Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

To be apprised of any changes to the membership of the Committee in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4, the Committee noted the termination of Councillors Devine, O'Toole and Yates and the appointment of Councillors S Evans, D Westley and Hennessy for this meeting only, thereby giving effect to the wishes of the Political Groups.

Note: No other business is permitted unless, by reason of special circumstances, which shall be specified at the meeting, the Chairman is of the opinion that the item(s) should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items of business.

If a member requires advice on Declarations of Interest, he/she is advised to contact the Borough Solicitor in advance of the meeting. (For the assistance of members a checklist for use in considering their position on any particular item is included at the end of this agenda sheet.)

1.    In relation to Agenda Item 8 Councillor J Hodson wished to make members of the public aware that as well as being a Planning Committee Member he is also the Portfolio Holder for Planning and in that role, and as a member of Cabinet, he would be considering the Local Plan Review – Proposed Local Plan Preferred Options Consultation report again at a meeting of Cabinet on the 11 September 2018.

In accordance with the Members' Planning Code of Good Practice he considered he was able to contribute to the debate at Planning Committee but would keep an open mind when the matter comes before Cabinet and would take into account all the representations received, including those comments agreed by Planning Committee, prior to taking a decision as a Cabinet member

Party Whips are not to be used by this Committee in respect of its functions concerning the determination of applications, approval of consents, the taking of enforcement action and the exercise of powers and duties with regard to highways, hedgerows, the preservation of trees and high hedge complaints. When considering any other matter which relates to a decision of the Cabinet or the performance of any member of the Cabinet, in accordance with Regulatory Committee Procedure 9, Members must declare the existence of any party whip, and the nature of it.

There were no Declarations of Party Whip.

To receive as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on the 26 July 2018.                                              .

RESOLVED:         That the minutes of the meeting held on the 26 July 2018                            be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman but noting that Councillor J Hodson was in attendance at the meeting as the Portfolio Holder for Planning.

To consider the report of the Director of Development and Regeneration.

The Director of Development and Regeneration submitted a report on planning applications (all prefixed 2018 unless otherwise stated) as contained on pages 295 to 352 of the Book of Reports and on pages  943 to 947 of the Late Information Report and on pages 949 to 950 of the Additional Late Information Report.

(Notes:-

1.

RESOLVED:     That planning application 0401/OUT relating to 67 Gaw Hill Lane, Aughton be refused for the reason below:-

                            The proposed development would conflict with Policies EC1, EC2 and GN4 of the West Lancashire Local Plan (2012 - 2027) DPD and National Planning Policy Framework in that it has not been robustly demonstrated that the site is unsuitable for an on-going viable employment use.

RESOLVED:            That planning application 0275/FUL relating to 50 St. Helens Road, Ormskirk be approved subject to the conditions as set out on pages 316 to 317 of the Report.

RESOLVED:          That planning application 0619/FUL relating to Elm Tree Community Primary School, Elmers Wood Road, Skelmersdale be approved subject to the conditions as set out on pages 324 to 325 of the Report.

RESOLVED:          That in respect of planning application 0251/FUL relating to Wrightington Hospital, Hall Lane, Wrightington:-

1.    The proposed development is considered to be acceptable in principle and therefore it is recommended that the decision to grant planning permission be delegated to the Director of Development and Regeneration in consultation with the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Planning Committee subject to the confirmation of no objections from the Secretary of State under the terms of the Town and Country Planning (Consultation) (England) 2009 Direction.

2.    That any planning permission granted by the Director of Development and Regeneration pursuant to recommendation 1 above be subject to the conditions as set out on pages 338 to 342 of the Report but with the amendments to Conditions 20, 23 and 24 as set out on pages 946 to 947 of the Late Information Report and with the amendment of Condition 2 as set out on page 949 to 950 of the Additional Late Information Report.

RESOLVED:            That the Listed Building Consent application number 0300/FUL relating to Wrightington Hospital, Hall Lane, Wrightington be approved subject to the conditions as set out on pages 347 to 348 of the Report and with the amendment of Condition 2 as set out on page 950 of the Additional Late Information Report.

RESOLVED:        That planning application number 0702/FUL relating to 21 Manse Avenue, Wrightington be approved subject to the conditions as set out on pages 351 to 352 of the Report.

To consider the report of the Director of Development and Regeneration.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Development and Regeneration as set out on pages 353 to 941 of the Book of Reports the purpose of which was to seek Cabinet's authorisation to publicly consult on the Council's Preferred Options for a new Local Plan and for Planning Committee to refer any agreed comments to Cabinet.

In addition to the agreed comments moved and seconded as detailed at (A) and (B) below, the following comment (C) was moved and seconded:

"That Planning Committee have serious concerns over the Local Plan Preferred Options as it considers the Local Plan Review Cabinet Working Group has exceeded its remit.  It was set up to carry out the planned 5 yearly review of the Adopted Local Plan 2012/27 and to make recommendations to the Cabinet.  Instead, it has exceeded its remit and put forward Preferred Options for a completely new Local Plan.

The Preferred Options recommend scrapping the existing Local Plan that still has 9 years to run yet it is meeting local housing need, has delivered the planned number of new homes and continues to provide the necessary 5 year supply of housing land.  It has also withstood legal challenges in respect of rogue developments and proved to be robust.

The proposal for a new 30 year Local Plan 2020/50 is unprecedented and it is felt impractical to accurately forecast that far ahead, the future housing and employment needs of the Borough.  The proposal to plan for 15,992 new homes can only be a very rough estimate given the official population forecast only project to 2041 and even the Treasury has difficulty forecasting medium term economic growth.

It is also proposed to stop the established practice of safeguarding sites identified for future development.  This would mean the Council abdicating its responsibility to manage the release of sites and allow developers, or "market", to decide which sites should be developed first.  It would also mean that all the sites needed for the next 30 years would be made available for development from 2020/21.

Apart from wanting a huge increase in the annual target for both housing building and commercial development, the Preferred Options propose to provide land to meet the future housing and commercial development needs of Merseyside – 6,256 new homes and hundreds of acres for employment use.

The proposed release of up to 1,500 acres from the Greenbelt or Safeguarded land is cause for considerable concern.  The need to take such drastic action is a direct consequence of the issues detailed above.

The Planning Committee urge Cabinet to reject the Preferred Options and instruct the Local Plan Review Cabinet Working Group to prepare new proposals that are in line with the original remit i.e. to review the existing Local Plan 2012/27 and make suitable recommendations to update, amend and perhaps extend it for a further 5 or 7 years. "

A vote was taken on the comment (C) at the request of a Member which was recorded as follows:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.