Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence received.

All Members were present and no apologies were noted

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code.  Furthermore all Members with a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider, having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, consider whether it is appropriate to leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Non-Pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 2 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

To confirm the minutes from the 17 March 2021 meeting.

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed

To receive any deputations notified under Standing Order 12.

The Chairman confirmed that two deputations had been received and the process was explained.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chairman confirmed that there were upcoming Site Visits scheduled for the 5 July at Bunny Lane and Alton. There were also two Regulatory meetings in July on the 14^th and 28^th.

To consider a report of the Director of Economy, Transport and Environment regarding Variation of condition 12 (hours of operations and staff working hours) of appeal decision reference APP/Q1770/A/11/2161324 (Planning Application Reference: 10/02712/CMA) (retrospective) at Salvidge Farm, Bunny Lane, Timsbury.

Variation of condition 12 (hours of operations and staff working hours) of appeal decision reference APP/Q1770/A/11/2161324 (Planning Application Reference: 10/02712/CMA) (retrospective) at Salvidge Farm, Bunny Lane, Timsbury SO51 0PG (No. 21/00298/CMAS) (Site Ref: TV066)

The Committee received a report from the Head of Strategic Planning (item 6 in the minute book) regarding a variation to the hours of operation and working at Salvidge Farm in Timsbury.

Members were given a brief history of the site, along with its purpose and why it was important, which was supported with a location plan and aerial photographs. Different areas of the site were highlighted along with their purpose.

The current condition was shown alongside the proposed amendment to make it clear what was being requested and the key issues were summarised as noted in the report.

It was noted that an update report had been circulated to Committee, which included a paragraph relating to Climate Change considerations and also representations received on the application.

The Committee received two deputations on this item. Councillor Bob David spoke on behalf of Michelmersh and Timsbury Parish Council against the application. Whilst accepting the site played an important role, it was felt that there was not suitable justification in extending the operational hours and there was concern in the local community. John Palmer also addressed the Committee on behalf of the applicant and enforced that the changes proposed were only to accommodate vehicular access and did not apply to the use of machinery and did not change he number of vehicles entering or leaving the site. The extra hours would enable the vehicles to avoid rush-hour traffic and had been approved by the Environmental Health Officer.

During questions of the deputations, the following points were clarified:

·         There had been no breaches of conditions reported until 2021, and the one breach had been done by mistake;

·         The A3057 could be a busy road dependent on the time of day;

·         Waste from returning vehicles was only emptied and sorted during fully operational hours the following day

·         Conditions were already in place to protect residents from noise

During questions of the officers, the following points were clarified:

·         The Environmental Health Officer had been consulted on the changes to the condition and the circumstances were based on a ‘worst case’ scenario. In reality the changes would not be applicable every day.

·         The application had been brought forward separately to one being considered for the same site in July 2021 due to it already being delayed from earlier in the year and it being ready to go to Committee.

In debate, Members discussed how significant the changes were and the possible effects to residents should the hours be extended. Some Members felt that 6:30 was too early for vehicles to be permitted to travel and enter the site whereas others did not feel it would make much difference due to the location of the site and lack of complaints.

It was proposed by Councillor Mark Cooper and seconded by Councillor Stephen Philpott  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider a report of the Director of Economy, Transport and Environment regarding the Monitoring and Enforcement work undertaken by Strategic Planning during the period March 2021 – May 2021. A review has also been undertaken of the County’s Local Enforcement Plan which was originally reported and published in 2018.

The Committee received the Monitoring and Enforcement update from the Head of Strategic Planning (item 7 in the minute book), which covered March 2021 until May 2021.

Members were taken through the report, along with the Local Enforcement Plan.

It was explained that whilst there were powers in place to cease activity on site, enforcement was avoided unless necessary and regular visits and close liaison with site operators helped instil good working habits.

It was confirmed that inspections had originally been hindered during lockdown restrictions, a special dispensation had since been given in August 2020 to assist with site monitoring.

RESOLVED

The contents of this report were noted and the updated Local Enforcement Plan was approved subject to the finalisation of the document and formatting.