Transcript

Welcome to the South Buckinghamshire Area Planning Committee being held today at 2.30. There's a webcasting notice which you all agree if you're sitting here at the meeting to being broadcast and we have no speakers today whatsoever so we don't have to go through that. You will all know where the facilities are by now if you desperately need them so I think we can move on to the agenda can't we? Right, apologies for absence is item one. Thank you Chairman, we have no apologies. Right, thank you for that. Item two, declarations of interest. Oh, well that's quite good actually isn't it? I should have learnt about that button before. Right, any declarations of interest? No? Thank you. Item three is the minutes of the last meeting held on the 4th of February. which have already been circulated. Are you in agreement with those minutes? Yes? Councillor WALTER. Chair, I'd like to bring up the item five on Brow Cottage, 14 Hill Way. I believe there's some discrepancies in what was actually agreed from that meeting and what was actually minuted. I've actually visited the site and met with the individual. I think that I've already approved these minutes. It was an interesting issue in that I did have to have a lot of meetings and discussions with officers. I think the issue is, is that there is a concern that we couldn't make recommendations from this committee. And my ruling as chairman of the committee that this planning committee, in the number of years that I've been a councillor, could always make comments on planning applications. We weren't just a committee that approved an officer's recommendation or rejected it. So I stuck to my guns and particularly over the damage to the trees, which we discussed at great length. And I think it's perfectly right and proper that we as a planning committee can actually ask for a second visit from the tree officer and get a report. Now, I did have to say that my view is that a councillor is an elected representative and they represent the council. And it's not up to officers to decide what we can and cannot say at a committee meeting. I've always been a believer in free speech at these meetings because I'm here to represent an electorate. So we did get that put in. We got it in that we wanted to make a request. And today, just to update you, is that I don't believe the tree office has visited the site because I've had an exchange of emails. And they're saying it's all OK because the route's been covered up by the developer. And we've got photos to prove that. That's not what I asked for. And considering that the building's been built in the wrong place, we don't know if you've still got the routes covered up today. But I suggested we ought to have an up to date report and you all agreed on what the damage was today and what was going to be done in the future to avoid it. So I think the minutes, as I've agreed with the officers, are correct. I don't think we've missed anything. And the wording has been agreed and it's been through legal and it's been through democratic services. And I've got to be a very old person while I've been sorting it out. So I'm quite happy with these. Where we take it from here on, because I can't understand why we as a committee of elected representatives ask for an officer to do something. And in this huge silo built council we now have where one department doesn't talk to another department, why we are still waiting for a written report and a site visit. But I shall pursue that when I have pursued it already and ask for explanation. Thank you. So I share your concerns, Councillor Wood, and I'm sure we all do and we'd all like to see a resolution. And I'm afraid we're in a situation where we're stuck between different silos of officers. And I know some councillors share my view as to the bureaucracy we've created in this Pathfinder Council as a unitary. So I take on board your comments. Thank you. We will still discuss it. And I'd like to think that before the end of this council, we can have an up to date on site report from our officer, not from the developer, because we know everybody put the building in the wrong place. So, you know, it's just gets beyond me at times. So if you're happy with that explanation, and we will need to keep it in the forefront of our minds as we go forward with the new committee after the election. Yeah, thanks, Chairman. So if you're all happy now to sign the minutes, all in agreement? Thank you. Right. That's the minutes of the last meeting. And we now have application PL 25 0286 stroke FA, which is the front porch at 17 Long Close Farne and Royal Buckinghamshire. The applicant is Mr Dillon, who is a councillor on Buckinghamshire councillor, which is why this small application has had to come to us for formal discussion and debate. Have the planners got anything to do to introduce this? Yes. Right, here you go. Take us through it. Thank you, Chairman. So planning permission is sought for a modest front porch and this application has been stated, been reported to committee as the applicant is a councillor. The recommendation is for conditional permission. The application site consists of a detached dwelling set on a corner plot located on the south side of Long Close within the developed area of Farnham Royal and is categorised as a green suburban typology in the town scape character study. This application is identical to a previously approved application back in 2019 that was approved at committee. The proposed porch would measure 3.3 metres wide, 1.8 metres deep and approximately 