Agenda and minutes
Venue: Conference Chamber, West Suffolk House, Western Way, Bury St Edmunds IP33 3YU
Contact: Helen Hardinge: Democratic Services Officer
Email: democratic.services@westsuffolk.gov.uk
Media
Items
No. |
Item |
312. |
Welcome
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed all present to the
Development Control Committee, advised on the procedure in respect
of each application to be considered and explained that only those registered to speak may
verbally address the Committee and they may only do so under the
public speaking part of the meeting. In line with the
Council’s Customer Service Standards, all external attendees
were asked to respect the Committee process and likewise treat
staff and Councillors politely and with respect.
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313. |
Apologies for absence
Minutes:
Apologies for absence were received from
Councillors John Burns, Jason Crooks, Andy Drummond and Susan
Glossop.
In addition, Councillor David Palmer was not
present; having advised the Democratic Services Officer that he
would be late to arrive to the meeting.
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314. |
Substitutes
Any member who is substituting for another
member should so indicate, together with the name of the relevant
absent member.
Minutes:
The following substitution was declared:
Councillor James Lay substituting for
Councillor Andy Drummond
The Lawyer further advised the Committee that
Councillor Trevor Beckwith was in attendance purely in his role as
Ward Member for the application within Moreton Hall. Following
advice received from the Monitoring Officer, Councillor Beckwith
had opted not to act as substitute at the meeting.
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315. |
Minutes PDF 355 KB
To confirm the minutes of the meetings held on
30 November 2022 and 7 December 2022 (copies attached).
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The minutes of the extraordinary meeting held
on 30 November 2022 were unanimously confirmed as a correct record
and signed by the Chair.
And, the minutes of the meeting held on 7
December 2022 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the
Chair, with 10 voting for the motion and with 2 abstentions.
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316. |
Declarations of interest
Members are reminded of their responsibility
to declare any pecuniary or local non pecuniary interest which they
have in any item of business on the agenda, no later than when
that item is reached and, when appropriate, to leave the
meeting prior to discussion and voting on the item.
Minutes:
Members’ declarations of interest are
recorded under the item to which the declaration relates.
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317. |
Planning Application DC/21/0427/FUL - Sports Direct Fitness, Easlea Road, Bury St Edmunds (Report No: DEV/WS/23/001) PDF 235 KB
Report No: DEV/WS/23/001
Planning application - change of use from gym
(class E) to retail (class E commercial, business and service).
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Planning application
- change of use from gym (class E) to retail (class E commercial,
business and service)
This planning application was originally
referred to the Development Control Committee on 7 December 2022 as
it proposed ‘major’ development and Bury St Edmunds
Town Council had objected, as had Bury St Edmunds BID.
In addition, the consideration of the merits
of the application involved complex policy matters relating to
retail, employment and community/leisure facilities.
Members at the meeting of 7 December 2022
resolved that they were ‘minded to’ refuse planning
permission, contrary to the Officer recommendation of approval.
Accordingly, the Decision Making Protocol was invoked requiring a
Risk Assessment report to be prepared which was presented to the
Committee for their consideration.
Members resolved that they were minded to
refuse because they considered the loss of the existing leisure
facility would be contrary to policy DM42.
Officers were continuing to recommend that the
application be approved, subject to a S106 Agreement and conditions
as set out in Paragraph 33 of Report No DEV/WS/23/001.
The Principal Planning Officer advised the
Committee that since the agenda papers were published a further 40
late representations had been received objecting to the proposal;
these largely covered matters previously raised by objectors and
which were briefly summarised to the meeting.
One further late representation had also been
received which referred specifically to material planning
considerations that the objector in question did not believe had
been fully addressed in the report, and which the Principal
Planning Officer verbally outlined for the Committee.
Speakers: Elizabeth Hodder (member of Sports
Direct Fitness, speaking on behalf of herself and fellow members)
spoke against the application
Councillor Trevor Beckwith (Ward Member: Moreton Hall) spoke
against the application
(Councillor David
Palmer joined the meeting at 10.13am, at which point the Chair
advised Councillor Palmer that he would be unable to take part in
the voting on this item as he had not been privy to the
presentation.)
