Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on the agenda.

Councillor Merrett declared a prejudicial interest in relation to page 54 of the agenda, paragraph 4.1 as he is considering installing solar panels on his property. He advised he would leave the room and take no part in discussions regarding paragraph 4.1.He also declared a personal interest as his neighbours have a proposed extension.

Councillor D’Agorne declared a personal interest as he already has solar panels installed at his property.

Councillor Reid declared a personal interest as she already has solar panels installed at her property.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Local Development Framework Working Group held on 3^rd October 2011 .

RESOLVED:                That the minutes of the LDF Working Group held on 3^rd October 2011, be approved and signed by the Chair, subject to the following amendment:

                                      That resolution (ii) at minute item 4 be amended to read as follows:

                                      That the Draft City Centre Area Action Plan preferred option for movement and accessibility be agreed for consultation, taking into account the comments of the LDF Working Group, as detailed aove.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak, regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the remit of the Working Group, may do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00 pm on Friday 4^th November 2011.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

The purpose of this report is to seek approval from Members for the draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) on the Subdivision of Dwellings (attached at Annex A of this report) to be published for consultation.

Members considered a report which sought approval from Members for the draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) on the Subdivision of Dwellings, which was attached at Annex A of the report, to be published for consultation.

Officers explained that the role of the SPD is to ensure that the subdivision of dwellings is controlled in a manner that provides well designed, good quality homes. There had been concern in recent years that some proposals for the subdivision of dwellings in the City had not been of an adequate standard.

Members made the following comments:

·        Paragraph 2.4, Members queried whether all subdivided dwellings would need to be accessible to people with mobility problems. Officers advised that while this should be delivered where possible but they acknowledged there may be exceptions.

·        Paragraph 2.4 – Members asked that it be made clear that in relation to bullet point 1 it is ‘As originally built’ dwellings with 4 bedrooms.

·        Paragraph 3.4 – Members suggested amending the wording to make it clear that this paragraph was referring to ‘areas not covered by article 4 direction’

·        Paragraph 3.9 – Members queried if the requirement to have all rooms accessed from a corridor would be applicable in all cases as they know of converted properties where bathrooms lead on from bedrooms.

·        Paragraph 3.22 – Members queried how noise between floors is measured and Officers agreed to liaise with the Council’s Environmental Protection Unit to explore this further.

·        Paragraph 3.36 – Members raised concerns regarding the creation of basement flats, particularly in flood zones and asked that officers look at adding a reference to this.

·        Paragraph 3.46  - In response to Members concerns, Officers agreed to ensure that the contents of paragraph 3.46 are consistent with the LDF Core Strategy.

Members noted that the document would be taken to Planning Committee as part of the Consultation and not after it.

RESOLVED:                That Members recommended Cabinet to:

(i)Approve the draft Sub Division of Dwellings SPD for consultation purposes.

(ii)Delegate to the Director of City Strategy in consultation with the Cabinet Member for City Strategy the making of any changes to the SPD

REASON:                 So that the SPD can be consulted on, and amended accordingly ahead of it being used for Development Management purposes to support the emerginf LDF Core Strategy.

The purpose of this report is to seek approval from Members for the draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) on House Extensions and Alterations (attached at Annex A of this report) to be published for consultation.

Members considered a report which sought approval for the Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) on House Extensions and Alterations to be published for consultation.

Officers advised that the SPD will replace the City Council’s existing guidance note relating to extensions that was approved in 2001.

Members made the following comments:

·        In relation to obscure glazing, some Members raised concerns about its use for primary windows in habitable rooms and felt it should only be used in secondary windows and bathrooms. Other Members suggested that it may be appropriate in some cases and asked that the wording of paragraph 3.3 be amended accordingly.

·        Some Members queried paragraph 4.1 and how the degree of harm is measured and how levels of light are measured in homes and gardens. It was agreed that this paragraph would be left unchanged for the consultation.

·        In relation to paragraph 14.5, some Members raised concerns about the wording and diagrams used to illustrate Dormer windows and asked that Officers look at the section to ensure the guidance is clear.

Members noted that the draft SPD would go to Main Planning Committee within the consultation process and not after it.

RESOLVED:     That Members recommended Cabinet to :

(i)           Approve the draft House Extensions and Alterations SPD for consultation purposes.

(ii)          Delegate to the Director of City Strategy in consultation with the Cabinet Member for City Strategy the making of any changes to the SPD that are necessary as a result of the recommendation of the LDF Working Group.

REASON:                     So that the SPD can be consulted on, and amended accordingly ahead of it being used for Development Management purposes to support the emerging LDF Core Strategy.