Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
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Agenda and minutes

Venue: King Edmund Chamber, Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich. View directions

Items
No. Item

9.

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

Minutes:

9.1 There were no declarations of interests received.

10.

JOS/19/23 TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 8 JANUARY 2020 (Corporate Plan Outputs) pdf icon PDF 151 KB

Minutes:

10.1         With the following amendments the minutes of the meeting held on the 8 January 2020 (Corporate Outputs) be confirmed as a true record:

 

Paragraph 51.19 amend to:  Councillor Scarff queried in relation to the Corporate Outputs whether there would be a review of parking in Stowmarket looking in particular at exits and entrances at Milton Road carpark.

11.

JOS/19/24 TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON THE 8 JANUARY 2020 (WSCSP) pdf icon PDF 267 KB

Minutes:

11.1          The minutes of the meeting held on the 8 January 2020 (WSCSP) be confirmed as a true record.

12.

TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATION OF PETITIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE COUNCIL'S PETITION SCHEME

Minutes:

12.1     None received.

13.

QUESTIONS BY THE PUBLIC

To consider questions from and provide answers to members of the public on any matter in relation to which the Committee has powers or duties and of which due notice has been given in accordance with the Committee and Sub-Committee Procedures Rules.

Minutes:

13.1             None received.

14.

QUESTIONS BY COUNCILLORS

To consider questions from and provide answers to Councillors on any matter in relation to which the Committee has powers or duties and of which due notice has been given in accordance with the Committee and Sub-Committee Procedure Rules.

Minutes:

14.1         None received.

15.

JOS/19/25 PLANNING ENFORCEMENT pdf icon PDF 406 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

15.1         Philip Isbell, the Chief Planning Officer introduced the report and drew Members’ attention to the Joint Local Planning Enforcement Policy 2017 and the following paragraphs:

 

·       Paragraph 9.7 the Council maintained a public Planning Enforcement Register and were expected to apply enforcement actively.

·       Paragraph 6.4 detailed the current method of prioritising enforcement cases.

·       Paragraph 7.2 and 7.3 outlined the timeline for complaints received.

 

15.2             He continued that it was not a criminal offence to break planning control, but that the Council had an obligation to investigating and to enforce breach of planning policy. When undertaking this the degree of harm had to be considered when investigation a complaint to Planning Enforcement.

 

15.3             However, the current Joint Local Planning Enforcement Plan required updating, and he referred to recommendation 3.2, which proposed a review of the plan.

 

15.4             He continued that there was ongoing transformation work, including new software, which had improved the efficiency of the case workload.

 

15.5             There were currently 218 active investigations and the number of investigations had remained at this level for a period of time.  The team would be reviewing all of these investigations if a review was agreed.

 

15.6             The Chief Planning Officer detailed circumstances, which were not planning issues (Paragraph 4.2) and that in the role as planning enforcement authorities, the Councils received planning enforcement cases referrals from Suffolk County Council.

 

15.7             Members all agreed that the Report was excellent and provided a robust understanding of the Joint Local Planning Enforcement Plan.

 

15.8             The Chief Planning Officer responded that as a local Planning Enforcement authority it was important that planning enforcement was not seen by the local community as a source of income and that more information regarding the planning enforcement process was made available to the public.  Community confidence was based on the investigation credibility.

 

15.9             Councillor Hadingham asked for clarification of the total alleged breaches of Planning compared with actual cases and how that process was conducted.

 

15.10         The Chief Planning Officer detailed how the planning enforcement process was implemented and how effective enforcement tended to use active enforcement methods such as enforcement notices, breach of condition notices, taking cases to court and seeking an injunction in matters which were not settled satisfactory. He referred to the case study attached in the report. Though he felt that often polite persuasion was more effective than more assertive methods.

 

15.11         Councillor Mellen said that it was often the perception of Parish Councils that the Council was reluctant to take action in cases which involved individuals, who made frequently planning breaches and he enquired, if this was due to limited resources and a reluctance to take legal action.

 

15.12         The Chief Planning Officer responded that there were a number of reason for this perception, including possible lack of experience and knowledge within the Enforcement Team and possibly lack of resources.  However, it was more likely to be a perception of what was a breach of planning control. Enforcement cases were often complex, and Parish Councils were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

16.

FORTHCOMING DECISIONS LIST

To review the Council’s Forthcoming Decisions List and identify any items to be brought before the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

Please note the most up to date version can be found via the Website:

 

https://www.babergh.gov.uk/the-council/forthcoming-decisions-list/

 

Minutes:

It was resolved:

 

That the Forthcoming Decision List be noted.

17.

JOS/19/26 BABERGH OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY WORK PLAN pdf icon PDF 362 KB

To agree the Work Plan

Minutes:

17.1         Members discussed both Babergh work plans and Councillor McCraw informed the Babergh members that on officers’ advice the Belle Vue House Report had been deferred to May 2020.

 

17.2         Councillor Grandon suggested that a review of the upcoming Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) report be scheduled for later in the year.

 

17.3         The Monitoring officer provided clarification of the CEP and that Babergh District Council had not yet adopted the plan.

 

17.4         Members discussed the CPE and whether a review should be added to the ‘Topics Identified for review but not Currently Timetabled, and it was agreed that the chairs should discuss this at the next Chairs briefing.

 

It was resolved: -

 

That the Babergh Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan be noted.

18.

JOS/19/27 MID SUFFOLK OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY WORK PLAN pdf icon PDF 360 KB

To agree the Work Plan

Minutes:

It was resolved: -

 

That the Mid Suffolk Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan be noted

19.

RESOLUTION TO EXCLUDE THE PUBLIC (WHICH TERM INCLUDES THE PRESS)

To consider, whether, pursuant to Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the business specified below on the grounds that if the public were present during this item, it is likely that there would be the disclosure to them of exempt information as indicated against theitem.

The authors of the report propose to be considered in Part 2 of the Agenda are satisfied that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

PART 2

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED WITH THE PRESS AND PUBLIC EXCLUDED

 

 

Minutes:

19.1         Councillor Osborne proposed the recommendation which was seconded by Councillor McCraw.

 

By a unanimous vote

 

It was Resolved:-

 

That pursuant to Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the business specified below on the grounds that if the public were present during discussion of this item, it is likely that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as indicated in the report.

 

20.

MOS/19/11 TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE MID SUFFOLK MEETING HELD ON THE 8 FEBRUARY 2020

Minutes:

It was resolved:

 

That the confidential minute of the meeting held on the 8 January 2020 be confirmed as a true record.