Councillor James Lay addressed the meeting and
informed the Committee that he had taken it upon himself to
undertake two visits to the premises and he had been extremely
impressed at the facilities on offer.
Councillor Ian Houlder explained that whilst
he appreciated that the premises in question had previously had
retail uses, in light of a growing population he considered it
imperative that leisure facilities such as this were available to
communities.
Other Members spoke against the proposal
seeking determination and highlighted the importance of
safeguarding the leisure facility, with particular reference made
to the accessibility offered for those with disabilities.
A question was posed in respect of the
premises being within a General Employment Area and the Service
Manager (Planning – Development) provided further
explanation.
Councillor Peter Stevens proposed that the
application be refused as the loss of the existing leisure facility
would be contrary to policy DM42. This was duly seconded by
Councillor James Lay.
The Service Manager (Planning –
Development) made reference to the points of concern also raised by
Members ...
view the full minutes text for item 317.
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318. |
Planning Application DC/21/2148/FUL - Agricultural Building, Maids Cross Hill, Lakenheath (Report No: DEV/WS/23/002) PDF 364 KB
Report No: DEV/WS/23/002
Planning application - agricultural storage
building
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Planning application
- agricultural storage building
This application was referred to the
Development Control Committee following consideration by the
Delegation Panel, having been referred to the Panel due to the
objection received from Lakenheath Parish Council.
As part of her presentation to the meeting,
the Planning Officer advised that during the
course of the application three consultations had taken
place with statutory consultees and neighbouring properties due to
a number of amendments having been received, including the revision
of the red outline of the site detailing access from Maids Cross
Hill, an alteration to the orientation of the proposed building, as
well as a change to the proposed external colour of the
building.
Since publication of the agenda two late
representations had been received objecting to the scheme, the
content of which was summarised verbally to the meeting.
A Member site visit was held prior to the
meeting. The Planning Officer also showed videos of the site by way
of a virtual ‘site visit’.
Officers were recommending that the
application be approved subject to conditions as set out in
Paragraph 82 of Report No DEV/WS/23/002.
Speakers: Andrew Rought (neighbouring objector)
spoke against the application
Judith Squires (resident objector) spoke against the
application
(Ms Squires was not in attendance to personally address the
Committee and, instead, the Democratic Services Officer read out a
pre-prepared statement on their behalf.)
During the debate questions were posed in
respect of mitigating the visual impact and attention was drawn to
the proposed condition (No 3) which set out the requirement for a
soft landscaping scheme.
In response to queries in relation to the
ongoing enforcement case in connection with the site, the Service
Manager (Planning – Development) explained that this was not
pertinent to the application seeking determination as it did not
relate to the use of the site for agricultural purposes. She also
pointed out that the use of the land for agricultural purposes did
not require planning permission.
A number of
comments were made in relation to the management of noise and light
pollution. The Committee was advised that due to the nature of the
application, in that it concerned an agricultural operation on
agricultural land, Public Health & Housing had not deemed it
necessary to restrict the hours of operation and had therefore not
made any comments.
Members were advised that condition No 4 could
be amended to strengthen the wording used to ensure that the
building applied for was solely used for agricultural storage.
Similarly, the reason for the condition in relation to lighting (No
5) could also be amended to include protection of the landscape
character.
In view of the amendments proposed to
condition Nos 4 and 5, Councillor Brian Harvey proposed that the
application be approved, and this was duly seconded by Councillor
Peter Stevens.
Upon being put to the vote and with 11 voting
for the motion and with 2 against, it was resolved that
Decision
Planning permission be GRANTED subject
to the following conditions:
1 The development
hereby ...
view the full minutes text for item 318.
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319. |
Planning Application DC/22/1888/FUL - Provincial House, 32 High Street, Haverhill (Report No: DEV/WS/23/003) PDF 167 KB
Report No: DEV/WS/23/003
Planning application - a. replacement of
entrance door off High Street and associated glazing b. external
bin collection point c. external platform lift d. goods lift to
service yard
Additional documents:
Minutes:
(Councillor David
Smith declared, in the interests of openness and transparency, that
he had attended Haverhill Town Council’s meeting when the
Town Council considered the application. However, he stressed he
would keep an open mind and listen to the debate prior to voting on
the item.)
