Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Rob Hiney-Saunders and Deborah Watson, and Sarah Kay (Interim Director of Planning, Devolution & Corporate Policy).

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 was no urgent business to be considered at the meeting.

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 made at the meeting.

To consider the minutes of the last meeting held on 11^th June 2025.

Moved by Councillor Steve Fritchley and seconded by Councillor Tom Munro

RESOLVED that the minutes of a meeting of the Planning Committee held on 11^th June 2025 be approved as a true and correct record.

Committee considered a report in relation to the above application presented by the Development Management and Land Charges Manager, who gave details of the application and highlighted the location and features of the site and key issues.  The planning application sought approval from the Committee for proposed layout amendments following site investigations which revealed a public sewer crossing the site was in a different location to that shown on the public sewer record – the originally designed scheme could not be developed in the manner envisaged.

Additional representations had been received and provided in the supplementary document.

To a question on any noise survey completed, the Development Management and Land Charges Manager confirmed that noise modelling had been undertaken and measures incorporated into the scheme (including mechanical ventilation to the dwellings and acoustic fencing to ensure that noise levels would be within acceptable limits from habitable rooms and outside amenity space).

Moved by Councillor Tom Munro and seconded by Councillor Phil Smith

RESOLVED that upon receiving confirmation from the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and the arrangements listed in the supplementary document will ensure no net loss of biodiversity, delegated authority be given to the Development Management and Land Charges Manager or Principal Planners to approve application no. 21/00331/FUL subject to prior entry into a S.106 legal agreement containing the obligations included in the recommendation on page 23 of the main report, and subject to the conditions listed on pages 23 – 33 of that report, including any revised or amended conditions as may be recommended by the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust:

A.    Limitation over the occupation of the dwellings to affordable housing.

B.    A contribution of £81,000 to be used by the Council for the provision for off-site biodiversity mitigation measures, including mechanisms for initial investigations, provision, and long-term management and maintenance.

AND subject to the following conditions:-

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

2.     The development hereby permitted must 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.

Documents submitted 21/05/2025:-

·       24-964-01C – Revised Layout;

·       24-964-02 – A Type Floor Plans and Elevations;

·       24-964-03 – A Type Floor Plans and Elevations;

·       24-964-04 – B Type Floor Plans and Elevations;

·       24-964-05 – F C Type Floor Plans and Elevations;

·       24-964-06 – C F Type Floor Plans and Elevations;

·       24-964-07 – D E Type Floor Plans and Elevations;

·       24-964-50 – Garden Areas Plan.

3.     Prior to the commencement of development, a Site Levels and Sections plan must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority showing existing and proposed land levels and proposed finished floor levels for the proposed dwellings.  The development must be built in accordance with any plan approved under this condition.

4.     No development comprising the erection of any external walls shall take place until samples of the materials to be used in the construction of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item PL13-25/26

Committee considered a report in relation to the above application presented by the Development Management and Land Charges Manager, who gave details of the application and highlighted the location and features of the site and key issues.  The planning application sought approval for the extension of the adjacent traveller site to provide parking and manoeuvring space.

Concerns were raised on the surface condition and speed of some road traffic users on the private road and its impact on the Public Right of Way that it carried.

Moved by Councillor Tom Munro and seconded by Councillor Janet Tait

RESOLVED that application no. 24/00503/FUL be DEFERRED to allow officers to seek confirmation from the Rights of Way Team at the County Council that they have no concerns with the use of a longer section of the private lane, which carries a Public Right of Way, for vehicles and equipment associated with a 7 pitch Gypsy and Traveller site and that the surface of the lane is suitable for multi-use without the need for any modifications or improvements.

In favour of the deferral: 7

Against the deferral: 1

Councillor Cathy Jeffery left the meeting at 14:25 hours.

Committee considered a report in relation to the above application presented by the Development Management and Land Charges Manager, who gave details of the application and highlighted the location and features of the site and key issues.  The planning application sought for the material change of use of land to station 4 residential mobile home plots for travelling showpeople with the establishment of parking, turning and amenity areas within the site.

The Development Management and Land Charges Manager informed further consultation had been received from the Principal Environmental Health Officer that was provided in the supplementary document.

An additional representation had also been received – this was provided in the supplementary document and read out to the Committee.

Councillor Tom Kirkham raised concerns with aspects of the application.

Mr. Matt Williams spoke in favour of the application (the agent).

Questions were raised on the repair and maintenance of the road surface and the installation of a locked gate.

Moved by Councillor Phil Smith and seconded by Councillor Tom Munro

RESOLVED that application no. 25/00162/FUL be APPROVED subject to the following conditions:

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

2.     The site shall not be occupied by any persons other than travelling showpeople as defined in Annex 1: of the Planning Policy for Traveller Sites Guidance December 2024 (or its equivalent in replacement in national policy).

