Agenda and minutes

SCOTTISH BORDERS COUNCIL

PLANNING AND BUILDING STANDARDS COMMITTEE

                                                                                     MINUTE of MEETING of the PLANNING AND BUILDING STANDARDS COMMITTEE held in the Council Headquarters, Newtown St. Boswells on 29 June 2015 at 10.00 a.m.

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Present: -           Councillors R. Smith (Chairman), M. Ballantyne (from para 2), J. Brown, J. Fullarton, I. Gillespie, D. Moffat, S. Mountford, B. White.

Apologies:-         Councillor J. Campbell.

In Attendance:-  Development Standards Manager, Major Applications, Review and Enforcement Manager, Principal Roads Planning Officer, Principal Planning Officer, Solicitor (G. Nelson),  Democratic Services Team Leader, Democratic Services Officer (F Henderson).

Minute of Meeting of 1 June 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 1 June 2015.

         DECISION

         APPROVED for signature by the Chairman.

         MEMBER

         Councillor Ballantyne joined the meeting during consideration of the following item of business.

Consider report by Head of Regulatory Services.  (Copy report attached.)

         DRAFT SUPPLEMENTARY GUIDANCE: WASTE MANAGEMENT

2.       There had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Regulatory Services which proposed the approval of Draft Supplementary Guidance on Waste Management.  Once approved, the Guidance would become a material consideration in the determination of planning applications.  The report explained that the Scottish Government’s Zero Waste Plan (ZWP) for Scotland set out the Government’s vision for a zero waste society where all types of waste were dealt with, regardless of their type and source, and contained a range of targets.  To help meet these targets, it was essential for Scottish Borders Council and its partners to engage with developers as early as possible in the planning application process to encourage the reduction, reuse and recycling of as much waste as possible.  The aim of the new Supplementary Guidance was to support the effective implementation of the Scottish Borders Council Consolidated Local Plan 2011 Policies PMD1–Sustainability, PMD2-Quality Standards and IS10-Waste Management Facilities and was primarily intended for use by developers, consultants and applicants seeking advice on the incorporation of waste management facilities into new developments.  The guidance would apply to all new developments where additional residential and commercial waste management was required and set out the requirements that must be taken into consideration at the planning application stage for waste management in all new development.  The guidance formed part of a suite of policies and supplementary guidance which must be taken into consideration during the planning application process, and in particular, must be read in conjunction with other Local Plan Policies and guidance that encouraged good place making and design. It was proposed that the Draft Supplementary Guidance be subject to public consultation for a period of 12 weeks, following which, it was intended that if substantive comments were received a report would be brought back to the Planning and Building Standards Committee to seek final agreement.  Mr C Johnston, Principal Planning Officer was present at the meeting to answer Members questions and the Chairman thanked Mr Johnstone and Karen Niven for their excellent work on the guidance.

          DECISION

AGREED to:-

(a)       approve the use of the document as a Draft Supplementary

Guidance on Waste Management to be used as a basis for public consultation; and

(b)       Delegate the approval of the document to the Service Director of Regulatory Services as Supplementary Guidance if there are no substantive comments arising from the public consultation.

Consider the following application for planning permission:-

          APPLICATIONS

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

         Adjournment

         The meeting adjourned at 1.35 p.m. prior to consideration of application 15/00432/FUL and reconvened at 2p.m.

         DECISION

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

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

         PLANNING PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK 2014/15

4.       There had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Regulatory Services which proposed that members grant delegated authority to enable the preparation of the full version of the Planning Performance Framework 2014/15 for submission to Scottish Ministers by 31 July 205.  The report 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 Scottish Government had brought forward the date the PPF must be submitted by 3 months to 31 July and it had proven difficult to gather all the required information and statistics to enable the finalised report to be compiled and presented to Committee within that timescale.  It was proposed to feature a number of case studies in the PPF relating to service delivery and improvement which included the Kelso THI project (which had been short listed for a Quality in Planning Award); Development Management Improvement Plan Implementation - Internal Consultation; Development Management Improvement Plan Implementation - Traffic Light Management System; High Quality Development on the Ground - Development   Management – Negotiated Improvements and Local View Fusion.

          DECISION

          AGREED to grant delegated powers to the Service Director Regulatory Services and the Chairman of the Planning and Building Standards Committee to finalise the production of the Planning Performance Framework 2014/15 for submission to Scottish Ministers by 31 July 2015.

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

         APPEALS AND REVIEWS

5.      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 West of Kingledores Farm (Glenkerie), Broughton, Biggar       

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

(b)  review requests had been received in respect of the following:-

(i)           Erection of 12 holiday cabins, office/laundry block and associated works on Land South West of Milldown Farmhouse, Coldingham – 13/00401/FUL;

(ii)          Erection of dwellinghouse and detached garage on Land West of 3 Nethermains Cottage, Duns – 14/00934/FUL.

(c)       the Local Review Body had overturned the Appointed Officers decision (subject to conditions) as follows:-

(i)           to refuse the Erection of veterinary practice building Land South East of Paul Burton Warehouse, (Plot 8) Pinnaclehill Industrial Estate, Kelso – 14/01342/FUL;

(ii)          to refuse Part change of use to form dental surgery suite at 3 Cherry Court, Cavalry Park, Peebles – 15/00275/FUL

(d)  The Local Review Body varied the Appointed Officers decision (Condition   

    removed) in respect of the Erection of boundary fence and garden shed 

   (retrospective), 1 Old Mill Cottages, West Linton – 15/00111/FUL

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

          Roof Repairs at Bank House, St Boswells

1.      The Committee considered a report which sought authority to carry out roof repairs at Bank House, St Boswells.

     Dry Rot at 65,72,74 and 75 Halliburton Place, Galashiels

2.       The Committee considered a report which sought authority to rectify dry rot defects at 65, 72 and 74, 74 Halliburton Place, Galashiels.

The meeting concluded at 3.10 p.m.

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