MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON THURSDAY, 22 MARCH 2007 COMMENCING AT 6.00 PM

 

Present :

 

Cllrs Geoff Lumley (Chairman), Anne Bishop, Heather Humby, Brian Mosdell

 

Co-opted Member (voting):

 

Mrs Sue Poston, Mr Charles Rogers

 

Co-opted Member (non-voting):

 

Mr Bob Blezzard

 

Apologies:

 

Cllrs William Burt, Deborah Gardiner

 

Also Present (non-voting):

 

Cllrs George Brown, Charles Hancock

 

 

 

The Chair welcomed Mr Charles Rogers to the meeting. Mr Rogers had recently been appointed as a co-opted member of the Committee.

 

68.             MINUTES

 

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 15 February 2007 be agreed.

 

69.             DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

Mr Bob Blezzard declared a personal interest in Minute 70 – 74 as he was a Member of Sandown Town Council and the Isle of Wight Association of Town and Parish Councils.

 

70.             PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

 

There were no public questions.

 

71.             UPDATE ON COMPLETED ENQUIRIES – DEVELOPMENT CONTROL REPORTING PROCEDURES SC01/06; DEVELOPMENT CONTROL SPEED OF DETERMINATION OF MINOR AND MAJOR APPLICATIONS SC02/06 AND PLANNING GAINS AND OBLIGATIONS SC03/06

 

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Assets and Housing attended for this item accompanied by the Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services and the Head of Planning Services. The Committee had made recommendations on each of the three enquiries and invited the Cabinet Member to comment on these. The Cabinet Member welcomed the majority of the recommendations.

 

Development Control Reporting Procedures SC01/06

 

The Cabinet Member accepted the recommendations as set out in the report with the exception of recommendation 1.4. The first part of the recommendation was accepted but the following reason was not accepted ‘to ensure that it did not appear that permission was being bought by a developer’. The Director also stated that the proposed heads of terms of agreement would be attached as an appendix to planning reports.

 

The Director explained that training for Members was being co-ordinated by the Interim Director of Legal and Democratic Services. The Cabinet Member expressed a view that regular training sessions and update training on where obligations lie was required for Members. There was a proposal for routine wash up sessions after each meeting.

 

Development Control Speed of Determination of Minor and Major Applications SC02/06

 

The Cabinet Member accepted the recommendations as set out in the report with the exception of recommendations 2.2 and 2.3 and an amendment to recommendation 2.6.

 

The reason for rejecting recommendation 2.2 was that a Section 106 Officer had already been appointed and a full and proper review of the department was due to be undertaken by the Planning Advisory Service in early June 2007. The Head of Planning Services explained that the review would last 3 days and interviewees would include Members of the Scrutiny Committee.

 

It was stated that recommendation 2.3 was unnecessary as applications requiring environment or traffic impact assessments were not included within targets. 

 

The Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services stated that while recommendation 2.6 was accepted, a review would take place 6 monthly instead of quarterly.

 

Members were concerned about the lack of planning enforcement officers. The Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services stated that an internal review of enforcement was being undertaken and was expected to be complete by September 2007. 

 

Planning Gains and Obligations SC03/06

 

The Cabinet Member accepted some of the recommendations set out in the report and provided comments on others.

 

Recommendation 3.1 was accepted and the Section 106 Officer post had already been filled.  Recommendation 3.2 was accepted and a report had already been produced for the Development Control Sub Committee with a proposal for quarterly update reports in future.

 

Recommendation 3.3 was rejected on the basis that it would form part of the work on the core strategy.

 

It was stated that recommendation 3.4 was now out of date as it had been superseded by the proposed housing strategy and requirements were now based on the value of development rather than the number of units.

 

The Cabinet Member requested clarification on recommendation 3.5 and stated that planning obligations would be treated on a site by site basis and it would therefore be inappropriate for a standard tariff to be adopted. 

 

Recommendation 3.6 was rejected as it would form part of the work on the core strategy.

 

The Cabinet Member stated that a good proportion of affordable housing was required from developers but improving the infrastructure was also important. The Cabinet Member stated that capital gains should not be ring fenced and that once the core strategy had been redrafted rural settlements could be made affordable.

 

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the response be noted.

 

72.             WASTE DISPOSAL AND RECYCLING

 

At this point Cllr Bishop and Mr Bob Blezzard made their apologies and left the meeting.

 

The Committee received a presentation from the Operational Manager for Maintenance and the Waste Minimisation and Recycling Officer. The Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services also attended to answer questions.

 

The presentation provided Members with information on the Council’s current contract with Island Waste Services, the Council’s achievements in waste and recycling, the effects of landfill tax rises, current refuse collection arrangements, and current and future initiatives.

 

The Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services explained that a waste strategy was currently being produced and a review of the current capacity at Lynbottom tip, and the cost of landfill to the Council, would take place as part of this process. The Director stated that all options would be explored including enforcement, two weekly collections, and charging by weight.

 

Members asked why the Council focussed on domestic waste and not commercial waste and the Director explained that all of the Council’s targets set by government focussed on domestic waste. The Head of Planning Services stated that planning policies to cover industrial and commercial waste needed to be included in the Island Plan as well as provision for waste sites. The Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services explained that the waste strategy would include domestic and commercial waste and would be complete by the end of 2007/08. The strategy would provide for the next 25 years.

 

The Committee requested informal meetings to discuss this further.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the information be noted and informal meetings be held in the future.

 

73.             PROGRESS REPORT ON CURRENT ENQUIRIES

 

There were no issues to report. The Committee would look at anti-social behaviour in April 2007.

 

74.             FORWARD PLAN

 

Members considered the Forward Plan for the period April 2007 to October 2007. There were no current issues.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Forward Plan be noted.

 

 

 

 

CHAIRMAN