Minutes of a meeting of the Town Council's Planning/ Licensing Committee held in the Council Chamber, Windmill Lane, Northam on Wednesday 22nd August 2007
PRESENT: Chairman - Cllr C K Langton Members - Cllrs Mrs A J Boyle, Mrs S G Collins, Mrs M Cox,
A Eastman, B M Edwards, P Hames, R J Johnson, R W A Miller, R H Osborne, S R Robinson, R M M Tisdale
together with 3 Parishioners
Apologies were recorded on behalf of Cllrs Mrs P Biggs and J Braund
1. Minutes
The minutes of the meeting of the Town Council's Planning/Licensing Committee held 18 th July 2007 were approved and signed.
(Vote: Unanimous)
Councillors Mrs Cox and Robinson made the following statement:-
As both a Town and District Councillor I wish to make it clear that I will reconsider the matter(s) at the District level, taking into account all relevant evidence and representations at the District Council's Plans committee.
2. Planning applications
0468/07 Proposed conversion of existing outbuilding to dwelling -
0469/07 Chircombe, Chircombe Lane RESOLVED - Recommend Refusal. Chircombe House is an important listed building thought to be one of the oldest in the area. It is essential to keep the house, its outbuildings and curtilage intact. The space around the listed building is vital to its setting and distinctiveness and the proposal will detract please see policy DVT6.
(Vote: Unanimous)
0602/07-0928/07 Proposed renovations and extension - amended plan - 3 Gibbs Lane, Appledore RESOLVED - Recommend approval
Cllr Edwards declared a prejudicial interest and left the room for this item.
(Vote: Unanimous)
0830/07 Proposed lowering of wall to promenade to approximately 1750mm above promenade level and rendered wall with metal gates to car park, Cobalt Development site of the Old Bath Hotel, Westward Ho! RESOLVED - Recommend approval. Council welcomes reduction in height of this wall and would like to see it lowered further if possible. They are concerned about the finish which seems to be blue coloured render. They would ask if it was at all possible to be a stone wall using local materials.
(Vote: Unanimous)
0836/07 Proposed conversion and extension of existing building to create a 1 bedroomed flat - 3 Springfield Terrace, Diddywell Road, Northam RESOLVED Recommend approval but concerned about provision for parking.
(Vote: Unanimous)
0864/07 Proposed 3 advert signs Co-op Food store, Golf Links Road, Westward Ho! RESOLVED Recommend approval but concerned about the intrusiveness of back-lit signs. Important that the signs are not illuminated when the shop is closed in the interests of saving energy and reducing intrusiveness.
(Vote: Unanimous)
0870/07 Proposed extension and conservatory - 24 Benson Drive, Northam RESOLVED Recommend approval.
(Vote: Unanimous)
0873/07-0840/07 Proposed replace roof to store (retrospective) listed building - 72a Irsha Street RESOLVED - Recommend approval if Conservation Officer is satisfied.
(Vote: Unanimous)
0872/07 Proposed amendments to provide extension and bedrooms in roof space - 141 Bay View Road RESOLVED - Recommend approval.
Cllrs Mrs Boyle and Mrs Collins declared a personal interest and did not vote.
(Vote 10 For, 2 abst)
0878/07 Proposed single storey garage - 62 Bay View Road - RESOLVED No objection.
(Vote: Unanimous)
0911/07 Proposed change of use from storage/warehousing to garage/ workshop - Unit A Bidna Yard Hubbastone Road RESOLVED Recommend approval.
(Vote: Unanimous)
0928/07 Proposed renovations and alterations to existing property and first floor extension - 3 Gibbs Lane Appledore RESOLVED -
0931/07 Proposed single storey rear extension - 6 Britannia Way Westward Ho! RESOLVED No objection.
(Vote: Unanimous)
0941/07 Proposed extension. 8 Skern Way Northam RESOLVED - No objection.
(Vote: Unanimous)
0949/07 Reserved matters application for 30 residential/holiday apartments.Roslyn caravan park site Merley Road RESOLVED - Recommend Refusal. This appalling design will cause severe overlooking and spoil this area which is classed as an area of outstanding natural beauty. The buildings are much too high. A more sympathetically designed development is required and due allowance made for affordable housing or local needs housing. The Council is concerned about traffic, the inadequate allowance for car parking on site, the over-intensive use of the site, the over-use of architectural licence in the way that the drawings are portrayed, e.g. there are no trees currently on the site and the likelihood of establishing the mature trees as indicated in this location is remote. It is understood that the blocks nearest the road will, in fact, be on the road edge and not as indicated on the drawings. The design itself is very reminiscent of the late 1960s early 1970s local authority housing see flats at the end of Pynes Lane, Bideford. Previously the local authority had restricted the ridge height of dwellings in this area see previous planning application for adjacent dwelling.
(Vote: Unanimous)
0915/07 Proposed double garage - new dwelling adjacent to Stoneleigh Daddon Hill RESOLVED Recommend approval.
(Vote: Unanimous)
3. Woodland at Goodwood Park
Cllr Mrs Cox reported that there was an area of woodland between a quarter and half an acre in size adjacent to the new development in Goodwood Park that could be of benefit to the community. She was concerned that if it was split up and sold to residents it would, over time, cease to be a woodland. It is understood that there would be a Section 106 agreement to protect the woodland. It was RESOLVED to accept ownership of the woodland, if offered, and to write a letter to the District Council indicating the Town Council's interest to adopt the woodland for the benefit of the community.
(Vote: Unanimous)
4. Temporary closure of footpath 6 at Knapp House
The Town Clerk reported that the coastal footpath at Knapp House had been closed. From his discussions with the County Officer he advised that this had been done for health and safety reasons. It was a temporary closure but the timescale was unknown and depended on the works to the breach to be undertaken by the landowner. There was concern that there is no timescale for the works to be done and the owner had carried out very little work since his approval from the Environment Agency earlier this year. It was RESOLVED to write to the County Council stressing the Council's concerns and seeking to establish a date by which the footpath would be opened again.
(Vote: Unanimous)
5. Bridge Hall, Northam
Members considered a letter from the Town Clerk which he had written to the Bridge Trust in an attempt to establish a meeting to consider the purchase of the Bridge Hall. Available at the meeting was the reply from the Bridge Trust to the effect that they thought it would be helpful if the Town Council could put forward a figure that they had in mind to purchase the property. They were not ruling out a meeting but clearly thought there needed to be some agreement on a suitable purchase price. The Town Clerk advised that the District Valuer's figure was well short of the various offers received by the Bideford Bridge Trust. However, it was thought that the figures being offered had a degree of hope value for redevelopment of the site, which Town Councillors thought was not achievable having regard to the latest comments of the District Council's Planning Officers. It was RESOLVED to seek to achieve a meeting between the District Valuer and the Bridge Trust Valuer with the aim of agreeing a suitable purchase price, agreeable to both parties.
(Vote: Unanimous)
6. Special District Council meeting to consider car parking Wednesday 5 th September
It was RESOLVED to consider this matter further at the LDF meeting on 3 rd September. In the meantime the Town Clerk was to enquire as to the District Council's policy so that this could be available for Members to discuss.
(Vote: Unanimous)
7. Payments this month
The Town Clerk presented the monthly financial report that included payments for this month and it was RESOLVED to accept.
(Vote: Unanimous)