PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, WEDNESDAY 12TH AUGUST 2009, 7.30PM, CIVIC HALL, DIDCOT
Admission of the Public and Media
Members of the Public and Media are welcome to attend in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meeting) Act 1960 Section 1 extended by LGA 1972 Section 100.
Public Participation
Public Participation will be strictly in accordance with Standing Order No. 11.
AGENDA
1. Apologies
2. Declarations of interests. Members are reminded to declare any personal or prejudicial interests on any item on this agenda in accordance with the Didcot Town Council’s code of conduct
3. Minutes of the Meeting held on 22nd July 2009
4. Questions on the minutes as to the progress of any item
5. Planning Applications
Note: Any applications received after the despatch of this agenda and prior to the meeting will be considered
6. Applications Accepted
7. Applications Refused
8. Partial review of the South East RSS: Somewhere to live: Planning for Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople (GTTS)in the South East
9. Correspondence
Dominic Stapleton
Town Clerk
7th August 2009
MINUTES
154. PRESENT
Councillors:
- Mrs A Service (Chair)
- Mrs M Flood (Vice-Chair)
- Mr L Elias
- Mr P Hayward
- Mrs E Hards
Officer:
- Mr S Carter (Deputy Town Clerk)
155. APOLOGIES
Councillors Capt J Flood (personal) and Mr W Service (personal).
156. DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS
Members were reminded to declare any personal or prejudicial interests on any item on the agenda in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct.
There were no declarations of interest.
157. MINUTES
RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting held on 22nd July 2009 be approved and signed as a true and correct record.
Referring to Minute 141 (c) correspondence from the Environment Agency, Councillor Mrs E Hards confirmed that she had asked the Deputy Town Clerk to contact them and ask if Didcot Town Council had been invited to or attended any of these consultation events they had held regarding the Energy from Waste Incinerator. The Deputy Town Clerk confirmed that he had emailed the Environment Agency on 30th July 2009 but was yet to receive a reply.
Clerk’s Note: The Environment Agency have subsequently confirmed that Didcot Town Council was not contacted about taking part in the consultation.
158. PLANNING APPLICATIONS
RESOLVED that the following decisions be notified to the appropriate authority in accordance with Standing Order 54, which gives delegated authority to consider and respond to planning applications:
Application P08/W1047, Vacant building plot Lostock Place
Amendment: Proposed
Two storey building containing a Physical and Learning disability centre
No objections
Application P09/W0552, 56 Park Road
Amendment: 1
Ground and first floor extensions (amended)
Approve
Application P09/W0556, 131 Park Road
Amendment: 1
Single storey rear
No strong views
Application P09/W0585, 27 Manor Road
Amendment: 1
Change of use from D1 and B1(a) Office use to 5 residential dwellings
Approve
Application P09/W0651, 72 Abbott Road
Amendment No
Variation of condition 6 of planning permission P08/W1143 to erect a new dwelling, from code level 3 to code level 1 only
It was explained that this was not an amendment to the building itself but to the condition relating to the carbon emissions of the property which were set at level 3, which was very good, but revised to level 1, which was standard for a property like this.
No strong views
Application P09/W0662, 3 Itchen Court
Amendment: No
Two storey side extension
No strong views
Application P09/W0678, 132 Park Road
Amendment: No
Erection of two no dwellings and associated car parking on land to the rear
Refuse, inadequate access from Portway
Application P09/W0684, 15 & 17 Park Road
Amendment: No
Proposed change of use of ground floor shop to B1 (a) office and shop, change of use of first floor from two 2 bed flats to one 4 bed flat
No strong views
159. APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED
- P09/W0484 7 Moorbrook Park
- P09/W0495 162 – 164 Broadway
- P09/W0527 13 Fairacres Road
- P09/W0528 26 Cockcroft Road
NOTED
160. APPLICATIONS REFUSED
There were no applications refused.
