To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration.
Minutes:
(The following item had not been included on
the Agenda, however, the Chairman agreed to consider it under Section 100
(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972).
(a)
During the meeting a copy of a letter received by
the Planning Service from the Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for the
Environment and Rural Matters was presented regarding an outline planning
application for a residential development to include up to 366 residential
units and access roads, parking spaces and associated ancillary facilities at Pen
y Ffridd, Bangor.
The
application was refused approximately 12 months ago and since that decision an
appeal hearing had been conducted against the decision. On 22 August 2016, the appeal was recovered
for resolution by the Welsh Government, as the proposal concerned a residential
development of more than 150 houses or a residential development on more than
six hectares of land. It was announced
on 12 June that the Minister was in favour of granting the appeal subject to
the appellant addressing certain matters.
However, in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Hearing
Procedure) (Wales) Rules 2003, the "2003 Rules", if Welsh Ministers,
once a hearing has ended, consider any new matters of fact, and if they as a
result are willing to disagree with the recommendation made by the Inspector,
then they should not make a decision that is contrary to the recommendation
without firstly informing those who were entitled to take part in the hearing
that they disagree with the recommendation, give reasons why, and give those
persons an opportunity to submit written observations or request that the
hearing be re-opened.
The
appeal was considered in accordance with the Gwynedd Unitary Development Plan
2001-2016, and not much weight was given to the Joint Local Development Plan.
The site was designated for housing development purposes in the Unitary
Development Plan. Following the receipt
of the Inspector's report in relation to the Local Development Plan on 30th
June, the weight to consider it from the point of view of the Local Development
Plan had increased significantly and therefore the material planning
considerations had changed. Under the Local Development Plan the site had not
been designated for housing development. The matter would also be submitted
before the Council to consider its adoption on the 28th July 2017.
Therefore,
as a result of current policies and to defend the appeal and the Planning
Committee's decision, the planning officers suggested that the Welsh Government
should be requested to re-open the hearing.
(b)
A member who attended the hearing noted that it had
been very difficult to defend the Planning Committee's decision to refuse as it
was contrary to local policies, but he welcomed the suggestion to proceed and
have a new appeal and re-open the hearing.
(c)
In response
to a query, the Senior Planning Service Manager explained that the land in
question had not been designated for housing development and the designated
figure of dwellings would not be included with that designated in the proposed
Joint Development Plan.
Resolved: To
approve and note the above and support the Senior Planning Service Manager's
decision to request the Welsh Government to re-open the hearing for the above
appeal in order to give consideration to current planning policies within the
Joint Local Development Plan that will be considered for adoption by the full
Council at its meeting on 28 July 2017.