Agenda and minutes

No Apologies for absence were received as all Members of the Committee were present.

Members are reminded of their personal responsibility to declare any personal and prejudicial interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government and Finance Act 1992 relating to Council Tax, the Local Government Act 2000, the Council’s Constitution and the Members Code of Conduct

Note:

(a)  Members are reminded that they must identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest and

(b)  Where Members withdraw from a Meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chair when they leave

Councillor C Tovey Declared his Interest in Item 4 – P/21/0244 – 3 Chestnut Way, Gurnos, Merthyr Tydfil as he has had dealings with Mr Singh.    

The Council approves as accurate (subject to any amendments) the Minutes of the following Meetings:

Resolved that:

The Minutes of the Fact Finding Visit held 22 February 2022 be accepted as a correct record.

Resolved that:

The Minutes of the Fact Finding Visit held 14 March 2022 be accepted as a correct record.

Resolved that:

The Minutes of the Fact Finding Visit held 25 March 2022 be accepted as a correct record.

Councillor M Colbran the Vice Chair took the Chair for the next Item as Councillor C Tovey had Declared his Interest in the item.

To consider the attached report

Declaration of Interest

Councillor C Tovey having Declared his Interest in this item left the Meeting for the consideration of this item and Councillor M Colbran took the Chair.

Change of use of existing Retail Unit to A3 Restaurant

The Planning Officer led the Committee in detail through the application.

Questions were then raised by the Committee in relation to Parking issues and the Petition received and were responded to in detail by the Planning Officer.

Resolved that:

In accordance with the recommendation of the Head of Town Planning and Countryside, the application be approved subject to the conditions as outlined within the report.

To consider the attached report

Judith Jones led the Committee through the ‘Public Involvement in the Planning Process’ report.

The following questions were then raised on the report and were responded to in detail by Judith Jones and Geraint Morgan:

·         Speaking on behalf of a member of the public

·         The length of time allocated that a member of the Public can speak for

·         Can an objector speak in relation to any application that is considered by Committee

·         Definition of a major application

·         Example requested of an exceptional case

·         Clarification of what is a special circumstance

·         Does the Protocol need to be reviewed in say six to twelve months

·         Booklet produced by Caerphilly Council

·         Translation into other languages

It was then suggested that in light of all the questions raised and follow up actions requested that the report be deferred.

After consideration by the Members it was

Resolved that:

The report be deferred to the next Committee Meeting.

To  receive the attached report

Resolved that:

The Delegated Decision Report list: 1 January 2022 to 28 February 2022 be received.

Last Committee Meeting

The Chair advised that this was the last Committee Meeting and thanked the Officers for their help over the past few years.