The Chair gave guidance on the legal constraints affecting decision-making on planning matters.

To receive any apologies from Members of the Committee.

Apologies were received from Councillor Dave Humphreys

None.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as a correct record.

There are no delegated decisions to note.

None.

Sally Panayi (Senior Planner) presented the applications and made the following points:

·       The report covered four applications

·       They are Section 73 applications to vary the planning conditions on each application to extend the date for completion of inert waste recycling operations and site restoration until December 2031

·       The objection from Lea Marston Parish Council was withdrawn the day before the meeting because the applicants are willing to review remodelling of the temporary bunding around site, have discussions about biodiversity offsetting and visual amenity planting and work with them to resolve the security night light issue. The Parish Council’s  rationale for withdrawing their objection was also  that the application seeks  temporary consent. It was requested that the planning conditions reference North Warwickshire Local Plan Policies LP17 and LP 18 

·       The site is 9 hectares in North Warwickshire and located close to J9 of the M42 and M6 toll road. The site is accessed via the A446 which has a dual carriageway

·       Coleshill is three kilometres south of the site, Curdworth is one kilometre west, and Lea Marston is over one kilometre east

·       National Grid has a substation located 45 metres south-east of the site

·       HS2 will run past the site, and they have purchased the residential property to the south of the site

·       Dunston Hall is the nearest property, it is a listed building occupied by residential and business uses.

·       The public footpath between Lea Marston and the site has already been diverted around the application site and will be further diverted  by HS2

·       Other future developments in the area included a recently approved battery storage facility on land to the east, an allocated sand/gravel site included in the emerging Minerals Plan.

·       The site was previously a sand/gravel quarry which was later infilled with inert waste which  in 2002  was approved to be recycled to recover aggregates. That recycling operation has been completed. The site now imports inert waste for recycling.

·       The site is permitted to process 400,000 tonnes of construction/demolition waste annually and 100,000 tonnes of Incinerator Bottom Ash annually. The limits are controlled by  by the EA (Environmental Agency)

·       100,000 tonnes of mineral (sand/gravel) remain on the site to be excavated

·       The second planning consent on site is a concrete batching facility that produces/exports up to 50,000 cubic metres of concrete annually

·       The third application is for a workshop and store building.

·       The fourth application was approved in 2015 for an extension to the north of the site for use as a storage area with a bund on  the northern perimeter  of the site.

·       These existing approvals all required completion of works by the end of December 2021

·       The current applications were submitted prior to that deadline date, 

·       The application site is in the Green Belt where development is considered unacceptable unless ‘very special circumstances’ outweigh the harm.The ‘very special circumstances’ put forward are considered acceptable: “the site makes a major contribution to Warwickshire's local aggregate assessment, Warwickshire currently has insufficient active primary aggregate sites to meet the county's  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Sonu Copson (RoW Definitive Mapping Officer) presented the application and made the following points:

·       This application concerns a the proposed footpath change in Rugby to be made under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 Section 257

·       On the 18th March 2021 the County Council granted planning permission for the restoration of Parkfield Road quarry through the importation/deposit of inert restoration material by rail

·       In addition to the requirement to submit details in order to discharge a number of pre-commencement planning conditions, the applicant was required to make an application to the County Council to divert the RB5/1 footpath

·       The applicant (Cemex) requested the diversion to allow them to carry out the operations permitted by the planning permission, which are limited by condition to 25 years from the commencement of development

·       As the diversion to the footpath is so minor Cemex applied for the diversion to be permanent

·       The proposed footpath would curve southwards before continuing generally north-east to join the public footpath

·       The diverted route would have a three-metre width fence and the path itself would be two metres wide. All the work would be funded by the applicants

·       The nearby Traffic Regulation Order will end when the quarry has been filled in and the path has been restored. When the quarry is filled in, work to restore the wildlife would be done

·       There were no objections from the consultees.

Questions

In response to Councillor Simpson-Vince, Matthew Williams (Senior Planner) confirmed that this was so Cemex could unload the trains. 

Vote

Councillor Sarah Feeney proposed the recommendations as stated, this was seconded by Councillor Adrian Warwick.

The committee unanimously voted in favour of the recommendations. 

Resolved:

    1.            That a Diversion Order is made to divert Public Footpath RB30 under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Section 257.

    2.            That the Committee authorises the Strategic Director for Communities or nominee (with any minor modifications considered appropriate) to:

·     Confirm the Order in the event that no representations or objections are duly made or if any so made are withdrawn; or Following consultation with the Chair of the Committee, submit the Order to the Secretary of State for confirmation in the event that any representations or objections are duly made and not withdrawn.

Paul Williams (Delivery Lead - Governance Services) informed the committee that this item was an update to the report presented to them in October 2021’s meeting. They were asked to agree representation on several outside bodies and following this, some outside bodies made nominations:

Warwickshire Corporate Parents Association

This was set up 10 years ago by several senior officers in the County Council to support the interests of care leavers and people in care. The late Councillor Chris Williams was the County Council's representative on the board of trustees. Councillor Marian Humphreys was the nominated representative.

Long Itchington Education Foundation

The late Councillor Bob Stevens was a representative on the Long Itchington Education Foundation but the Foundation’s rules do not require that the County Council nominate an officer or a councillor. Therefore, the County Council looked for a representative within the community to succeed Councillor Stevens. Ruth Challis offered to take up this role and this nomination was approved by the Leader of the Council. The committee need to approve this nomination.

Questions

In response to Councillor Kerridge, Paul Williams stated that Ruth Challis was part of the local community and a young mother; she was approached by the Education Foundation after the local member said that they could not do it and no other members took it up.

Debate

Councillor Kerridge noted that he was not happy to vote for someone he did not know and would feel more comfortable if the County Council recommended someone, then have someone recommended to them.

The Chair said that a lot of appointments were made by the County Council and noted that the Leader of Council had already accepted this nomination. He concluded that they would sometimes have to take other people’s advice. 

Councillor Matecki said that they were being asked to approve the recommendations and not make one.

Vote

Councillor Matecki proposed the recommendations as stated. This was seconded by Councillor Jeff Clarke

11 members voted in favour and one abstained.

Resolved

That the Regulatory Committee approves:

1. The appointment of Councillor Marian Humphreys to the Warwickshire Corporate Parents Association (AKA Tiffin Club).

2. The nomination of Mrs Ruth Challis to the Long Itchington Education Foundation.  

To consider passing the following resolution:

‘That members of the public be excluded from the meeting for the items mentioned below on the grounds that their presence would involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 6a of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.’

Resolved

That members of the public be excluded from the meeting for the items mentioned below on the grounds that their presence would involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1, 3, 6 and 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.