Minutes

The minutes of the AEC meeting held on the 11^th June 2014, copies of which had been circulated, were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Mike Beech and Tim Inglefield.

There were no declarations of interest.

a)      No members of the public wished to address the meeting.

b)      Cllr Colin Winder made reference to page 13 of the minutes of the AEC meeting held on 11^th June 2014 as he was concerned that there was a double standard around the way listed buildings were dealt with. He said that as far as he was aware any changes to listed buildings needed planning permission.  Cllr Winder compared the officer’s recent recommendation for refusal for plastic windows at Brewham with work that was being carried out at the Green Dragon and Dolphin Hotel in Wincanton that should require planning permission but no pressure had been put on the owner to make a retrospective application.

The ADM informed the committee that, with regard to the Dolphin Hotel, she had contacted planning enforcement in response to Cllr Winder’s concerns to check if a planning infringement was occurring and was advised that they had done a site visit and no infringement had taken place.

The Chairman asked for the issue to be looked at and asked that AEC members be given an explanation from Development Control about the criteria used relating to any changes made to listed buildings and to confirm the situation with regard to the 2 sites raised.

Cllr Tony Capozzoli suggested that Durslade Farm Bruton should be included in the Area East planning tour or failing that, members of AEC could be given a guided tour of the new facilities at some point in the future.

It was brought to the committee’s attention that a sign had been erected by the Naval Trust, just off the A303 however the consultation regarding the planning application had not as yet been completed.  Enforcement action was required as the sign was already causing some concern.

Tony Capozzoli reported that monies form S106 obligations relating to the Barn conversions at Ilchester were not required by Yeovilton PC but they had requested the payment to be transferred to Ilchester PC.

The ADM would investigate further and inform Tony Capozzoli of the position.

Cllr Mike Lewis had attended a meeting of the Internal Drainage Board where discussion centred on the new Somerset Rivers Board which would cover all rivers in Somerset.  Cllr Lewis wanted to ensure that the maintenance of the upper catchment rivers was given priority.

There had not been a meeting of the Regulation Committee recently.  

The Chairman reminded members that there would be a planning tour for AEC members and officers on Friday July 18^th to start at 12.00 pm with a working lunch. 

Cllr Nick Colbert advised the Chairman that the Leader of the Council had arranged a meeting for Friday 18^th July therefore several members would be unable to attend the planning tour.  After a short discussion a new date for the planning tour was arranged for Friday 25^th July 2014.

A working lunch was arranged after AECin order for Sarah Dyke-Bracher, the Programme Manager of the prospective Heart of Wessex LEADER area, to explain the latest developments of the programme.

With reference to the Match Funding for the Superfast Broadband Extension where District Executive had agreed to contribute, in principle, a maximum of £640,000 to expand the provision of superfast broadband in South Somerset: - Area East members should be aware of the issue regarding the meaning of rural and ensure that the broadband coverage must extend to the whole of South Somerset. 

A short discussion ensued where members wanted to ensure that the funding was targeted towards the rural areas which otherwise would not be connected to superfast broadband under the existing programme.  They requested to see details of the areas that would benefit from the additional funding. A point was also made that some local authority areas were insisting that developers install superfast broadband in new developments. The majority of members felt that communities should be advised of the rollout programme proposed by BT and what that programme consists of.

Cllr Anna Groskop understood that SCC intended to hold workshops on the matter from September, and in her capacity as county councillor would ensure that Area East were included in the programme of workshops.

The Chairman agreed to raise the relevant points at the Area Chairs meeting next week.

Sgt Dean Hamilton and Police Inspector Tim Coombe, the officers responsible for neighbourhood policing across Area East, and South Somerset respectively addressed the committee and with the aid of a power point presentation updated members on the new policing structure due to take effect from Monday 28th July 2014.

In response to questions, Police Inspector Tim Coombe informed members that:

•         He hoped that the 3 new enforcement motor bikes would help with the speeding issues in the area;

•         Beat Managers were the initial point of contact regarding speed restriction signs and he would find out the name of the relevant officer;

•         Any changes to speed limits needed careful consideration;

•         Police presence would be retained in areas where there was police presence at the moment;

•         It was not a road traffic offence to have cars for sale on the roadside;

•         A neighbourhood base would remain in Yeovil although it was not known yet where that would be located;

•         Having conducted a comprehensive review of accommodation it was considered that the best cost effective approach was to locate a custodial suite along the area of the A303.  This custodial suite would deliver a number of cells and include additional staff resources enabling officer’s quicker turnaround times when dealing with offenders;

•         The current custody suite at Yeovil Police Station would not close until a new local custody suite had opened;

The Chairman thanked Police Inspector Tim Coombe and Sgt Dean Hamilton for their informative presentation.

