Meeting documents

To approve the minutes of the Planning Committee meetings held on 17 April and 14 May 2019.

The minutes of the Planning Committee held on 17 April and 14 May 2019 were approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record. 

Councillor Hogan declared a Personal Interest under the Council’s Code of Conduct as a Member of Beaconsfield Town Council who have made representations about application 17/01763/OUT and PL/18/4882/FA. He reported that he had not attended any meetings when these applications were discussed by the Town Council nor expressed a view on the applications and had not pre-determined the applications.

Councillor Matthews declared a Personal Interest under the Council’s Code of Conduct as a Member of Iver Parish Council who have made representations about application 17/02353/FUL. She had not attended any meetings when this application was discussed by the Parish Council nor expressed a view on the application and had not pre-determined the application.

Councillor Jordan declared a personal and prejudicial interest under the Council’s Code of Conduct in application 17/01763/OUT as a close personal friend of the Inland Homes’ Managing Director. She therefore left the room when this item was being discussed.

The files for each application are available for public inspection at the Council Offices.

(A)     COMMITTEE DECISION REQUIRED FOLLOWING A SITE VISIT AND/OR

        PUBLIC SPEAKING:

The Committee received a verbal report which set out the up-to-date position relating to Enforcement. The Enforcement Manager reported on the following:-

·         Good progress had been made. The Technician role in Planning Enforcement had now been changed to a Planning Enforcement Officer and a member of staff had been recruited in April.

·         A complete process review had been undertaken which identified areas of improvement which had resulted in changes to the standard template, acknowledgement letter, formal Notice process, template pack which was sent to the legal team for consultation and further streamlining to their internal processes.

·         There was a new approach to Temporary Stop Notices which had proved successful in airport parking matters in South Bucks District Council in the first half of 2019.

·         In terms of the shared service in 2018/19 513 new cases had been logged, which was a reduction in number possibly due to the improved triage service that had been adopted by the Team over the past year.

·         Up until last year there had been a year on year increase in new SBDC enforcement investigations logged in the past 5 years which resulted in a 35% increase in SBDC cases over that period. The cases now logged in Chiltern and South Bucks District Council had become more balanced over that 5 year period with a 53/47 split between Chiltern and South Bucks District Council.

·         All new allegations of breaches of planning control were logged and acknowledged within 5 working days.

·         In 2018/19 in terms of formal notices issued, there have been 12 planning enforcement notices (most in the last 5 years), 1 section 215 notice and 5 Temporary Stop Notices.

·         The Planning Inspectorate have determined 8 appeals against enforcement notices during the last financial year which has resulted in an 81.25% success rate at enforcement appeals with 18 appeals currently in progress.

·         In 2018/19 the Team secured its first ever Proceeds of Crime Act Confiscation Order for CDC as part of an associated prosecution. The Order was made in the sum of £17,000 along with a £21,000 fine (6x 3500) and a £23,000 costs award.

·         In 2018/19 770 cases were closed this financial year, resulting in a net reduction of cases of 257. The Team have managed to close more cases than it opened in April and May 2019.

·         For 2019/20 improvements to the process would continue to be made with an Enforcement Notice review and Section 106 monitoring and enforcement program implemented.

Members welcomed the progress being made by the Enforcement Manager. Following a question, the Enforcement Manager agreed to provide a written response on the number of cases for South Bucks District Council which were currently open.

Members asked that they be updated on Enforcement matters every three months.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

For information

The Committee received for information a progress report which set out the up-to-date position relating to Planning Public Inquiries, Hearings and Court Dates.

RESOLVED that the report be noted