Agenda and minutes

To confirm as a true record the Minutes of the meeting held on 24 August 2021.

Councillor Jarman proposed amendments to the minutes, which had been circulated to the Committee prior to the start of the meeting (attached to and forming part of these minutes), which was duly seconded, the Chairman adjourned the meeting to allow all members of the Committee time to read the proposed amendment.

The Legal advisor reminded the Committee that the only part of the minutes that could be discussed was the accuracy.

The Vice-Chairman advised that he had viewed the draft minutes prior to publication and had made some minor amendments, he believed the accuracy was correct and that minutes were not a verbatim record of what had been said at the meeting.

It was noted that the published minutes were not incorrect however the proposed amendment did provide more detail.

A vote for the proposed amendment was taken the result of which was:

RESOLVED:

THAT the amendment to the minutes be accepted.

A vote was then taken on the minutes including the amendment the result of which was:

RESOLVED:

THAT the minutes including the proposed amendments of the meeting held on 24 August 2021 be confirmed as a true record.

To invite Members to declare any interest they might have in the matters on the agenda.

Councillor Oliver declared an interest in minute number 25 (Castle Lodge, 54 Castle Road, Newport) as he was the neighbouring local member.

Questions are restricted to matters not on the agenda. Questions may be asked without notice but to guarantee a full reply at the meeting, a question must be put including the name and address of the questioner by delivery in writing or by electronic mail to Democratic Services at democratic.services@iow.gov.uk no later than two clear working days before the start of the meeting. Normally, Planning Committee is held on a Tuesday, therefore the deadline for written questions will be Thursday, 16 September 2021.

There were no public questions.

Planning applications and related matters.

Consideration was given to item 1 of the report of the Strategic Manager for Planning and Infrastructure Delivery.

A schedule of additional representations received after the printing of the report were submitted at the beginning of the meeting and were drawn to the attention of the Committee members when considering the application.

Prior to the commencement of the application a point of order was raised regarding the planning Committee’s site visit the previous week and the advice provided to members of the Committee regarding their attendance. It was believed that the advice provided by the Monitoring Officer that as a Planning Committee member had already attended a site visit for this application as he had already attended a site visit for this site, it was believed to be contrary to the Council’s Constitution. The Chairman was asked to explain why he had allowed this to happen, potentially putting the decision the Committee made at risk.

The Chairman explained that there was a tradition of the Committee undertaking site visits together, however in this particular instance the Councillor concerned had sought advice from the Monitoring Officer explaining that they had attended a previous visit to the site with the Committee in June 2021, the advice provided was that the Councillor concerned did not need to attend the site visit but could still take part in the meeting, following the site visit a briefing took place where the matter was discussed and agreed that the Strategic Manager for Planning and Infrastructure, given he had been present at the visit with the Committee the previous week would attend a separate site visit for the Councillor. The Chairman went on to advise that the Constitution would be reviewed around this and would be put forward to Full Council for consideration. The advice provided to the Chairman regarding this had been that as the Councillor concerned had been misinformed about attendance at the site visit, it would be unfair to exclude them from taking part in the meeting.

Concern was expressed by some members of the Committee that the decision had left the Planning Committee vulnerable to the process and dissatisfaction was expressed with the decision that had been made.

To guarantee a reply to a question, a question  must be submitted in writing or by electronic mail to democratic.services@iow.gov.uk no later than 4.00pm on Friday, 17 September 2021. A question may be asked at the meeting without prior notice but in these circumstances there is no guarantee that a full reply will be given at the meeting.

Councillor Matthew Price asked a question regarding a previous site visit which he believed he had attended approximately 70% of but following advice he was not permitted to take part in the debate or vote on the application, he asked about the validity of the advice and if he should have been allowed to take part in the debate and vote on the application as he had extensive knowledge of the site. The Chairman advised that a written response would be provided. It was also noted that a review of that part of the constitution had begun.

Councillor Geoff Brodie asked if the decision regarding site visits would impact potential Judicial Reviews, as the Vice-Chairman who chaired the meeting in question he had applied the Council’s Constitution regarding site visits. The Chairman advised that he would take advice on the matter and report back.

Councillor Chris Jarman questioned what impact the decision would have on past applications as the approached needed to be applied to all applications.

Councillor Paul Brading asked if two separate dates could be put into diaries to enable all councillors to attend, he was advised that a review of the constitution would be undertaken and his point had been noted.

Councillor David Adams advised that he had taken legal advice prior to the application and felt the Committee were under constant threat of process and it needed to be done correctly, he was advised that there was additional training arranged for the following month for the planning Committee