Agenda and minutes

Councillor Peter Jones declared a personal interest in Item 5 (Wallingford Youth Centre – Application R3.0181/09 insofar as he was a member of the management committee for the Net Abingdon youth centre and his wife’s employment in the probation servicewhich involved the youth offending team.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 23 November 2009 and to receive for information any matters arising therefrom.

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 November 2009 were approved and signed.

Mr Dance advised that:

·                    an appeal had been lodged by the applicants Viridor against the Committee’s decision to refuse the application for an energy from waste plant at Ardley

·                    an independent inspector had upheld the terms of the County Council’s enforcement notice which required restoration of an irrigation lake at Waterstock golf course following an appeal by the owners.

The following requests to address the meeting had been agreed:

Report by Head of Sustainable Development (PN5)

This application is for the erection of a new part single and part two storey building to provide a replacement Youth Centre, Children’s Centre and ancillary youth services office accommodation at the existing Wallingford Youth Centre site, Clapcot Way, Wallingford. The existing single storey youth centre building will be demolished to make way for the new building. The proposal also involves the creation of a new pedestrian and vehicle access off Clapcot Way, new parking arrangements for the site and new boundary treatments and landscaping. Objections to the application have been received in relation to the acceptability of the uses proposed on the site, the impact that the development would have on local people, the scale of the building proposed and its design. These objections are summarised in the report, along with the responses from other consultees.        ?????

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to approve Application Number R3.0181/09 for the demolition of existing youth centre building and erection of replacement building to provide youth centre, children's centre and ancillary youth services office accommodation. Creation of new vehicular and pedestrian access off clapcot way; formalisation of existing parking area to provide 14 dedicated parking spaces (including 1 disabled space); 12 cycle parking spaces; new boundary fencing and treatments and replacement/ new planting and landscaping, subject to conditions to be determined by the Head of Sustainable Development to include the following matters:

1.                        That the development must be carried out strictly in accordance with the particulars contained in the application and the plans accompanying subject to conditions below.

2.                        That the development shall commence within 3 years of the date of the permission.

3.                        That samples of the external materials proposed to be used shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Head of Sustainable Development prior to the commencement of development.

4.                        That no development shall take place until the trees on the site which are to be retained and which are adjacent to or within the development area, have been protected during building operations by means of a protective fence around the edge of the canopy of the trees.

5.                        That the site be landscaped and planted with trees (including replacement trees) and shrubs in accordance with a comprehensive planting and landscaping scheme first approved by the Head of Sustainable Development.

6.                        That all planting, seeding or turfing comprised in the approved details of landscaping shall be carried out in the first planting season following the occupation of the buildings or the completion of the development, whichever is the sooner.

7.                        That prior to the commencement of the development full details of all boundary treatments (including fencing to the front of the site) should be submitted to and approved by the Head of Sustainable Development.

8.                        The hours of operation of the Youth Centre shall be restricted to between 9:30am and 9:30pm Monday to Friday and 1:00pm – 3:00pm Saturdays.

9.                        The hours of operation of the Children’s Centre  ...  view the full agenda text for item 75/09

The Committee considered an application for a new replacement youth centre, children’s centre and ancillary youth service accommodation at the existing Wallingford youth centre site on Clapcot Way, Wallingford.

Mrs Shepherd advised that she had lived next door to the site for 37 years.  She recognised the need for a new centre but had grave concerns regarding design, the effect of the building on her property, light and noise from the centre, safety issues concerning the flat roof and rubbish.  These concerns were shared by residents in Clapcot Way.

Mr Lead endorsed those comments and stressed the need for a building which was sympathetic to the character of the local setting.  He had particular concerns regarding the flat roof and stressed that the hours of proposed use represented an increase in real terms.

Mr Upcraft was not opposed to the principle of redevelopment of the Centre but opposed proposals to provide office accommodation for staff from the County youth service. This, by its nature, would be itinerant with inevitable increases in traffic resulting from staff movements to and from the centre and was contrary to SOLP policies.  He was also concerned that government funding for this project was only available until March 2010.

Louise Ridd spoke of the importance of the centre both from a personal point of view as a parent and to many others in the area. It was important to provide somewhere for young people to go.

Responding to a question from Councillor Owen she agreed that whilst it was important to provide facilities it was also important that standards were not compromised.

Naomi Higgins and Sean Douglas both used the centre which had played an important role in the local community for many years and continued to do so. However, the current building desperately needed upgrading and whatever was agreed it would be difficult to find a design in keeping with the characteristics of existing buildings in the area.

They responded to questions from:

Councillor Seale – the provision of more office accommodation would not affect the centre as a number of youth workers were currently based at the Centre and the new accommodation would mean less crowding.

