Agenda and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

The minutes of the meetings held on 25 July were confirmed by the Members present and were then signed by the Chairman.

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Wyatt-Lowe and Councillor Oguchi.

To receive any declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a personal interest in a matter who attends

a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered -

(i)            must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest

becomes apparent and, if the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, or a personal
interest which is also prejudicial

(ii)           may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter (and must withdraw

to the public seating area) unless they have been granted a dispensation.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Members’ Register of Interests, or is not the subject of a pending notification, must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and prejudicial interests are defined in Part 2 of the Code of Conduct For Members

[If a member is in any doubt as to whether they have an interest which should be declared they

should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer before the start of the meeting]

It is requested that Members declare their interest at the beginning of the relevant agenda item and it will be noted by the Committee Clerk for inclusion in the minutes.

Councillor Guest asked Members to remember to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary or other Interests at the beginning of the relevant planning application.

An opportunity for members of the public to make statements or ask questions in accordance with the rules as to public participation.

You need to inform the council in advance if you wish to speak by contacting Member Support on Tel: 01442 228209 or by email: Member.support@dacorum.gov.uk

The Development Management Committee will finish at 10.30pm and any unheard applications will be deferred to the next meeting.

There are limits on how much of each meeting can be taken up with people having their say and how long each person can speak for.  The permitted times are specified in the table above and are allocated for each of the following on a 'first come, first served basis':

·         Town/Parish Council and Neighbourhood Associations;

·         Objectors to an application;

·         Supporters of the application.

Every person must, when invited to do so, address their statement or question to the Chairman of the Committee.

Every person must after making a statement or asking a question take their seat to listen to the reply or if they wish join the public for the rest of the meeting or leave the meeting.

The questioner may not ask the same or a similar question within a six month period except for the following circumstances:

(a)       deferred planning applications which have foregone a significant or material change since originally being considered

(b)       resubmitted planning applications which have foregone a significant or material change

(c)       any issues which are resubmitted to Committee in view of further facts or information to be considered.

At a meeting of the Development Management Committee, a person, or their representative, may speak on a particular planning application, provided that it is on the agenda to be considered at the meeting.

Please note: If an application is recommended for approval, only objectors can invoke public speaking and then supporters will have the right to reply. Applicants can only invoke speaking rights where the application recommended for refusal.

Councillor Guest reminded Members and the public about the rules regarding public participation as follows:

For each application the officer presents the report to the Committee, then the participants from the public are called to speak. Following this, questions are taken from the Committee along with statements and comments for debate.

Nigel Gibbs introduced the report to Members on behalf of the Case Officer and said that the application had been referred to the committee in view of the concerns of Chipperfield Parish Council.

Mr Huskinson spoke in objection of the application.

Councillor Graham Barrett spoke in objection of the application.

Declan O’Farrell CBE and Kerry Ann Ivory spoke in support of the application.

It was proposed by Councillor Uttley to GRANT the application in line with the officer’s recommendation. There was no seconder to this proposal.

Councillor Guest noted that the motion fell and asked for a motion to REFUSE.

It was proposed by Councillor Riddick and seconded by Councillor Maddern to REFUSE the application on the grounds that the proposed development, by reason of the size of residential units, their site coverage, poor layout, the substandard and inadequate parking, access, turning and refuse collection arrangements would be an overdevelopment of the site, harmful to the character and appearance of the village, local highway safety and amenity contrary to Policies CS8, CS11 (a) CS12 (a) (b) (c) (g (i, iii, iv and vi)) of the Core Strategy  and Saved Policy 58 and Appendices 3 and 5 of the Dacorum Borough Local Plan 1991-2011.

Vote:

For: 3                           Against: 2                    Abstained: 4  

Resolved: That planning permission be REFUSED.

Councillor Woolner declared her interest and stated that she would not be taking part.

The Case Officer, Colin Lecart, introduced the report to Members and said that the application had been referred to the committee as it was contrary to the view of Berkhamsted Town Council.

Councillor Garrick Stevens spoke in objection of the application.

It was proposed by Councillor Beauchamp and seconded by Councillor Durrant to GRANT the application in line with the officer’s recommendation.

Vote:

For: 5                           Against: 2                    Abstained: 1

Resolved: That planning permission be GRANTED subject to the following conditions:

Conditions

Councillor Maddern declared that she is on the Nash Mills Parish Council. She confirmed that she had not taken any part in consideration of this item, nor taken any view to date and would be approaching the application with an open mind and, therefore, there was no reason she should not partake.

The Case Officer, Colin Lecart, introduced the report to Members and said that the application had been referred to the committee as it was contrary to the view of Nash Mills Parish Council.

Parish Councillor Michele Berkeley spoke in objection of the application.

It was proposed by Councillor Durrant and seconded by Councillor Uttley to GRANT the application in line with the officer’s recommendation.

Vote:

For: 5                           Against: 2                    Abstained: 2  

Resolved: That planning permission be GRANTED subject to the following conditions:

Conditions

The Case Officer, Heather Edey, introduced the report to Members and said that the application had been referred to the committee as it was contrary to the views of Flamstead Parish Council.

It was proposed by Councillor Beauchamp and seconded by Councillor Durrant to GRANT the application in line with the officer’s recommendation.

Vote:

For: 5                           Against: 1                    Abstained: 3

Resolved: That planning permission be GRANTED subject to the following conditions:

Condirions

Colin Lecart introduced the report to Members on behalf of the Case Officer and said that the application had been referred to the committee in view of the objections from Berkhamsted Town Council.

It was proposed by Councillor Maddern and seconded by Councillor McDowell to GRANT the application in line with the officer’s recommendation.

Vote:

For: 8                           Against: 0                    Abstained: 1  

Resolved: That planning permission be GRANTED subject to the following conditions:

Conditions

The Case Officer, Nigel Gibbs, introduced the report to Members and said that the application had been referred to committee as the recommendation to support the application is contrary to Bovingdon Parish Council’s view.

It was proposed by Councillor Maddern and seconded by Councillor Durrant to DELEGATE the application WITH A VIEW TO APPROVAL in line with the officer’s recommendation.

Vote:

For: 6                           Against: 1                    Abstained: 2 

Resolved: That in accordance with paragraph 5.(1) of the Town and Country Planning (Consultation) (England) Direction 2009 the application be REFERRED to the Secretary of State (DCLG).

In the event that the Secretary of State does not call in the application the application is DELEGATED to the Group Manager - Development Management & Planning WITH A VIEW TO APPROVAL subject to the completion of a planning obligation under s.106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the draft list of conditions below.

That the following Heads of Terms or such other terms as the Committee may determine, be agreed:

·         Affordable housing at 35% based upon an Apartment Block (15 units) for Rent, 3 two bedroom and 3 three bedroom units for shared ownership.

·         The relocated mobile homes to be limited to a period equivalent to the occupancy by the current occupants and the land to reinstated to its existing condition.

·         £15,000 to allow the bus stop outside the site to be upgraded.

·         £8,000 to allow the provision of easy access kerbing at the bus stop opposite the site.

Note: A Section 278 Agreement would also be necessary to address any changes to the highway network in particular changes to the proposed site access arrangements and for the provision of a pedestrian crossing at a suitable location near the site.

Conditions

That the following appeals were noted:

A.   LODGED

B.   WITHDRAWN

C.   FORTHCOMING INQUIRIES

D.   FORTHCOMING INQUIRIES

E.    DISMISSED

F.    ALLOWED