Issue - meetings

To submit the report of the Legal Services Manager.

RESOLVED to recommend to the County Council:-

·        That it makes permanent the changes to the Council Constitution as detailed in Para 2.2.3 of the report, namely clarifying planning applications by which officers, and by the relatives of members and officers should be reserved for decision by the Planning Committee;

·        Not to make permanent changes to prevent members at the Planning Committee to only participating if they had attended all previous meetings on that item (to include any official site visit);

·        Not to make permanent changes to prevent a local member on the Committee from voting, proposing or seconding on an application in their ward.

Submitted - A joint report by the Head of Regulation and the Legal Services Manager seeking Executive approval to make a recommendation to full Council to make changes to the Planning Matters Procedure Rules permanent following the end of a second 12 month trial period.

Concern was expressed by the Planning Portfolio Holder and other members of the Executive as regards making permanent restricting members of that Committee to only participating if they had attended all previous meetings on that item (including site visits) (Para 2.2.1 of report refers) and in preventing a local member on the Committee from voting, proposing or seconding on an application in their ward (Para 2.2.2 of report refers).  The Executive had no opposition to clarifying planning applications by which officers, and by the relatives of members and officers should be reserved for decision by the Planning Committee (Para 2.2.3 of report refers).

Reference was made to the fact that Council members had reduced from 40 to 30  members and similarly on the Planning Committee from 14 to 11 and restrictions on participation increased the risk of the Committee becoming inquorate.

It was also mentioned that the 2013 RTPI Cymru “Study into the Operation of Planning Committees in Wales” recommended that the whole Planning Committee need not visit sites and that failure to visit sites should not prohibit those members who had not seen the site from participating in the matter at Committee.

RESOLVED to recommend to the County Council:-

·        That it makes permanent the changes to the Council Constitution as detailed in Para 2.2.3 of the report, namely clarifying planning applications by which officers, and by the relatives of members and officers should be reserved for decision by the Planning Committee;

·        Not to make permanent changes to restrict members at the Planning Committee to only participating if they had attended all previous meetings on that item (to include any official site visit);

·        Not to make permanent prevent a local member on the Committee from voting, proposing or seconding on an application in their ward.