Councillor Hannaby – they felt that the majority of the users of the centre would respect safety directives from the Centre regarding the flat roof.

Councillor Atkins thanked Naomi and Sean for their comments. Highlighting the desperate need to redevelop the Centre she referred to discussions which had taken place over many years to find the best option, including input from crime prevention officers.  The Centre needed to be in a residential area and its design had evolved over many years reflecting the various needs of the building itself and surrounding area. This had included a public consultation open day.  Revised plans for parking would ease current problems and although youth workers would be itinerant they would be spending time at the Centre in any event.  She asked the Committee to consider amending Condition 9 (opening hours) to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75/09

Report by Head of Sustainable Development (PN6)

The report outlines a proposal to construct a single storey building in the grounds of Great Milton C of E School to provide a new Children’s Centre.  The proposal also involves the removal of a temporary classroom building (also used as a community resource area), a detached brick built store and the erection of three extensions to the school to create replacement accommodation for the lost classroom/community resource facility and store, and a reading room.  The application has generated much interest locally and responses received from local residents and the Parish and District Councils are included along with other consultees replies.  The comments of the Head of Sustainable Development on the issues raised and the merits of the proposal are also included along with the recommendation on the application.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to approve Application No. R3.0188/09 (for the demolition of a temporary classroom/ community resources building and brick built store and the erection of a single storey building to provide a children’s centre, and the erection of extensions to provide replacement classroom and community resources facility, reading room and replacement store, along with associated external works; at Great Milton C of E School) subject to:

(a)                     the applicant first (before a permission is issued) securing and if necessary obtaining planning permission for suitable alternative temporary arrangements for parking for use by the school during the period of construction

(b)                    to conditions to be determined by the Head of Sustainable Development to include the following matters:

1.            That the development must be carried out strictly in accordance with the particulars contained in the application and the plans accompanying subject to conditions below.

2.            That the development shall commence within 3 years of the date of the permission.

3.            That samples of the external materials proposed to be used shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Head of Sustainable Development prior to the commencement of development.

4.            That no development shall take place until the trees on the site which are to be retained and which are adjacent to or within the development area, have been protected during building operations by means of a protective fence around the edge of the canopy of the trees.

5.            That the site be landscaped and planted with trees (including replacement trees) and shrubs in accordance with a comprehensive planting and landscaping scheme first approved by the Head of Sustainable Development.

6.            That all planting, seeding or turfing comprised in the approved details of landscaping shall be carried out in the first planting season following the occupation of the buildings or the completion of the development, whichever is the sooner.

7.            The hours of operation of the children’s centre for use by the public shall be restricted to between 9.30 am and 2.30 pm Monday to Friday during term time.

8.            The hours of use of the children’s centre at other times (outside school hours) shall be submitted for agreement by the  ...  view the full agenda text for item 76/09

The Committee had before it an application setting out a proposal to construct a single storey building at Great Milton CE School to provide a new children’s centre.

Mr Dance advised that the application site was within the Green Belt and that the report before the Committee did not properly take into account this policy designation in the assessment of the proposal.  He recommended that to ensure that the Committee was able to make a sound judgement about the merits of the proposal, that consideration of the proposal be deferred to a later meeting. 

The Committee agreed that the report be withdrawn.

Report by Head of Sustainable Development (PN7)

The report sets out an update on the regular monitoring of minerals and waste planning permissions and on the progress of enforcement cases for the period 1 April 2009 to 31 December 2009.

It is RECOMMENDED that the Schedule of Compliance Monitoring Visits in Annex 1 to the report and the Schedule of Enforcement Cases in Annex 2 to the report be noted.

The Committee considered an update on the regular monitoring and waste planning permissions and progress of enforcement cases for the period 1 April 2009 to 31 December 2009.

Mr Dance advised that much of the progress had been due to the increased numbers of staff in the monitoring and enforcement team and highlighted the temporary contract for one member of staff was due to end in March 2010 and it was inevitable that if that happened it would have a negative impact on present levels of service.  This had been highlighted as a service pressure but that at this point in time funding to continue at present levels had not been secured.

The Committee welcomed the report and thanked officers for their work and recognised the need to safeguard current levels of staff.

Members of the monitoring and enforcement team addressed specific issues raised by members of the Committee.

RESOLVED: (on a motion by Councillor Mrs Fulljames, seconded by Councillor Owen and carried nem con):

(a)                     that the schedule of compliance monitoring visits in Annex 1 to the report PN7 and the schedule of enforcement cases in Annex 2 to the report PN7 be noted;

(b)                     to support retention of current service levels in the monitoring and enforcement team as highlighted as a service pressure and inform the Cabinet Member for Growth & Infrastructure.