Agenda and minutes

Apologies were submitted on behalf of Councillors Boothby, O’Shea and Witherford with the substitution of Councillor Morrell for Councillor O’Shea and Councillor Bill for Councillor Witherford in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.

To receive verbally from Members any disclosures which they are required to make in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct or in pursuance of Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. This is in addition to the need for such disclosure to be also given when the relevant matter is reached on the agenda.

No interests were declared at this stage.

A list of contents to assist in navigating through the report is attached, along with appendices.

Owing to the significance of this application, the Chairman, in consultation with a senior member of the Conservative Group, had agreed to suspend some Council Procedure Rules to allow additional public speaking and representations from spokespersons of Barwell and Peckleton Parish Councils. Members were briefed on late items which were circulated prior to the meeting, including the requirement to include Legal and monitoring costs as part of the S106 Agreement.

Following an introduction by the Deputy Chief Executive (Community Direction), a detailed presentation of the application and key stages of consultation was given by the Principal Planning Officer. During discussion on the application, clarification was sought on education, affordable housing and employment requirements. Ms Warren, the Council’s external Solicitor, confirmed the Methodology for assessing the requirements for on and off site education provision. The Deputy Chief Executive (Community Direction) confirmed that the Council’s policy requirement of 20% affordable housing would be delivered via 10% provision on site and contributions equivalent to 10% off site. Whilst this may not deliver the equivalent number of units off site, it would allow the Council to use the contributions for purposes set out in the Council’s Affordable Housing Delivery Plan adopted by Council on 19 June 2012. In response to a question on delivery of starter employment units, the Deputy Chief Executive (Community Direction) confirmed the developer had indicated his commitment to help secure early delivery of starter units on the employment site and that this would be a matter included in the S106 Agreement.

Notwithstanding the officer’s recommendation that the application be delegated to the Development Control Manager to grant outline consent subject to a Section 106 agreement and conditions, some members felt that the application should be deferred pending approval of the Area Action Plan, despite officer advice that a decision on this application could not be delayed for that particular reason, as this would be deemed unreasonable and an appeal on grounds of non-determination would be likely to be successful. It was MOVED by Councillor Moore and SECONDED by Councillor Ward that the application be deferred for the abovementioned reason. Councillor Moore along with four other members stood to request that voting on the MOTION be recorded.

Upon being put to the vote, it was recorded as follows:

Councillors Allen, Chastney, Moore, Morrell, Sutton and Ward voted FOR the motion (6);

Councillors Bannister, Bill, Crooks, Hall, Hodgkins, Hulbert, Lynch, Mayne and Taylor voted AGAINST the motion (9).

The MOTION was therefore declared LOST.

Following further discussion, a member expressed concern that whilst he was generally in support of the application, he was not happy with the highways issues and felt that the impact on rural roads was unacceptable. It was MOVED by Councillor Crooks and SECONDED by Councillor Bill that some of the proposals within the application be approved whilst others concerning highways impact mitigation measures be refused. The Committee was advised that to make a ‘split’ decision would be unlawful and not possible procedurally. The application included access  ...  view the full minutes text for item 494.