3.07 metres tall with a total floor space of just over six square metres. The proposed front porch extension would be small in size and is designed with a pitched roof that matches the design of the front dormer window of the property. It would therefore not appear disproportionate in scale to the existing dwelling and would integrate satisfactorily. There was also a variety of different porch styles within the street scene and within this context the proposal would not appear out of character with its surroundings. The parish council has no objection to this application but requests that consideration is given to working hours, deliveries and contractor parking. As such reference to the considerate constructor scheme shall be added as an informative to any permission granted. This is the photo of the site and there would be ample room at the front of the dwelling for the required three parking spaces. So in light of the above, it is considered that subject to standard conditions regarding time limit, matching materials and being in accordance with the approved plans, that permission should be granted. And here are some neighbouring examples of porches along Longclose. And that's all from me. Thank you. Thank you very much Hugo. Members, do you have any questions of the planning officers and clarifications? Councillor Moore. Thank you Chairman. I just wanted to apologise for being late. I must have missed the item on declarations of interest. I just wanted to declare that I'm the ward councillor in the ward of this application. That's okay. But we're all ward councillors somewhere. So when we come to planning committee we automatically put a different hat on. But thank you for that. Anyone else? Yes Councillor Brackham. On the diagram you just put up, it looks like there's a change in some of the materials on the front of the building. Or is that like you see you've got white and then you've got different colours and stuff. So just to confirm that is a genuine change between the two? So that is not snow. So there's no other change. It is identical to the previous one. That's just what the agent has submitted. And as I understand it, it's going to be facing bricks to match the facing bricks that are there on the main house. Yes it will be. And we shall add a condition to it to ensure that. Thank you. Any other questions from the officers? We haven't got any speakers to question. I must say that that close has changed dramatically over the years. If you look at the house on the corner opposite, it is now a huge detached house. It was just a close of chalet bungalows. But it is an out of keeping with the amount of development in the road. So the materials are going to match the facing bricks that have already been used on the original building. I can't see a problem with it, quite honestly, having done a site visit myself yesterday. So do we have a proposition members? Councillor Brackenburg. I would be happy to propose that we accept the officers' recommendations and proceed with the conditional approval. Thank you for that. Do we have a seconder? Thank you for that, Councillor Matthews. So we have a proposer and a seconder. Can you, all those in favour of agreeing with the officers' report and approving this porch, please show? Well, that's unanimous. So thank you very much. First, who's going to phone up Councillor Dillon and say you lost? Right, Agenda Item 5 is date to next meeting, which is the 10th of June 2025. It will be confirmed, though. It will be confirmed. It will be confirmed at Annual Council. And will that be the new committee? Thank you, Chairman, yes. That meeting date is to be confirmed. It will be the new committee, which will be the merging of South and East together. Thank you for that clarification. Yes, Councillor Sandy. Thank you, Chairman. As we're all, or many of us, are about to depart the scene permanently, I think it's appropriate for your good self to be congratulated on having survived the last four or five years and been a good chairman. And I know we've had our spats, but none of it has really caused any long-term bad feeling, and that is to be commended. Thank you, Chairman. Put your microphone on. Thank you very much for that, Councillor Sandy. I would rephrase spats as discussions. They might be robust discussions, but discussions they are. I would like to add my thanks to the officer team, and I'm sure Ben will take it back to the whole planning team. We've had some difficult applications over the last five years, and I think we've been well served by the officer's reports and their contributions, and sometimes they even agreed with me. They were quite, that's quite rare, but thanks very much to that, thanks very much to Liz in Democratic Services. Thank you to Legal for making sure we behave, and thank you to you all, really. We've had some quite difficult ones to discuss and debate, but I think we've got there, and it'll be interesting to see how the new arrangements work, because you'll have longer site visits if you've got all the way to Chilton, the old Chilton district. So, that's all the thanks, it's been enjoyable, I have enjoyed it, and the only other item is, don't forget, those of you that are returning, that site visits are very important, and make the best efforts you can to attend the site visits. So, that's the last thing, and I don't think there's anything else on the agenda, is there? No, so we have concluded our last meeting of the South Planning Committee. So, you're now all three to enjoy the sunshine. LAUGHTER LAUGHTER