NOTED
161. CONSULTATION ON RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROVIDING ACCOMMODATION FOR GYPSIES, TRAVELLERS AND TRAVELLING SHOWPEOPLE IN THE SOUTH EAST
Members were reminded that the recommended policy for providing accommodation for gypsies, travellers and travelling showpeople in the south east had been referred by this committee on 1st July 2009 to the Major Issues Working Group for comment, Minute 102 refers.
The comments made by the Major Issues Working Group had been put into a report which was circulated to members and is attached at Appendix A.
RECOMMENDED that the comments as detailed in the report attached at Appendix A be submitted as part of the consultation.
RESOLVED that this matter be dealt with under Standing Order 36, the delegation of urgent and routine matters, as the deadline for responses is 1st September 2009 and the next meeting of the Council is not until 14th September 2009.
162. CORRESPONDENCE
(a) Oxfordshire County Council, Speedwell House
Oxfordshire Highways Annual Report 2008/09, available to view at the One Stop Shop
NOTED
(b) Oxfordshire County Council, Highways Department, Southern Area Office, Drayton
Notice of intended footway resurfacing work to take place on Loyd Road commencing 11th November 2009 and expected to take approximately 32 days
NOTED
(c) Oxfordshire County Council, Highways Department, Southern Area Office, Drayton
Notice of intended footway resurfacing work to take place on Warner Crescent commencing 1st February 2010 and expected to take approximately 24 days
NOTED
(d) Appeal Decision, Planning Inspectorate, Bristol
Notice that the appeal requesting that to grant permission to erect a new dwelling to land to rear of 99 Lydalls Road, Didcot, P07/W1109, has been dismissed
NOTED
(e) Appeal Decision, Planning Inspectorate, Bristol
Notice that the appeal requesting that to grant permission to demolish the existing dwelling and erect a pair of semi-detached houses at 99 Lydalls Road, Didcot, P08/W1144, has been dismissed
NOTED
The Meeting commenced at 7.30pm and closed at 8.10pm
Chair
Appendix A
Didcot Town Council
Partial review of the South East RSS:
Somewhere to Live: Planning for Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople (GTTS) in the South East
Response Deadline 1st September 2009 – via email on comments form to bbaysdnp@googlemail.com
Draft response
This Council favoured option A in the consultation, “to meet need where it arises” – ie: that new spaces should all be provided as close as possible to where Gypsies and Travellers currently live. The strength of this option lies with the extension to existing sites near to traditional employment and family groups. Family and socially connected groups will gravitate towards established sites where the currently occupied sites exist, if there are not enough pitches/sites provided they may well establish unofficial ones.
The recommended approach is option D as a “deliverable compromise”, providing redistribution and 25% increase. This Council supports the increase but not redistribution, which is, in our opinion, the worst form of compromise as it will create sites away from traditional rural employment and family groups and ties. The sites created through the redistribution may well attract new travellers to the area or be occupied by disparate groups, who, in turn will attract their own family or social fellow travellers and again result in more unofficial pitches.
Didcot (and South Oxford) have been identified as site locations by South Oxfordshire District Council (page 66/67, para 7.57 onwards of the SODC Core Strategy document, “Your Place, Your Future” Preferred Options Consultation, March 2009) because of planned suburban housing developments. Didcot has never been home to GTTS because of its urban nature and mono-cultural society which indicates that social cohesion will be extremely difficult to achieve. Didcot has high employment and GTTS will be at a disadvantage in finding work, rural and seasonal employment for itinerant workers is not a feature of employment in this “High Added Value” science and technology area where many of the jobs are specialised and are generally filled by people who move to the area specifically for this purpose.
It follows that identifying Didcot (and South Oxford) does not make sense and is totally irrational with no justification.
The result of the Assembly’s compromise policy is a total lack of focus on the needs of GTTS people in terms of employment, family grouping and social cohesion, and may well have considerable unintended consequences.
Dominic Stapleton
Town Clerk
3rd August 2009