NOTED

By virtue of the Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12A under paragraphs:

·          3 Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding the information)

Members agreed to pass a resolution to exclude the press and public during consideration of the following item as the public interest in maintaining the exemption from the Access to Information Rules outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

However Cllr Colin Winder did not feel that it was necessary to deal with this item in confidential session.

The Assistant Director (Health and Well-Being) addressed the committee; he updated members on progress at Wincanton Community Sports Centre following the successful transfer of the operation to LED (Leisure East Devon) on 1 November 2013.

In conclusion the Assistant Director (Health and Well-Being) considered that LED had a more robust management system and staff morale had improved. He confirmed that his report on the centre in the future would include the 5year plan.

The Neighbourhood Development Officer presented the report as detailed in the agenda. She explained that if Members were minded to support the introduction of a Wincanton focused ‘top-up’ based on the key elements, she suggested that the detail and promotion of this scheme was worked up by officers for sign off by the Ward Members and the Chairman.

Members were content to approve the recommendations.

RESOLVED:

(1)        To agree the operating criteria for the Area Wide Retail Support Initiative for 2014/15

(2)        To discuss and approve the operating principles of a Wincanton ‘top-up’ scheme

(3)        That £10,000 ring-fenced in the Revenue Reserve for the Image Development Project be re-allocated for a Wincanton top-up grant

(4)        That the Wincanton top-up grant is launched in the Autumn and reviewed after twelve months.

Reason: To agree the operating criteria for the Retail Support Initiative (RSI) during 2014/15 and consider proposals for additional support in Wincanton.

(Voting: unanimous in favour)

The ADM asked the committee to note that the report on the Balsam Centre would not be on the agenda until the AEC meeting to be held on 10^th September 2014.

NOTED

Cllr Mike Lewis made reference to the recent planning appeals where Inspectors recommendations appeared to be inconsistent.

It was suggested that the issue could be raised before the Area East planning tour.

NOTED

Members noted the next scheduled meeting of the Area East Committee will be at the Council Offices, Churchfield, Wincanton on Wednesday 13^th August 2014 at 9.00 am.

The Committee considered the applications set out in the schedule attached to the agenda and the planning officers gave further information at the meeting and, where appropriate, advised members of letters received as a result of consultations since the agenda had been prepared.

(Copies of all letters reported may be inspected in the planning applications files, which constitute the background papers for this item).

Planning Application: 14/01055/OUT: Residential Development of land. at Court Lane Milborne Port: Alterations to Court Lane and its junction with Wick Road, formation of access onto Court Lane with visibility splays. Provision of footpaths on Wick Road. for White Bros Developments.

The Planning Officer presented the report as detailed in the agenda. 

With the aid of a power point presentation the officer showed plans and photos of the site.  He confirmed that his recommendation was to approve the application, given the limited weight that could be given to policy ST3 of the local plan and the site's location adjacent to the settlement limits of Milborne Port; it was considered that, in principle, it was a sustainable location for development. No adverse impacts on the landscape, ecology, drainage, residential amenity or highway safety had been identified that justify withholding outline planning permission, all matters of detail would be adequately assessed at the reserved matters stage or by the agreement of details required by condition, the applicant had also agreed to pay the appropriate contributions

Mr J Farley of Milborne Port PC informed the committee of the reasons why the PC was opposed to the application, in particular, reference was made to the extra traffic that would come from the development and use the inadequate roads surrounding the site. It was also felt that there was already overdevelopment of the village and no-one wished to see the loss of green space. Mr Farley also referred to the outline planning application to develop the land in 1990 that was refused and dismissed at appeal.

The Committee was then addressed by Mr P Davis in opposition to the application.  He represented several local residents who considered this application was both unsuitable and unsustainable. He was disappointed that it appeared that the information used by Highways had been collected before the Tannery development had been completed; the traffic situation was much different now with the extra houses, a bad accident had also occurred in 2012. The issue of possible flooding was also of concern. Mr Davis made reference to the emerging Local Plan and the 55 houses that had already been approved in Milborne Port; there was no need to fast track this application.

The Committee was also addressed by Mr Williams the agent in support of the application; he reminded councillors that Milborne Port was classed as a Rural Centre not a village in the emerging Local Plan. He made reference to the appeal allowed on land at Wheathill Garden Centre and that there had been no objections from statutory consultees, this was a low density scheme and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.