Planning application
- a. replacement of entrance door off High Street and associated
glazing b. external bin collection point c. external platform lift
d. goods lift to service yard
This application was referred
to the Development Control Committee as the applicant is West
Suffolk Council.
The Town Council raised no
objections and Officers were recommending that the application be
approved subject to conditions, as set out in Paragraph 30 of
Report No DEV/WS/23/003.
As part of her presentation to
the meeting the Planning Officer showed videos of the site by way
of a virtual ‘site visit’.
During the debate Councillor
David Smith raised some reservations with the location of the
disabled parking bays, however, he noted that the Haverhill
Disability Action Group had been consulted and they had not raised
concerns.
Councillor Jim Thorndyke
highlighted errors in respect of the labelling of the refuse bin
compound elevations. The Service Manager (Planning –
Development) assured the Committee that all necessary corrections
had been made to that plan prior to the meeting and the elevations
shown to the Committee were correct.
Councillor David Roach proposed
that the application be approved, as per the Officer
recommendation. This was duly seconded by Councillor Ian
Houlder.
Upon being put to the vote and
with the vote being unanimous, it was resolved that
Decision
Planning permission be
GRANTED subject to the following
conditions:
1. The development hereby
permitted shall be begun not later than three years from the date
of this permission.
2. The development hereby
permitted shall not be carried out except in complete accordance
with the details shown on the approved plans and documents, unless
otherwise stated.
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320. |
Planning Application DC/22/1102/FUL - 6A Angel Hill, Bury St Edmunds (Report No: DEV/WS/23/004) PDF 161 KB
Report No: DEV/WS/23/004
Planning application: a. installation of roof
extractor unit b. re painting doors and windows as amended by plans
received 19 October 2022
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Planning
application: a. installation of roof extractor unit b. re painting
doors and windows as amended by plans received 19 October 2022
This application was referred
to the Development Control Committee as the application is on land
owned by West Suffolk Council.
Bury St Edmunds Town Council
recommended approval, which was in alignment with the
Officer’s recommendation of approval subject to conditions,
as set out in Paragraph 19 of Report No DEV/WS/23/004.
As part of his presentation the
Senior Planning Officer advised that there were some discrepancies
with some of the roof elevations in the plans and these would be
corrected. He also showed videos of the site by way of a virtual
‘site visit’.
In response to a question posed during the
debate, the Service Manager (Planning – Development)
explained that the premises did not require a change of use and
Members only needed to determine the application before them.
Councillor Brian Harvey raised queries in
relation to the comments made by neighbouring residents concerning
the extraction system. The Senior Planning Officer explained that
Public Health and Housing had raised no objection to the proposed
extraction system subject to conditions relating to odour and
noise, and the need for specific details of the extraction unit to
be provided prior to the installation of said unit.
Councillor David Roach proposed that the
application be approved as per the Officer recommendation. This was
duly seconded by Councillor Brian Harvey.
Upon being put to the vote and with 12 voting
for the motion and with 1 abstention, it was resolved that
Decision
Planning permission be GRANTED subject
to the following conditions:
1 The
development hereby permitted shall be begun not later than three
years from the date of this permission.
2 The
development hereby permitted shall not be carried out except in
complete accordance with the details shown on the approved plans
and documents, unless otherwise stated.
3 Prior
to the installation of the extractor unit hereby approved, details
shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning
Authority of the installation, operation, and maintenance of the
odour abatement equipment and extract system, including the height
of the extract duct and vertical discharge outlet, in accordance
with the EMAQ+ document Control of Odour and Noise from Commercial
Kitchen Exhaust Systems. Approved details shall be implemented
prior to first use of the development and thereafter be permanently
retained.
4. Prior
to the installation of the extractor unit hereby approved details
shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning
Authority of the external sound level emitted from the installation
of the kitchen extraction system / flue, and / or any other plant /
equipment [e.g. refrigeration condensers etc] and mitigation
measures as appropriate. The measures shall ensure that the
external sound level emitted will be lower than the lowest existing
background sound level by at least 5 dB(A) inclusive of any
penalties for tonality, intermittency, impulsivity or other
distinctive acoustic characteristics in order to prevent any
adverse ...
view the full minutes text for item 320.
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