To consider the planning applications contained in the list.
Minutes:
RESOLVED that the following application be determined or otherwise dealt with in accordance with the various recommendations contained in the list namely:
(i) No 2 on the Plans List (15//01672/FULL – Removal of Condition 3 (holiday occupancy condition) of planning permission 05/01218/FULL – The Barn, Pugham Farm, Westleigh, Tiverton) be refused as recommended by the Head of Planning and Regeneration
(Proposed by the Chairman)
(b) No 1 on the Plans List (15//01622/FULL – Erection of an agricultural work’s dwelling and an agricultural livestock building at land at NGR 316711 110152 (Ten Oaks farm), Clayhidon).
The Principal Planning Officer outlined the contents of the report which had been deferred from a previous meeting so that further information could be obtained with regard to financial sustainability, the water supply and the sufficiency of the land area available for the enterprise. He highlighted the block plan and proposed elevations of the dwelling and additional barn and provided photographs from various aspects of the site.
Consideration was given:
· To the possible use of a borehole and whether this was feasible
· Whether there was a need for the applicant to live on site
· Concerns of the local residents with regard to whether the business was financially viable
· The absence of effective business plans and financial data
· The cost of a borehole
· The need for stock movement information to be made available
RESOLVED that Members were minded to refuse the application and therefore wished to defer the decision to allow for a report to be received setting out the implications for the proposed reasons for refusal based on the following issues:
· Insufficient size of holding to sustain the proposed activity upon which the need for a dwelling was based.
· Information to support the applications did not adequately demonstrate that the business will be sustained and financially viable.
Members also requested receipt on a confidential basis of the applicant’s stock movement records for the past two years and any audited accounts or financial information in support of the application.
(Proposed by Cllr R L Stanley and seconded by Cllr Mrs B M Hull)
Notes:
i) Cllrs Mrs H Bainbridge, K I Busch, Mrs C Collis, Mrs F J Colthorpe, J M Downes, S G Flaws, P J Heal, D J Knowles, F W Letch, B A Moore, J D Squire and R L Stanley made declarations in accordance with the Protocol of Good Practice for Councillors in dealing with Planning matters as they had all received additional information from the applicant;
ii) Mr Greenhill (Applicant) spoke;
iii) Mr Catley (Objector) spoke;
iv) Cllr Langford (Clayhidon Parish Council) spoke;
v) Cllr F J Rosamond spoke as Ward Member;
vi) Cllr Mrs H Bainbridge requested that her vote against the decision be recorded;
vii) The following late information was reported: Regarding the relevance of disclosing the ‘Stock register’, Committee members may find the following information helpful.
Paragraph 11 of the inspector’s decision letter:
“More significantly, in the case of a temporary dwelling, the key element of the functional test is not the amount of labour required but whether it is essential for a worker to be readily available at most times day and night”.
The inspector, having thoroughly examined the need concluded, “I accept it is necessary for a worker to be on hand day and night”.
Thus, it is not the quantity of stock at any one time, but the ‘need’ that is decisive.
Quantity and how long the stock are kept on site varies e.g. at present only a few stock have been moved off site, as the majority of farmers do not want to take them because they cannot put them out to graze owing to waterlogged pasture. Other factors, as with any business, are commercial market conditions. This was acknowledged by the Inspector at the time of the site visit when the stock were 6 months old (Paragraph 10).
Supporting documents: