Minutes – Planning and Conservation Committee – 25 April 2024
The agenda and papers for this meeting are available here: Planning and Conservation Committee – 25 April 2024 – agenda and papers
The minutes of this meeting are presented below.
You can also download a PDF copy of the minutes here: Minutes – Planning and Conservation Committee – 25 April 2024
PLANNING AND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE
Minutes
Date: Thursday 25 April 2024
Time: 4.00pm – 5.54pm
Location: The Council Chamber – The Council House • North Street • CHICHESTER • West Sussex • PO19 1LQ
PRESENT: Councillor Ann Butler (Chairman), Councillor James Vivian (Vice-Chairman), and Councillors J Gershater, Hitchman (from 4.03pm), McHale and Squire
EX-OFFICIO: The Mayor (Councillor C Gershater)
ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: Cllrs Apel, Chant, Miall, Quail and Scicluna, Town Clerk, Council Services and Support Manager, Planning Adviser, Civic and Council Support Officer, West Sussex County Councillor Oakley, Mr Greg Fielder (Secretary, Chichester Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group), Mr and Mrs Foden (for planning applications CC/23/02607/FUL and CC/23/02608/FUL), 1 member of the public
138. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
None
139. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST BY MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE IN MATTERS ON THE AGENDA FOR THIS MEETING
No declarations made.
140. MINUTES OF THE PLANNING AND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON 28 MARCH 2024
RESOLVED to approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Planning and Conservation Committee meeting held on 28 March 2024.
141. UPDATES ON ACTIONS FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING NOT COVERED ELSEWHERE ON THE AGENDA
a) Clerk to invite Simon Ballard at CDC to attend a P&C Meeting.
Members were advised that an invitation had been extended and a response and date were being awaited.
At this point the Chair took agenda item 9
142. APPLICATIONS FOR PLANNING PERMISSION
CC/23/02607/FUL – Case Officer: Martin Mew
Land Adjacent To 30 – 37 Royal Close Chichester West Sussex PO19 7PT
Erection of 1 no. dwelling attached to existing flats 30-37 Royal Close.
No objection, however, a parking space should be provided closer to the proposal site if possible.
CC/23/02608/FUL – Case Officer: Martin Mew
Land To the Rear Of 3 York Road Chichester West Sussex PO19 7TJ
Erection of 2 no. 1-bed flats.
There was a discussion about appearance, conservation area and back land development.
Mr and Mrs Foden, who live directly behind the back land at Number 4 came along and, with the aid of photographs, illustrated their concerns of being heavily overlooked, overdevelopment within the conservation area, and loss of amenity space.
Objection. The proposal is for back land development which extends the full width of the plot and would harm the character and appearance of the conservation area and result in the loss of important amenity space.
CC/24/00473/FUL – Case Officer: Miruna Turland
Public Conveniences Tower Street Chichester West Sussex
Demolition of existing public conveniences and construction of a boundary fence to neighbouring property.
Objection.
The nearest alterative public conveniences are a significant distance away and the existing provision is the closest public convenience to the West Street city centre bus stops. Insufficient provision of public facilities would remain to serve the city centre, should the application be allowed. This would be likely to harm the vitality and viability of the city centre, as shoppers choose better served destinations with convenient access to nearby toilets and changing facilities. This would be contrary to Policy 10 of the Local Plan.
The impact of the proposal would be particularly felt by disabled residents, those with limited mobility, older residents and women or anyone caring for small children. As such, the proposal should be closely assessed against the Council’s duties under the Equalities Act.
Infilling a gap in a brick wall with a fence would harm the character and appearance of the conservation area in this location. Should the application be approved, a wall should be erected to match in with the existing.
No objection should replacement toilets be provided on site and temporary provision made in the meantime.
CC/24/00115/FUL – Case Officer: Calum Thomas
The Chichester Foyer Velyn Avenue Chichester West Sussex
Change of use from C2 to class C3 dwellings to create 23 no. flats, with associated works.
No objection
At this point the meeting returned to the published agenda order
143. NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN UPDATE
Greg Fielder, the new Secretary of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group (NPSG) spoke to the Committee about the letter sent to the Chair of the Planning and Conservation (P&C) Committee and advised that the Steering Group members had discussed the paper prepared by Councillor McHale and had agreed that if the P&C Committee were to proceed with the recommendations in the report, the SG members would resign as a group from the project. Mr Fielder advised that there appeared to be a problem in communications between the Council and the SG and that this would need to be improved if the SG was to continue in its current form.
Councillor McHale spoke about his paper and his concerns with the current progress of the plan development and the current relationship with the Chair of the Steering Group and the NPSG.
There was a discussion of how progress had been halted by problems including personality clashes and the refusal of CCC admin resources by the SG.
It was noted that the SG was still in the same position it had been in 2019 and that although the current lead Ash Pal had many skills, he did not have the required leadership abilities.
A chronological summary of work to date outlined that, although there was a bank of documents, many of which were duplicates and/or blank documents, there was no data to analyse after 4 years. Also, following a request to the Steering Group for information in July 2023, there was still no detailed timeline and no agreed scope of remaining work to be completed.
The committee then considered the proposals from Councillor McHale and RESOLVED to accept the recommendation in the report to ask the Chair of the NPSG to stand down.
A response to the resolution was requested from the NPSG was requested by May 2nd.
Committee further RESOLVED to call a special meeting on 8th May to discuss the response from the NPSG to the resolution.
144. LISTED BUILDING CONSENT APPLICATIONS FOR THE COUNCIL HOUSE
The planning advisor informed members that the applications were still in progress and will be brought to the next meeting once the District Council has accepted the application.
145. BHESCo ZERO-CARBON FUTURE FOR CHICHESTER
The Clerk highlighted the offer from BHESCO to undertake a community carbon audit and reduction plan and asked if the committee wanted to invite them to attend a meeting to present more information on their service.
146. CARBON NEUTRALITY WORKING GROUP
Committee RESOLVED to form a working group to review progress towards the net zero by 2030 target. Clerk to invite all councillors to join.
147. UPDATE ON WSCC PAVEMENTS PROJECT
Councillor Vivian provided an update on the precinct proposals following the completion of the WSP study. WSCC are currently working on the business case to deliver a scheme (prices could range from £4M to £11M for East & North Street depending on final design/surfacing selected).
WSCC will be looking for contributions from CDC & CCC to deliver this. WSCC will work with the City on specifications for benches, bike racks, etc.
148. ITEMS TO BE INCLUDED ON THE NEXT AGENDA
Neighbourhood Plan Update.
149. DATE OF NEXT ORDINARY MEETING
DATE OF SPECIAL MEETING OF COMMITTEE – Wednesday 8 May 2024 – 5pm (Neighbourhood Plan only)
DATE OF THE NEXT ORDINARY MEETING: Thursday 23 May 2024
The meeting closed at 5.54 pm.
ACTIONS ARISING FROM THIS MEETING
| Minute ref. | Action | Assigned to |
| 141a | Clerk to invite Simon Ballard at CDC to attend a P&C Meeting. | Town Clerk |
| 145 | Invite BHESCo ZERO-CARBON FUTURE to a future Chichester Committee Meeting. | Town Clerk |
| 146 | To form a Working Group to review the City Council’s progress | Town Clerk |