

o FP-22001-P-206 REV P0 Revised 2b4p House Types 2a & 2d - Elevations

& Floor Plans

o FP-22001-P-207 Revised House Types 3a - Elevations & Floor Plans

o FP-22001-P-209 Revised House Types 3b(1) - Elevations & Floor Plans

o FP-22001-P-212 Revised House Types 3c - Elevations & Floor Plans

o  ...  view the full minutes text for item PL14-22/23

The Assistant Director of Planning and Planning Policy updated the Committee on the service targets set out in the Local Enforcement Plan (Planning) from 1st July 2023 –31st December 2023, and also provided an update on historic enforcement cases that were still ongoing.

Wherever possible, all high priority cases would be visited on the same day that a suspected breach of planning control had been identified, and if not, within one working day. Following this, a decision of what action would be taken next would be required within 24 hours of a visit being undertaken.

A medium priority case would be visited within two weeks of the suspected breach being identified, and a further decision of what action to be taken would be provided in the following four weeks. An example of a medium priority case would be an unauthorised development that significantly impacted on public safety or resulted in the harm of a conservation area or setting of a listed building.

Low priority cases would be visited within six weeks and a decision on action would be made within a further six weeks. An example of this would be someone running a small business from a residential property or unauthorised advertisements.

During the period 1st July 2023 – 31st December 2023, 110 unauthorised activity enquiries were received. Out of these, 1 was considered high priority, 18 medium priority and 90 low priority. As a total, 96% of cases began investigation within the target time.

The 1 high priority case was currently pending consideration. Investigations began within 1 working day (100%). Out of the 18 medium priority cases, 10 were currently pending consideration and 8 had been closed. Investigations began on 18 out of the 18 within two weeks (100%). Out of the 90 low priority cases, 43 were currently pending consideration and 47 had been closed. Investigations began on 86 out of the 90 cases within six weeks (96%).

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Tom Munro

RESOLVED that:

(1)  the report be noted; and

(2) the Planning department’s performance against the Service Standards in the Local Enforcement Plan and updates on planning enforcement continue to be reported to Planning Committee on a half-yearly basis.

Committee was advised that in March 2022, work had commenced on the preparation of a Growth Plan for Shirebrook. Growth Plans were non-statutory planning documents that sat on top of the Local Plan for Bolsover District and directed where additional growth would be acceptable to the Council over and above that planned in the Local Plan.

The preparation of the Shirebrook Growth Plan had undergone two stages of public consultation - the initial consultation exercise in March 2022, and a masterplanning consultation exercise in September 2022.

The draft Shirebrook Growth Plan identified three realistic options for the quantum of growth that could be pursued, and identified the potential development sites that had been promoted to the Council that could deliver these potential options, namely:

·       Option A – Limited additional growth;

·       Option B – Medium additional growth;

·       Option C – High additional growth.

The draft Shirebrook Growth Plan document was contained in Appendix 1 to the report and the next step was to publish it for public consultation.

Subject to approval, it was planned that the 4 week consultation exercise would commence on Friday 1st March 2024 and end on Friday 5th April 2024. The dates were subject to change dependent on the time taken to transfer the document from Microsoft Word into a web-based, accessible document on the new consultation website portal using the secured external funding through the Government’s PropTech Innovation Fund.

Moved by Councillor John Ritchie and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED that:

(1) the contents of the proposed draft Shirebrook Growth Plan as detailed in the report and as set out in full at Appendix 1, be approved; and

(2) delegated authority is given to the Assistant Director of Planning and Planning Policy, in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair of Planning Committee, to agree the final arrangements of the proposed consultation exercise on the draft Shirebrook Growth Plan.

(Assistant Director of Planning and Planning Policy)

Committee considered a report which provided an update to Members on the outcome of the consultation exercise on the draft Local Parking Standards Supplementary Planning Document.

The prepared Local Parking Standards Supplementary Planning Document had been reported to the Local Plan Implementation Advisory Group (LPIAG) on 18^th October 2023. The document was then subject to a targeted consultation exercise with statutory consultees, as well as developers and agents and other consultation bodies registered on the Council’s Local Plan database. Copies of the document and representation forms were also made available at local libraries and contact centres.

The consultation exercise ran for 4 weeks between Monday 30th October 2023 to 5pm on Monday 27th November 2023.

The Council received four submissions during the consultation period and a further late submission.

Appendix 1 to the report detailed the representations received during the consultation and the Council’s response. The main points raised were in relation to the following:

·       Parking in conservation areas;

·       Landscape strip between driveways;

·       Use of garages as a parking space;

·       On street parking;

·       Acceptability of gravel driveways.

Revisions were made to the Local Parking Standards Supplementary Planning

Document (SPD) following consultation as set out in Appendix 1 to the report. The final document was attached as Appendix 2 to the report.

A Member raised concern relating to the use of gravel for driveways and the health and safety implications. It was noted that while gravel was discouraged each application would be taken on a case by case basis and the Supplementary Planning Document allowed for flexibility so other factors such as gradient, type of gravel chip and size could all be taken into consideration.

It was noted that grass verges added to the aesthetics of a development and were good for wildlife, however, there were issues with people driving over them and the maintenance and upkeep of them.

A Member queried if it was typical for new build houses to have two off street parking spaces as standard. The Assistant Director of Planning and Planning Policy advised that it was done on a sliding scale dependent on the number of bedrooms in the property.

It was also noted that there was only so much that could be done through planning as some properties had the spaces available, but people still chose to park on the street.

Members wished to note their thanks to the officers for their hard work on producing the Supplementary Planning Document.

Moved by Councillor John Ritchie and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED that:

(1) the outcome of the consultation exercise as set out in the report and Appendix 1 be noted;

(2) the proposed responses to the main points and the consequential  revisions to the proposed Supplementary Planning Document as set out in the report and at Appendix 2 be approved; and

(3) the Local Parking Standards Supplementary Planning Document be recommended to Council for adoption as a material consideration in planning decisions.