Agenda and minutes

Councillor Dr Devra Kay highlighted that an amendment to Section 7.1 of the Meetings Procedure Rule discussed and agreed by the Committee at the last meeting had not been included in the minutes.  The Chairman advised Councillor Kay that he was proposing to move some amendments during the discussion on the Constitution Review report and that these amendments would give effect to the change omitted from the minutes of the last meeting.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the special meeting held on 9 May 2016 be approved as a correct record.

An apology for absence had been received from Councillor John Marshall who was substituted for by Councillor Anthony Finn.

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The Committee considered the Constitution Review report which sought approval of revisions to the Constitution following the review of elements which require updating and review.

The Chairman advised the Committee that he wished to move additional amendments to sections 7.1 and 7.3 of the Meetings Procedure Rules and section 7.4 of the Members Planning Code of Practice.  Copies of the proposed amendments had been circulated to the Committee.

In relation to the proposed amendment to section 7.3 of the Meetings Procedure Rules, the Committee noted that the wording that was proposed to be deleted had originally been inserted to mitigate against the risk of new information which may constitute a material planning consideration being tabled at planning committee meetings.  Members highlighted that people making representations at planning committees often brought information to illustrate the points that they had made in written representations and the Committee agreed that this was acceptable and the practice should continue.  The Chairman advised the Committee that, on balance, he considered it better to delete the new text relating to new information and instead request that planning, legal and governance officers supporting planning committees be issued guidance to ensure that new information was dealt with consistently:

-            If the information illustrates a point made in their written representations (e.g. photos) this is acceptable;

-            If the information introduces new technical information which requires assessment by the planning department, the officers supporting the committee may recommend that the application be deferred; or

-            If the information introduces new information which requires consideration but may not be sufficient to warrant a deferral, officers may recommend that the meeting be adjourned for a time to enable the information to be considered prior to determining a course of action

RESOLVED that:

1.     The Committee recommend to Council a change to Meeting Procedure Rule 7.1 to delete the following wording “…has been made before the expiry of the consultation period, and where the relevant Senior Planning Officer agrees…” and replace reference to “…an Area Planning Committee…” with “…the relevant Planning Committee…” with the revised section 7.1 to read as follows:

“For Planning Committees for any planning application where there has been a written request from a single Member of the Council setting out the planning reasons for the matter to be referred to the relevant Planning Committee the application will be referred to the relevant Planning Committee for determination.  In that event the report will clearly identify that the item has been ‘called in’ and therefore the planning reasons will be set out.”

2.     The Committee recommend to Council a change to Meeting Procedure Rule 7.3 to delete the following wording “…No new information may be submitted by applicants and/or their representatives or objectors.  The only information that will be considered is information which helps to explain a point that the person wishes to refer to in order to explain their position to the committee.  Any such information must be limited to one side of A4.”

3.     The Committee recommend to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

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