Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors N Dixon and S Hill.

There were no substitute members appointed.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members in respect of business to be transacted on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 16 November 2016 (to follow).

The Minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2016 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Please note that in accordance with the agreed Protocol for Public Speaking at Overview and Scrutiny, the right to speak only applies to agenda item 11.

The right of the public to speak does not apply to the following agenda items: Apologies, Appointment of Substitute Members, Declarations of Interest, Minutes, the Forward Plan, the Scrutiny Work Programme, any agenda item that is not accompanied by a written report and items that are exempt business.

Members of the public wishing to speak must register to do so by no later than 2.00 pm on the second working day before the meeting.

There were no items of business to consider.

(a)    Items placed on the agenda by a Member of the Committee or any individual Non-Executive Member

       Any individual Councillor may request that a matter is placed on the agenda of one of the Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

       There are no items for consideration.

(b)    Call-In

       Executive Decisions may be called-in by the Chairman or Spokesperson of the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee or any three non-executive members. Call-Ins are heard by the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee unless it decides to refer the matter to the Scrutiny (Community and Regeneration) Committee.

       There are no items for consideration.

(c)    Public Petitions

       There are no items for consideration.     

There were no items of business to consider.

The Team Leader – Democratic Support presented the Notice of Forthcoming Key Decisions to the Committee for its consideration.

Members requested that item 32 (To approve the award of a contract for the preparation of a planning application and an application for Scheduled Monument Consent for a Commonwealth War Memorial at Western Heights, Dover) be included within the Work Programme.

RESOLVED:  That the Notice of Forthcoming Key Decisions be noted subject to the inclusion of item 32 (To approve the award of a contract for the preparation of a planning application and an application for Scheduled Monument Consent for a Commonwealth War Memorial at Western Heights, Dover) within the Work Programme.

The Team Leader – Democratic Support presented the Scrutiny Work Programme to the Committee for its consideration.

Members were advised that the site visit to the Dover Town Investment Zone would be taking place on Monday 16 January 2017 and that all those interested in attending needed to make sure that they advised Democratic Support so that the necessary arrangements could be made.

Southern Water and Kent County Council had been confirmed their attendance.

The Chairman discussed the positive outcome of the recent meeting organised with the planning department for the ward members for Eythorne and Shepherdswell concerning the Lydden Racing Circuit. The meeting had been chaired by the Chief Executive and attended by representatives from Wootton as well as several members of the Scrutiny (Community and Regeneration) Committee. However, there were concerns expressed over the performance of the noise enforcement service and it was agreed to ask the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee to look into the matter.

RESOLVED:  (a)   That the Work Programme be noted.

                        (b)   That it be recommended to the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee that the performance of the noise enforcement service be examined.  

To receive and note the written response from Southern Water to the on-going work in Deal and in answer to areas of concern identified by Members (to follow).

Representatives from Southern Water will be in attendance at the meeting scheduled to be held on 18 January 2017.

The Team Leader – Democratic Support advised that an update from Southern Water in respect of flooding in Deal had been circulated to Members for information and that Southern Water had agreed to attend a future meeting of the Committee to discuss the issue in more detail.

RESOLVED: That the update be noted.

To consider the responses to the outstanding key questions from the meeting held on 12 October 2016.

Annex 1 – Written Answers to Key Questions

Annex 2 – Dover District Council Planning Enforcement Plan

Annex 3 – Minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2016 (covering questions 1–5)

The Chairman informed Members that the answers to Questions 6 – 18 were set out in writing in the agenda, with the answers to Questions 1 – 5 having been provided to the Committee at its meeting held on 12 October 2016.

Members were asked for any supplementary questions arising from the answers provided in the agenda papers.

SQ1.    What was the definition of a ‘larger residential’ development?

The definition of a larger residential development was 15-20 properties and above.

SQ2.    Was the Conditions Officer separate from Planning Enforcement?

The Conditions Officer post was a full-time position separate from Planning Enforcement and freed planning officers to deal with new applications. The Conditions Officer would remind applicants of conditions and if it was believed that a breach had occurred then the matter would be referred to the Planning Enforcement team.

 SQ3.  When did the provision of car parking as requirement come in with new builds?

The Council’s Core Strategy made provision for no car parking spaces to be provided where there were good transport links.

Members discussed the types of conditions applied to planning applications and were advised that the focus in applying conditions should be on the key elements of an application and that any conditions should be enforceable.

The Head of Regeneration and Development advised that there were 3 types of conditions applied to planning applications:

·         time limit on implementing the permission;

·         conditions requiring the submission, approval and implementation of further details by specified times e.g. prior to commencement, prior to occupation; and

·         conditions that imposed restrictions on the development once it was operational e.g. hours of use, noise levels, removal of permitted development rights

The Committee was advised that it was the responsibility of the purchaser’s solicitor as part of the sale to ensure that a house had been built in accordance with the planning permission that had been granted.

It was moved by Councillor L A Keen and duly seconded that

“Officers be asked to review the three categories of conditions applied to planning applications.”

On being put to the vote, the motion was LOST.

It was moved by Councillor T A Bond and duly seconded that

“That a review of the Council’s Planning Enforcement Plan be undertaken by Quarter 3 of 2017.”

On being put to the vote, the motion was CARRIED.

The Chief Executive advised that a robust case management process was now in place and the planning enforcement team was working closely with other departments of the Council on enforcement matters. The Principal Planner (Enforcement) advised that the historic backlog of enforcement cases had now been assessed and computerised records created to replace the old paper ones.  

The Head of Regeneration and Development advised that enforcement action needed to be evidenced based to be successful in court and that in complex cases it could take a significant period of time to complete enforcement action.

It was moved by Councillor L A Keen and duly seconded that

“That a ‘snapshot’ of the backlog of cases,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69.