Agenda and minutes

Minute of Meeting of 5 October 2015 to be approved and signed by the Chairman.  (Copy attached.)

          MINUTE

1.      There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the Meeting held on 5 October 2015.

         DECISION

         APPROVED for signature by the Chairman.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

Councillor White declared an interest in application 15/00774/PPP in terms of Section 5 of the Councillors Code of Conduct and left the Chamber during the discussion.

Consider the following application for planning permission:-

APPLICATIONS

2.       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 the Appendix to this Minute.

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

APPEALS AND REVIEWS

3.                There had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Regulatory Services on Appeals to the Scottish Ministers and Local Reviews.

         DECISION

         NOTED that:-

(a)  there remained two appeals outstanding in respect of:

·         Land South East of Halmyre Mains Farmhouse (Hag Law), Romanno Bridge

·         Land West of Muircleugh Farmhouse, Lauder

(b)       an Appeal request had been received in respect Wind Farm development of 9 No wind turbines and associated infrastructure/buildings/access (further revised scheme – tip heights of Turbines 1, 2 and 4 reduced to 100m – all others to remain at 125m) on Land North East and North West of Farmhouse Braidlie (Windy Edge), Hawick – 13/00789/FUL;

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

(i)            Change of use of land to form extension to existing holiday park on Land South West of Northburn Caravan Park, Pocklaw Slap, Eyemouth – 14/01282/FUL;

(ii)           Replacement windows (retrospective) at Tushielaw Inn, Ettrick Valley, Selkirk – 15/00601/FUL;

(iii)     Siting of portacabin for use as flour mill on Land North West of Spruce House, Romano Bridge, West Linton – 15/00682/FUL;

(iv)     Erection of dwellinghouse on Land East of Park Lane, Croft Park, Croft Road, Kelso – 15/00745/PPP.

(d)  the Local Review Body overturned the Appointed Officers decision to  refuse the following:-

(i)            Erection of wind turbine 34.4m high to tip and associated infrastructure on Land South West of Clackmae Farmhouse, Earlston – 15/00179/FUL;

(ii)          Erection of dwellinghouse on land South West of Pyatshaw Schoolhouse, Lauder – 15/00403/FUL;

(iii)         Erection of dwellinghouse on Land South of Riding Centre, Newlands, Sunnyside, Reston – 15/00424/FUL;

(iv)         Erection of decking and balustrade at 12 Todburn Way, Clovenfords, Galashiels – 15/00511/FUL; and

(v)          Installation of 16 No solar photovoltaic (PV) Panels to roof at Raebank, Chapel Street, Selkirk

(e)       the Local Review upheld the Appointed Officers  decision to refuse the External alterations and erection of 4 No flagpoles at Office West Grove, Waverley Road, Melrose – 15/00504/FUL.

(f)        there was one Review outstanding in respect of Plot A, Chirnside Station, Chirnside.

Presentation on Safeguarding Our Built Heritage by Principal Officer – Enforcement and Principal Officer – Built Heritage, Bio, Environment Infrastructure  

SAFEGUARDING OUR BUILT HERITAGE

4.       The Chairman introduced Mr Alan Gueldner: Lead Officer Enforcement and Mr Mark Douglas: Lead Officer Built Heritage & Design to give a presentation on the powers available to the Council (Statutory and non-Statutory), the Challenge of dealing with Buildings at risk and the future for safeguarding our Built Heritage.  The non-statutory powers included Grant Schemes (including THIs and CARS), where the Council worked with the building owners to provide grant support, although owners still required to provide funding and providing advice, support and pragmatic negotiations about what changes could be made.  Traditional Building Repair and Maintenance Talks had been developed for Selkirk Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) and it was hoped these could be given to communities outwith the Selkirk CARS catchment area – possibly in Jedburgh and Hawick in 2016.  The number of “at risk” buildings in the Scottish Borders included 21 category A listed buildings (=11% of 189 in the Scottish Borders) 60 category B listed buildings (=5% of 1,237); 35 category C listed buildings (=2% of 1,594) and 48 unlisted buildings (the majority of which were in conversation areas).  In response to a question about the number of buildings at risk which were owned by the Council, it was noted that less than 5% were owned by the Council.  In response to a question about the frequency of updating the national website, it was noted that there was no set system for updating but generally every 3 years.  The Chairman advised that Planning and Building Standards had been shortlisted for the Kelso Regeneration Project in respect of the Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning.

          DECISION

(a)       NOTED  the presentation and that a copy would be circulated to all Members of the Committee.

(b)     AGREED that:-

(i)     Officers Develop and Implement a Strategy and populate the  Building Heritage Action Matrix; and

(ii)  a further progress report be provided in 6 months.

Presentation on Planning Performance Framework by Chief Planning Officer.

PLANNING PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK

5.       The Chief Planning Officer was present at the meeting to advise Members on the Planning Performance Framework.  It was explained that the Planning Performance Framework (PPF) provided a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach to performance assessment across all 34 Local Planning Authorities and 4 Strategic Development Planning Authorities in Scotland.  It provided a mechanism to benchmark performance and to demonstrate the achievements and success of the Planning Service, what steps were taken to improve the service delivery and sharing good practice.  The presentation highlighted performance in relation to Decision Making Timescales for Major Developments which had made significant improvement reducing from an average of 73.3 weeks to 30.9 weeks which was now well below the Scottish average of 46.4 weeks.  Improvements had also been made in Local (Non-Householder) Development and Household Development applications.  The presentation also compared Performance against Key Markers which demonstrated a continued overall improvement over the past three years.     

          DECISION

(a)        NOTED presentation.

(b)          AGREED that Officers continue to disseminate good practice to other  

            local authorities and agencies and to communicate positive developments in the   

improved operation of the system to Borders residents.

Before proceeding with the private business, the following motion should be approved:-

“That under Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the aforementioned Act.”

PRIVATE BUSINESS

6.       DECISION

          AGREED under Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the business detailed in the Appendix to this Minute on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 6 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the aforementioned Act.

SUMMARY OF PRIVATE BUSINESS

         MINUTE

1.         The Committee considered the private section of the Minute of 5 October 2015.

With reference to the Minute of 5 October 2015, the Committee, having resolved to suspend standing orders, reconsidered the decision in respect of the Development Contributions relating to application 14/01153/FUL.

Erection of dwellinghouse on Land East of Castle Heights, Hume.

Erection of dwellinghouse without compliance with condition No 4 of planning permission in principle reference 14/00984/PPP on Garden Ground of Viewbank, Douglas Road, Melrose.

(Copies attached.)  

Private Minute of 5 October 2015 to be approved and signed by the Chairman.

(Copy attached.)