Agenda and minutes

Minute of Meeting of 3 February 2020 to be approved and signed by the Chairman.  (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the Meeting held on 3 February 2020.

         DECISION

         APPROVED for signature by the Chairman.

Consider the following application for planning permission:-

There had been circulated copies of reports by the Service Director Regulatory Services on applications for planning permission requiring consideration by the Committee.

DECISION

            DEALT with the applications as detailed in Appendix l to this Minute.

Consider report by Service Director Regulatory Services.  (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of a briefing note by the Chief Planning Officer on Appeals to the Scottish Ministers and Local Reviews. 

              DECISION

              NOTED that:-

(a)       Scottish Ministers had dismissed Appeals in respect of:-

(i)      the erection of a windfarm comprising of 7 wind turbines 126.5m high to tip, associated infrastructure, ancillary building and temporary borrow pits on land North West of Gilston Farm, Heriot – 17/00226/FUL; and

(ii)       the erection of a boundary fence forward of the front elevation greater then 1m in height at Silver Grange, Old Greenlaw Farm, Greenlaw, Duns – 19/00160/UNDEV.

(b)       there remained no appeals outstanding.

(c)       Review requests had been received in respect of:-

(i)        Erection of dwellinghouse, garages and associated access on Land North West of Town O Rule Farmhouse, Bonchester Bridge, Hawick  – 18/01194/FUL; and

(ii)       Erection of dwellinghouse and associated infrastructure at the Walled Garden, Ashiestiel Mansion House, Galashiels - 19/01629/PPP.

(d)       the decision of the Appointed Officer had been overturned in respect of :-

(i)        the Erection of a dwellinghouse on Land South West of Carlenrig Farm, Teviothead, Hawick, (subject to Conditions, informatives and an S75 Legal Agreement) - 19/00514/FUL; and

(ii)       the Erection of dwellinghouse and garage on Land East of Auburn Cottage, Ashkirk – 19/01000/PPP

(e)       the decision of the Appointed Officer had been upheld in respect of the erection of a fence on Land South East of Bungalow, Denholm Mill, Denholm – 19/00857/FUL.

(f)        there remained one review previously reported on which a decision was still awaited when the report was prepared on 20 February 2020.

(g)     there remained 3 S36 PLI’s previously reported on which decisions were still awaited when the report was prepared on 20 February 2020.  These related to:

Under Section 50B(4)(b) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the Chairman was of the opinion that the item dealt with in the following paragraph should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency, in view of the need to keep Members informed.

5.      PLANNING PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK FEEDBACK 2018-19  

The Planning and Development Standards Manager, John Hayward, referred to the Planning Performance Framework Feedback 2018-19, from Scottish Government, which had been circulated to Members prior to the meeting.  The Performance Markers Report 2018-19 showed Red, Amber and Green ratings based on evidence provided in the Planning Performance Framework reports.  Mr Hayward explained that the framework gave a more rounded assessment of the authority’s performance over and above measurements of speed of processing.  He welcomed the feedback which showed that Scottish Borders Council had been given green ratings for 13 of the 15 Performance Markers and that there was clear improvement in performance.  There was one amber rating relating to progress on improvement commitments and one red which related to timescales for determining applications with legal agreements.  Mr Hayward explained that timescale around the conclusion of legal agreements, mostly relating to developer contributions, was not wholly within the planning authority’s control as the speed of the process was partly reliant on the extent to which these were prioritised by developers and their legal representatives.  Members welcomed the feedback and congratulated the Planning team for the improvements noted.

DECISION

NOTED