3.     There shall be no more than four plots on the site. Each plot shall comprise no more than one caravan, as defined in the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 and the Caravan Sites Act 1968 as amended, stationed on it at any time.

4.     The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved drawings and documents unless specifically stated otherwise in the conditions below:

·       Site Location Plan - drawing 25019-2 dated 25/03/2025; and,

·       Proposed Site Plan - drawing 25019-1 Rev A dated 18/02/2025.

5.     No commercial or industrial activities shall be carried out and there shall be no storage of travelling showpeople's fairground or circus equipment on site.

6.     Prior to the commencement of the development hereby permitted, a scheme of foul drainage and surface water disposal must be submitted and approved by the local planning authority.  Prior to the occupation of the development the approved drainage schemes must be implemented fully accordance with the agreed scheme and be maintained thereafter.

7.     Prior to the commencement of development, including preparatory site clearance, a detailed badger survey for any recently excavated badger setts on the site must be undertaken.  The results and any appropriate mitigation must be submitted to the Local Planning Authority for approval and any mitigation measures implemented prior to first occupation of the mobile homes.

8.     Prior to the installation of any lighting fixtures, a detailed lighting strategy must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority to safeguard bats and other nocturnal wildlife.  This must provide details of  ...  view the full minutes text for item PL15-25/26

Committee considered a report in relation to the above application presented by the Development Management and Land Charges Manager, who gave details of the application and highlighted the location and features of the site and key issues.  The planning application sought the modification of a Section 106 agreement dated 7^th March 2011 and Deed of Variation (DOV) dated 13^th December 2016 linked to an approved residential development off Chesterfield Road, Barlborough known as ‘Hawthorne Meadows’.

An additional representation had been received and was provided in the supplementary document.

Mr. Chris Creighton spoke in favour of the application (the agent).

Mr. Nigel Griffiths was present to answer questions (the applicant), as was Mr. Richard Burns (the advisor).

Moved by Councillor Tom Munro and seconded by Councillor Phil Smith

RESOLVED that for application no. 25/00235/OTHER a Deed of Variation be entered into which allows for the delivery of 12 no. 20% discount sale affordable units on site with cascade provisions to allow for an equivalent financial contribution to be made if not sold within 6 months of marketing, and payment of a financial contribution of £98,548 in lieu of provision secured in respect of agreements relating to the Chesterfield Road, Barlborough site dated 07.03.2011 and deed of variation dated 13.12.2016.

Statement of Decision Process

Officers have worked positively and pro-actively with the applicant to secure the developer contributions required to deliver sustainable development.  This has resulted in the submission of this application to modify the obligations dated 07.03.2011 and deed of variation dated 13.12.2016 in the manner proposed.

Equalities Statement

Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 places a statutory duty on public authorities in the exercise of their functions to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (i.e., “the Public Sector Equality Duty”).

In this case, there is no evidence to suggest that the development proposals would have any direct or indirect negative impacts on any person with a protected characteristic or any group of people with a shared protected characteristic.

Human Rights Statement

The specific Articles of the European Commission on Human Rights (‘the ECHR’) relevant to planning include Article 6 (Right to a fair and public trial within a reasonable time), Article 8 (Right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence), Article 14 (Prohibition of discrimination) and Article 1 of Protocol 1 (Right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions and protection of property).

It is considered that assessing the effects that a proposal will have on individuals and weighing these against the wider public interest in determining whether development should be allowed to proceed is an inherent part of the decision-making process.  In carrying out this ‘balancing exercise’ in the above report, officers are satisfied that the potential for these proposals to affect any individual’s (or any group of individuals’) human rights has been addressed proportionately and in accordance with the requirements of  ...  view the full minutes text for item PL16-25/26

The Principal Planning Policy Officer presented the report to the Committee.

A planning authority’s 5 year housing land supply looked forward and required analysis of planning data and engagement with developers and housebuilders to forecast when and how housing sites would be built-out.

The Council’s Local Plan had been adopted on 4^th March 2020, covered 2014 to 2033 for housing requirements, and identified the need to deliver land to meet a requirement of 272 dwellings per annum.

The Council was required to review its Local Plan every 5 years.

The Committee had considered the 5 year review at a meeting on 19^th February 2025.  Members had been informed the Local Plan had proven very successful in delivering development within the District.  However, following changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and national planning guidance in December 2024, changes included national policy on the approach to the Green Belt and how local housing need would be calculated.

To calculate the current local housing need for the District, the Council had used the latest stock figure (May 2025) and the latest amended affordability factor (March 2025) in accordance with the revised standard method.  This calculation had resulted in the need for 360 dwellings per annum.

The NPPF had also reintroduced the requirement for the supply to include a buffer (5% for the Council) – applying this buffer resulted in the need for 378 dwellings per annum.

