Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies were received from Cllr B Hitchcock and Cllr J Challinor

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications. 

There were no substitute members

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

The following declarations of interest were made:

Cllr M Tarling declared for transparency that he knew one of the parties that objected to 12 Purewell, Christchurch, BH23 1EP. For that reason, Cllr M Tarling did not speak or vote on the item and left the room during its consideration.

On being advised of the nature of the item of urgent business, Cllr Gillett did not speak and left the room during its consideration.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 21 September and 2 October 2023.

The minutes of the meetings held on 21 September and 2 October 2023 were confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

To receive any requests to speak on planning applications which the Planning Committee is considering at this meeting.

The deadline for the submission of requests to speak is 10.00am of the working day before the meeting. Requests should be submitted to Democratic Services using the contact details on the front of this agenda.

Further information about how public speaking is managed at meetings is contained in the Planning Committee Protocol for Public Speaking and Statements, a copy of which is included with this agenda sheet and is also published on the website on the following page:

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=290

Summary of speaking arrangements as follows:

Speaking at Planning Committee (in person or virtually):

·       There will be a maximum combined time of five minutes to speak in objection and up to two persons may speak within the five minutes.

·       There will be a further maximum combined time of five minutes to speak in support and up to two persons may speak within the five minutes.

·       No speaker may speak for more than half this time (two and a half minutes) UNLESS there are no other requests to speak received by the deadline OR it is with the agreement of the other speaker.

Submitting a statement to Planning Committee as an alternative to speaking:

·       Anyone who has registered to speak by the deadline may, as an alternative to attending/speaking in person or virtually, submit a written statement to be read out on their behalf.

·       Statements must be provided to Democratic Services by 10.00am of the working day before the meeting.

·       A statement must not exceed 450 words (and will be treated as amounting to two and a half minutes of speaking time).

Please refer to the full Protocol document for further guidance.

Note: The public speaking procedure is separate from and is not intended to replicate or replace the procedure for submitting a written representation on a planning application to the Planning Offices during the consultation period.

The Chair advised that there were a number of requests to speak on planning applications as detailed under individual items below.

To consider the planning applications as listed below.

See planning application reports circulated with the agenda, as updated by the agenda addendum sheet to be published one working day before the meeting.

Councillors are requested where possible to submit any technical questions on planning applications to the Case Officer at least 48 hours before the meeting to ensure this information can be provided at the meeting.

The running order in which planning applications will be considered will be as listed on this agenda sheet.

The Chairman retains discretion to propose an amendment to the running order at the meeting if it is considered expedient to do so.

Members will appreciate that the copy drawings attached to planning application reports are reduced from the applicants’ original and detail, in some cases, may be difficult to read. To search for planning applications, the following link will take you to the main webpage where you can click on a tile (area) to search for an application.  The link is:

https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/Planning-and-building-control/Search-and-comment-on-applications/Search-and-comment-on-applications.aspx

Councillors are advised that if they wish to refer to specific drawings or plans which are not included in these papers, they should contact the Case Officer at least 48 hours before the meeting to ensure that these can be made available.

To view Local Plans, again, the following link will take you to the main webpage where you can click on a tile to view the local plan for that area. The link is:

https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/Planning-and-building-control/Planning-policy/Current-Local-Plans/Current-Local-Plan.aspx

The Committee considered planning application reports, copies of which had been circulated and which appear as Appendices A to B to these minutes in the Minute Book. A Committee Addendum Sheet was published on 18 October 2023 and appears as Appendix C to these minutes. The Committee considered the planning applications in the order set out below:

Boscombe East and Pokesdown Ward

7-2023-15650-B

Outline Submission for demolition of buildings and erection of a block of 13 flats with associated access, car parking, bin and cycle storage with Appearance and Landscaping both Reserved Matters 

Boscombe East and Pokesdown Ward

7-2023-15650-B  

Outline Submission for demolition of buildings and erection of a block of 13 flats with associated access, car parking, bin and cycle storage with Appearance and Landscaping both Reserved Matters

Public Representations

Objectors

v  None registered

Applicant/Supporters

v  Matt Annen, on behalf of the applicant

v  Alex Harwood, on behalf of the applicant

Ward Councillors

v  Cllr G Farquhar, in support 

RESOLVED that planning permission be GRANTED in accordance with the recommendation set out in the Officer’s report as updated by the Committee Addendum Sheet

Voting: Unanimous

Christchurch Town Ward

8/23/0516/FUL

Demolish existing garages and erect 1 detached garage 

Christchurch Town Ward

8/23/0516/FUL 

Demolish existing garages and erect 1 detached garage. 

Public Representations

Objectors

v  David Tozer

v  Martin Vieyra

Applicant/Supporters

v  Matt Annen, on behalf of the applicant

Ward Councillors

v  Cllr Mike Cox

RESOLVED that planning permission be granted in accordance with the recommendation set out in the officer’s report as updated by the Committee as follows:

·       Amend wording of Condition 5 to read “Notwithstanding details already submitted, plans and particulars showing the final type of foundations proposed for Block A and facilitate pruning works to TPO trees, shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority prior to commencement of works on site. The development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details.”

·       Add condition at Committee’s request to ensure that before undertaking works details of where the drainage will go should be submitted and if using a soakaway, details should be approved in writing prior to commencement of works, in order to mitigate any potential flood risk.

Voting: Unanimous 

RESOLVED that under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 5 in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act and that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs such interest in disclosing the information.

Voting: For – 7, Against – 0, Abstain - 5

Exempt Report as defined in Paragraph 5 in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

Exempt information – Category 5 (information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings).

In accordance with Meeting Procedure Rule 7.2 in Part 4D of the Council’s Constitution the Chair reported that she had agreed to deal with an item of urgent business to allow members to be informed of emerging issues relating to a planning matter which involved certain material timing issues.

The Director of Planning and Destination and the Senior Solicitor provided a verbal update to the Committee and responded to questions from members on the issues raised and the suggested way forward.

The Chair advised that she had agreed to hold a special meeting of the Planning Committee to consider an exempt report which would provide a full update on the issues to be considered and the options available to members in relation to this matter. It was proposed to hold this meeting on 2 November at 10.00am, subject to members’ availability, with details of arrangements to be confirmed as soon as possible.