Agenda and draft minutes

To receive the notes of the meeting held on 12 September

The notes of the meeting held on the 12^th of September 2023 were received.

Following a public consultation held on proposals to designate a Conservation Area in the Wells Cottages area of West Chiltington, Members will be updated on the consultation feedback and expected next steps.

Officers provided a presentation on the proposal to create a new conservation area in West Chiltington. Horsham District Council Planning Authority have identified that the Wells Cottages should be considered for designation as a conservation area due to historical interest. Once designated, the local planning authority will be required to ensure that special attention is paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of the area.

The boundary area would be comprised of 176 cottages.

Evidence of the special interest of the Wells Cottages has been identified within the West Chiltington draft Neighbourhood Plan and earlier documents.

A public consultation was held in early 2023. With 51 comments received from 44 responders. The key elements from these were: the lack of special interest, constraints and costs of designation, lack of consultation, position of the Conservation Area Boundary, traffic, use of resources and the character of the area already changed due to new inappropriate development.

Next steps would be to update the Appraisal and Management Plan taking into consideration the public consultation, and then to take the report to Cabinet in January 2024.

Members of the PDAG were supportive of the proposal, but questioned if the planning authority could pursue a system of local listed buildings as the roads that would make up the proposed conservation area also contain more modern buildings, albeit they keep in character of the area. Members also asked how the conservation area would impact the residents within the boundary.

Officers are undertaking a review of the composition of the Council’s Planning Committees to consider the suitability of existing arrangements. This session will provide an overview of the proposed course of the review and suggested areas for consideration, and will enable officers to gather some initial thoughts from members of the PDAG. There will be further opportunities for members to have input as the review progresses.

The Monitoring Officer presented the details of the proposed Planning Committee Review including the proposed timetable, following a recommendation from Full Council in 2019 to review any changes to the committee structure after 12 months. This review has not yet taken Place.

The Head of Development and Building Control highlighted challenges around ensuring sufficient training for all Members under the current arrangements, the provision of site visits and consistency in planning decisions across the current two committees.

The Head of Development and Building Control detailed a number of potential options for committee structures, the scope of the review, as well as the timetable. 

Members discussed the participation of Local Ward Members at Planning Committee following proposed changes and the structure of neighbouring Planning Authorities. It was suggested that it would be useful to visit another authority to further understand their Planning Committee arrangements. Additionally, it was suggested that pre-meetings be held with Committee Members prior to the final report being published. It was also agreed that engagement was needed with all members and officers committed to holding a workshop.

To note the Forward Plan extract for the Planning & Infrastructure portfolio

The Forward Plan extract was noted.