Table 1 of the report had identified between 1^st April 2014 and 31^st March 2025 the number of housing completions had exceeded the annual requirement by 959 dwellings.

The trend of completions indicated that the District’s housing market was performing strongly and in good health.  It also reflected the Council had pursued a growth agenda in recent years, seeing additional housing through ‘windfall’ sites.

Table 2 of the report showed the requirements set against the deliverable housing supply over the 5 year period from 1^st April 2025.  The supply for housing delivery on minor sites was reflected over a 3 year period with the loss of dwellings being identified in the first year:

This table showed that the potential deliverable supply exceeded the requirement throughout the 5 year period with 5.69 years of deliverable housing land supply for the period 2025/26 to 2029/30.

Attached at Appendix 1 was the Council’s annual position statement of its 5 year supply.  Attached at Appendix 2 was a full list of major development sites and their contribution to the 5 year supply.

Moved by Councillor Phil Smith and seconded by Councillor Janet Tait

RESOLVED that the Committee: 1) Notes the detailed issues set out in the report;

2)    Approves the assessment of the Council’s Annual Position Statement of Five-Year  ...  view the full minutes text for item PL17-25/26

The Principal Planning Policy Officer presented the report to the Committee.

The UK Government’s ‘Reform of Planning Committees: Technical Consultation’ had sought external views on their proposals to modernise planning committees, including the introduction of national rules for the delegation of planning functions, the size and composition of planning committees, and the mandatory training for members of planning committees.

Councillor Tom Munro left the meeting at 15:25 hours.

The UK Government was intent on speeding up the delivery of new homes, with 4 consultation and working papers published in May 2025:

The proposed reforms followed changes made to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2024, which reintroduced mandatory targets for new homes through the revised standard method of assessing local housing need and enabling development on low quality ‘grey belt’ land where housing need could not be otherwise met.

The first three consultations and working papers were focused on the delivery of homes – a summary of the contents of these three consultations was attached at Appendix 1.

Due to the deadlines for these consultations, a response had been prepared in consultation with the Portfolio Member for Growth and the Chair of the Committee and this had been submitted on behalf of the Council in advance of the deadline.

The fourth of the Government consultations, the proposed Reform of Planning Committees: Technical Consultation, was the main focus of the report.

The questions from the UK Government had proposed responses, and Members were asked for their input.

The Chair noted the UK Government’s intention to speed up the delivery of new builds likely did not take into consideration of the installation / facilitation of gas, electricity and water supplies – it was not necessarily planning authorities and housing developers causing delays.

Moved by Councillor John Ritchie and seconded by Councillor Sally Renshaw

RESOLVED that the Committee: 1) Considers the contents of the Government’s ‘Reform of Planning Committees: Technical Consultation’ and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item PL18-25/26

The Development Management and Land Charges Manager presented the report to the Committee.

In November 2016 (updated December 2024), the Department for Communities

and Local Government had produced guidance entitled, “Improving Planning Performance which included guidance on speed of Planning decisions and Quality of Planning Decisions.

The measure to be used was the percentage of the total number of decisions made by the authority on applications that were then subsequently overturned at appeal.  This was set at 10%.

The latest monitoring period was January 2025 – June 2025, and the Council had received no appeals on major planning applications and 4 appeal decisions on nonmajor planning applications – all 4 appeals were dismissed.  The Council had therefore successfully defended 100% of the decisions appealed within that period.

A full summary of the decisions made was attached at Appendix 1.

The lack of appeals generally against planning decisions taken indicated current decision making was sound and the Council’s performance in successfully defending decisions at appeal was good.

A Member thanked the Planning Team for their sterling work, with the Committee performing excellently.

Moved by Councillor Phil Smith and seconded by Councillor Janet Tait

RESOLVED that: 1) This report be noted; and,

2.     Recommend appeal decisions continue to be reported to planning committee every 6 months

The Development Management and Land Charges Manager presented the report to the Committee.

The Local Enforcement Plan (the ‘Plan’) had been adopted by the Committee in 2019 (refreshed in May 2022) and set out the service standards that Planning Enforcement Officers would consider to be specific, measurable, achievable and realistic.

Graph 1 heled to visualise the high performance of the Enforcement Officer.

Graph 2 highlighted good progress had also been made to resolve historic cases.

During January 2025 – June 2025, 7 Enforcement Notices had been served. The details of these notices were set out in the provided Table 1 of the report.  The results indicated a high performance in respect of formal planning enforcement action taken over the review period.

The Chair commended the excellent work achieved.

Moved by Councillor Phil Smith and seconded by Councillor Catherine Tite

RESOLVED that: 1) This report is 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 and that a review of the current Local Enforcement Plan is undertaken to ensure that it remains fit for purpose, with any update or new plan to be presented to a future Planning Committee.

The Chair thanked all for attending.