Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from the Chair, Councillor L A Bentley, and Councillors B Dave, D A Gamble, Dr T K Khong and R E R Morris.

To appoint substitute Members in accordance with Rule 4 of Part 4 of the Constitution.

RESOLVED THAT:

Councillor Mrs H E Loydall assume the Vice Chair for the duration of the meeting only.

Members are reminded that any declaration of interest should be made having regard to the Members’ Code of Conduct. In particular, Members must make clear the nature of the interest and whether it is 'pecuniary' or ‘non-pecuniary'.

None.

To read, confirm and sign the minutes of the previous meeting in accordance with Rule 17 of Part 4 of the Constitution.

In respect of application no. 16/00552/FUL (87 Welford Road, Wigston, Leicestershire LE18 3SP) at minute reference 49 (at page 9) it was requested that ‘Councillor R E Fahey’ be corrected to ‘Councillor F S Broadley’.

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee held on 16 March 2017 be taken as read, confirmed and signed (as amended).

To receive any Petitions and, or, Deputations in accordance with Rule 24 of Part 4 of the Constitution.

None.

The Committee gave consideration to the report (at pages 11 - 12) as delivered and summarised by the Planning Control Enforcement Officer which should be read together with these minutes as a composite document.

Councillor Kaufman enquired as to the longevity of the oldest case on-hand (at para. 3.5).

The Planning Control Enforcement Officer advised that the case in question was already two years old upon his appointment to the Council and that, in the following two years, a number of steps had been taken to persuade the relevant parties to comply before an Enforcement Notice could be duly served. The consideration of the commencement of prosecution proceeding was said to apply to this case.

It was moved by Councillor G A Boulter, seconded by Councillor D M Carter and

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

(i)       The meetings of the Development Control Sub-Committee (Enforcement) be herewith suspended for a further period of one-year (i.e. 12 months); and

(ii)     The next Planning Enforcement Activity Report be written up to cover the period to 31 March 2018, be approximately in line with the end of the municipal year and repeated annually thereafter.

1.     Application No. 16/00395/FUL - Former Premier Drum Site, Blaby Road, Wigston, Leicestershire, LE18 4DF

Mr Michael H Charlesworth spoken upon the application as a consultee.

Mr Charlesworth stated he lived adjacent to the application site since 1994 and, since the ceasing of commercial operations at the site since 2007, it had rapidly fallen into decline and was in desperate need of regeneration. He acknowledged the issues in respect of traffic generation however opined that the cumulative effect would be negligible. He said that the proposed installation of an air quality monitoring station added no material benefit in reducing the levels of pollutants recorded closeby. He said that the Leicester Mercury’s coverage on the application was inaccurate, that no discernible protest(s) had been voiced by local residents and, rather, economic growth and development was needed and welcomed in Wigston and South Wigston.

The Committee gave consideration to the application (at pages 13 - 25) and the supplementary agenda update (at pages 1 - 2) as jointly-delivered and summarised by the Planning Control Team Leader and the Senior Planning Control Officer which should be read together with these minutes as a composite document.

It was moved by the Vice Chair (the Proposer) and seconded by the Chair (the Seconder) that the application be granted planning permission.

The Proposer and Seconder wished it to be minuted that the moving and seconding of the application in accordance with the Officers’ recommendation was formally required to move the application to the debate and by doing so did not fetter their discretion to vote for the motion or against the motion or to abstain from voting.

A debate thereon was had by Members whereby it was generally acknowledged that the regeneration of the application site would be an enhancement and betterment to the local area and would bring a substantial number of benefits to the residents of the Borough, including job creation and a broader range of consumer choice.

A number of concerns were reiterated by Members in respect of increased traffic generation along routes to and from the application site and there being insufficient turning areas for articulated heavy goods vehicles (HGV’s) to manoeuvre safely into, out of and at the rear of the site. It was suggested that a sum be requested under an agreement pursuant to section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (“s106 Agreement”) or voluntarily tendered by the developer to contribute to a re-configuration of the road network and, or, installation of various traffic management and attenuation measures that were thought necessary to mitigate the impact(s) thereof so to better optimise traffic flow within the locality and pedestrian and cyclist access, including the relocation of bus stops/lay-bys along the affected routes.

It was advocated by a majority of Members that a s106 Agreement for the installation of an air quality monitoring station was not an unreasonable request and that, given the excess levels of pollutants recorded closeby the site, the station would provide Environmental Heath  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.