Agenda and minutes

Planning Committee - Thursday, 9th November, 2023 10.00 am

Venue: Chamber - County Hall, Carmarthen. SA31 1JP and remotely. View directions

Media

Items

No.

Item

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

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Webcast for 1.

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received from Cllr. Peter Cooper.

DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL INTERESTS

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Webcast for 2.

Minutes:

Councillor

Minute Number

Nature of Interest

C. Jones

3 – Planning application PL/06541

Change of use of redundant building into one residential unit (renewal of planning permission W/38933 dated 15^th December 2020) at Building at Parc Y Cnwc, Old School Road, Llansteffan, Carmarthen, SA33 5HA

Personal and Prejudicial - The applicant is known to her.

DETERMINATION OF PLANNING APPLICATIONS PDF 272 KB

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Minutes:

3.1 UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the following planning application be granted subject to the conditions detailed within the Report/Addendum of the Head of Place and Sustainability and or reported at the meeting:-

PL/03820

Installation of a 30m lattice tower supporting 6 no. antennas, 4 no. transmission dishes, 2 no. equipment cabinets, 1 no. meter cabinet, 1 container with solar panel atop housing Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil generator, battery and biofuel tank, 3 free standing solar panel arrays and ancillary development thereto including a generator and associated fuel tank, a fenced compound, a gabion wall and a hard standing area for the Shared Rural Network project at Clywedog Plantation, Ffarmers, Llanwrda, SA19 8PX

Following a presentation by the Senior Development Management Officer [Aman Gwendraeth], the Committee was advised that the Head of Place and Sustainabilitywas recommending approval of the application for the reasons detailed within the written report.

A representation was received objecting to the application re-iterating the points detailed within the Head of Place and Sustainability’s report and included:

· Reference to the 67 representations objecting to the application;

· The disproportionate benefits does not outweigh the negative impacts of the development;

· The negative aesthetic impact on the exposed surroundings which currently is free of modern structures;

· Currently there was appropriate signal for mobile phones and superfast fibre broadband in the locality and that the proposed development would not be required.

The applicant’s agent and Senior Development Management Officer responded to the issues raised.

3.2 UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the following planning application be granted subject to the conditions detailed within the Report/Addendum of the Head of Place and Sustainability and or reported at the meeting:-

PL/06541

Note: Councillor C. Jones having earlier declared a personal and prejudicial interest in this item, left the meeting prior to the consideration and determination thereof).

APPEALS REPORT PDF 188 KB

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Webcast for 4.

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Planning Appeals Report which provided information relating to lodged planning appeals as at 30^th October, 2023.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report be noted.

PLANNING SERVICE PERFORMANCE - QUARTER 2 PDF 105 KB

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Minutes:

The Committee considered the Planning Service Performance Report, for Quarter 1 for the period 1^st July 2023 to 30^th September 2023 for the Planning Service and, notably, the Development Management and Enforcement Division. The report included core performance monitoring indicators together with comparative data in respect of 2022/23.

The following questions were raised in relation to the report:-

· In response to a query regarding the data, the Senior Development and Enforcement Manager stated that in acknowledging that the Covid pandemic had a significant impact on the enforcement sector due to the nature of the investigations on sites, it was explained that incrementally processes had been changed to address enforcement matters including those pre-Covid.

· Concerns were raised in regard to the difficulties in accessing Planning Officers and the lack of updates provided to Local Members on enforcement matters. The Senior Development and Enforcement Manager explained that the intention of the Hwb. as a first point of contact, was introduced to help alleviate the challenges Planning Officers were experiencing in terms of the significant time that was being spent to respond to many queries which had a detrimental impact on the daily workload. The Hwb had helped in responding to many of the queries and filtered the forwarding queries which were then prioritised accordingly. Furthermore, Members were informed that the department was required to work within the confines of the enforcement processes including timescales. In terms of information being forwarded to local Members, it was reported that there was a risk that an enforcement case could result in court proceedings. Whilst a considerable amount of work was carried out behind the scenes of each enforcement case, Officers, during the processing of a case were not able to liaise with the public or Members in the case of a court action. In accepting this, Members commented that they would be grateful for a brief update eg a ‘site visit’ has been made, ‘in process’, this information would furnish local Members with the knowledge that work was being carried out.

· In terms of complaints/reporting, the Senior Development and Enforcement Manager explained that anonymous reporting was no longer accepted and that a contact was required to enable further action. Should a member of public wish to remain anonymous they utilise their local member to complain on their behalf.

· In terms of enforcement, the Senior Development and Enforcement Manager acknowledged that further improvements were required and that the internal processes would be revisited.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report be noted.

TO SIGN AS A CORRECT RECORD THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON THE

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