Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence and to note any substitutions.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bone, Parish (Cllr Ryves sub) and Patel (Cllr Crofts sub).

The Chairman thanked the substitutes for attending the meeting.

The Chairman, Councillor Mrs Spikings welcomed everyone to the meeting.  She advised that the meeting was being recorded and streamed live on You Tube.

The Democratic Services Officer carried out a roll call to determine attendees.

The Chairman, Councillor Mrs Spikings also stated that the Committee’s thoughts were with the people of Ukraine and the Committee stood in support of the people of Ukraine for one minute.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting held on 24 February 2022 (to follow).

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 February 2022 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, Councillor Mrs Spikings.

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of an interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the Member should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

These declarations apply to all Members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on an item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

Councillor appointed representatives on the Internal Drainage Boards are noted.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider any business, which by reason of special circumstances, the Chairman proposes to accept, under Section 100(b)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act, 1972.

The Planning Control Manager advised that it had been recommended to defer application 8/1(b) to allow County Highways to assess the amended plans, which was agreed by the Committee.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chairman of their intention to do so and on what items they wish to be heard before a decision on that item is taken.

The following Councillors attended and addressed the Committee under Standing Order 34:

Cllr Blunt                     8/1(a)                           King’s Lynn

Cllr Kunes                   8/1(a) & 8/2(b)            King’s Lynn

Cllr Joyce                    8/2(b)                          King’s Lyn

Cllr Kirk                       8/2(e)                          West Walton

Cllr Kemp                    8/2(f)                            West Winch

Cllr Nash                     8/2(f)                            West Winch

To receive any Chairman’s correspondence.

The Chairman, Councillor Mrs Spikings reported that any correspondence received had been read and passed to the appropriate officer.

To receive the Schedule of Late Correspondence received since the publication of the agenda.

A copy of the late correspondence received after the publication of the agenda, which had been previously circulated, was tabled.  A copy of the agenda would be held for public inspection with a list of background papers.

The Planning Control Manager advised that in relation to 8/2(a), this had been incorrectly labelled and should read 8/2(c) and relate to the Hunstanton application.

The Committee is asked to note the Index of Applications.

The Committee noted the Index of Applications.

To consider and determine the attached Schedule of Planning Applications submitted by the Executive Director.

The Committee considered schedules of applications for planning permission submitted by the Executive Director for Planning & Environment (copies of the schedules are published with the agenda).  Any changes to the schedules are recorded in the minutes.

RESOLVED:That the applications be determined, as set out at (i) – (viii) below, where appropriate, to the conditions and reasons or grounds of refusal, set out in the schedules signed by the Chairman.

(i)              21/01873/FM

King’s Lynn:  Land SE of 60 Queen Mary Road, North of Railway Line and South of Parkway, Gaywood:  Construction of 226 homes and associated green space, landscaping and ancillary infrastructure:  BCKLWN

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The Planning Control Manager introduced the report and advised that Members would recall a recent application for 379 homes and associated development (ref 20/00724/FM which was located on the current application site in combination with land to the south of Howard Junior School and was considered at the Planning Committee held on 15 April 2021.  Whilst Members resolved to approve the application, it was subsequently withdrawn by the applicant.

The current application proposed 226 houses and associated green space, landscaping and ancillary infrastructure.  The development proposed a reduced site area and was entirely located within the allocation known as Policy E1.6 – King’s Lynn – South of Parkway of the Site Allocation and Development Management Policies Plan 2016, which proposed development of up to 260 dwellings.

The proposed development had been screened in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (as amended) and whilst the development falls within Schedule 2, Class 10 (bii) Urban Development, it is not considered that the development would cause significant environmental effects and therefore an Environmental Statement was not required to be submitted.

The application had been referred to the Committee for determination given the scale of development and wider issues raised.

The Committee noted the key issues for consideration when determining the application as set out in the report.

Councillor Ryves stated that he would like to draw the Committee’s attention to a general concern which stemmed from comments which had been posted on the planning portal that today the Committee as the Local Planning Authority were considering a major planning application submitted by the Borough Council on land owned by the Borough Council, and there were concerns that this was an unavoidable conflict of interest.   Additionally, the Council was suffering potential reputational damage that the original Parkway application, which had been pointed out by a County Councillor, had been linked in the local press to an active Police investigation following standards complaints about three Councillors, two of whom were Conservative Party Members.  He therefore proposed that the application be deferred, pending legal advice, as to the possibility of delegating the Council’s LPA function for the application either to County or a fellow Norfolk Borough.  This was seconded by Councillor Rust

The Chairman, Councillor Mrs Spikings invited the Council’s Legal Advisor to respond to  ...  view the full minutes text for item PC44:a

To receive the Schedule of Planning Applications determined by the Executive Director.

The Committee received schedules relating to the above.

RESOLVED:   That the reports be noted.