Issue - meetings

To submit a report by the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer.

It was RESOLVED that meetings of the Planning and Orders Committee be held virtually, on a monthly basis, as soon as it is practically possible, however, in the meantime :-

·           To delegate to the Council’s Chief Planning Officer the right to make all decisions which are reserved to the Committee under the Council’s Constitution, be that under paragraphs 3.4.3.1 to 3.4.3.16 (inclusive) or elsewhere;

·           That this delegation remain in force whilst the restrictions on holding public meetings are in place, but that it shall be reviewed every month by the Chief Planning Officer in consultation with Group Leaders (or their nominees) and Senior Officers so as to gauge its effectiveness;

·           In respect of those applications already called-in to the Committee by local members, no decision will be made under this delegation until those local members have been given a further, reasonable opportunity to make specific comments in writing in respect of that application before a certain date.  The Chief Planning Officer will take due regard to those comments before exercising his delegated power in respect of that application;

·           In lieu of public speaking at the Committee, the Chief Planning Officer will notify all those members of the public who have commented on an application which he proposes to determine under this delegation.  He will invite those members of the public to make further written representations by a specified date and will take due regard to those further written representations before exercising his delegated powers in respect of that application;

·           Where the Chief Planning Officer has the power to determine an application under this delegation he may, nevertheless and for whatever reason, choose not to exercise that power and, in that case, the application will have to be determined by the Committee.  The Chief Planning Officer will take into account the views of those mentioned in paragraph 2 above in reaching his decision under this paragraph;

·           That the delegation shall automatically fall into abeyance once a summons is published for the Committee to again meet in person in the Council Chamber but, if such a meeting is cancelled or does not take place, for whatever reason, this delegation shall be revived and acted upon by the Chief Planning Officer until the time that such a meeting is held;

·           That the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee are notified in a timely manner of any decisions made under this delegation;

·           That a training session is arranged before the next meeting of the Committee held in person in the Council Chamber so that Members and Officers can re-familiarise themselves with the Committee’s usual procedures and relevant requirements.

Submitted – a report by the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer in relation to the above.

The Legal Services Manager reported that in light of the public health emergency caused by the coronavirus and the restrictions on holding public meetings, there is still a need to maintain a planning service and to make decisions on planning matters.  A delegation needs to be put in place to allow the Chief Planning Officer the Committee’s powers to make decisions during the period of the pandemic and any reoccurrence of the pandemic in the future with the possible illness or redeployment of essential staff from the Planning Service which would make it difficult to maintain a full planning service over the coming months.  The proposed delegation will allow Officers to take decisions on planning applications which the Planning and Orders Committee would previously have taken. This would also cover times when convening a meeting of the Committee is not possible i.e. due to the Committee not being quorate due to illness or availability of members of the Committee. He further reported that the proposed delegation will be reviewed on a monthly basis by the Chief Planning Officer in consultation with the Group Leaders and Senior Officers to make sure that the delegation is used reasonably and to gauge as to how it is administered and its effectiveness.   The proposed delegation also protects the rights of local members, who have called-in an application to the Committee, in that they be given a reasonable opportunity to make specific comments in writing by a certain date before the Chief Planning Officer can make a decision on the application.  

The Legal Service Manager further stated that, in lieu of public speaking at the Committee, the Chief Planning Officer will notify all those members of the public who have commented on an application which he proposes to determine under this delegation and allow them the opportunity to make further comments before a decision is taken.  Whilst already within the Council’s Constitution, the Legal Service Manager said that where the Chief Planning Officer has the power to determine an application under this delegation he may for whatever reason choose not to exercise that power and then the application will have to be determined by the Planning and Orders Committee. Whilst the proposed delegation does not prevent the Planning and Orders Committee from meeting. It provides flexibility to having provision in place to allow the Planning Service to continue to process planning applications when the service may be under pressure of it is not possible to convene a meeting of the Committee for whichever reason.  It was further noted that the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee would be notified of any decisions made under this provision. 

Councillor Dafydd Roberts said that he appreciated that it has been possible to convene this meeting virtually and questioned whether the meetings of the Planning and Orders Committee can in future be convened virtually on a monthly basis.  The Legal Service Manager  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4