Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Les Sibley, and Councillor Ted Fenton joined the meeting remotely and was aware that he was unable to vote on decisions taken by the Committee.

Councillor Bob Johnston advised the Committee that, in the interests of transparency, he wished to declare that he knew two members of the audience that had joined the meeting for Item 5.

Councillor Felix Bloomfied advised the Committee that, in the interests of transparency, he wished to declare that he was the Ward Member for the neighbouring area, and therefore had good local knowledge of the area.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 2 September 2024 (PN3) and to receive information arising from them.

Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting held on 2 September were approved as an accurate record of the meeting and signed by the Chair.

Members of the public who wish to speak at this meeting can attend the meeting in

person or ‘virtually’ through an online connection. To facilitate ‘hybrid’ meetings we

ask that requests to speak are submitted by no later than 9.00 a.m. 2 working

days before the meeting: 9.00 a.m. on Wednesday 27 November 2024.

Requests to speak should be sent to

Committeesdemocraticservices@Oxfordshire.gov.uk.  If you are speaking ‘virtually’,

you may submit a written statement of your presentation to ensure that if the

technology fails, then your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of

your statement can be provided no later than 9.00 a.m. 2 working days before the

meeting: 9.00 a.m. 27 November 2024. Written submissions should be no longer

than 1 A4 sheet.

The following speakers requested to address the Committee on the following items on the agenda:

Item 5: Application for a Certificate of Lawfulness of Existing Use or Development for retention of a Waste Transfer Station

·       Cllr Freddie VanMierlo, Chalgrove & Watlington

·       David Soloman, on behalf of Ewelme Parish Council

·       Frank Dixon, agent of Hazell & Jefferies (applicant)

·       Christopher Stanley, General Manager, Hazell & Jefferies (applicant)

Report by Head of Strategic Planning.

This application seeks to gain a Certificate of Lawfulness of Existing Use or Development (CLEUD) under Section 191 of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 as amended.  The applicant claims that the land has been in use for over 10 years as a waste transfer station at the date of the application (5^th December 2023).  A Statutory Declaration with supporting attachments has been submitted by the applicant in support of this claim and is attached to this report.

RECOMMENDATION:

It is RECOMMENDED that a Certificate of Lawful Existing Use or Development is GRANTED for the MW.0171/23 application site (as shown on the attached Location Plan), for the uses set out in Schedule 1 (Part 1).

David Periam, Planning Development Manager introduced the application which sought to gain a Certificate of Lawfulness of Existing Use or Development (CLEUD) under Section 191 of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 as amended.  The applicant had claimed that the land had been in use as a waste transfer station for over 10 years at the date of the application (5 December 2023) and a Statutory Declaration with supporting attachments submitted by the applicant in support of the claim was attached to the report.

He highlighted the differences between the CLEUD and planning applications and outlined the remit of the Committee to consider the evidence put forward by the applicant, third party responses and the Local Authority.  It was noted that determination of a CLEUD would usually be taken by the Head of Strategic Planning jointly with the Solicitor to the Council, however in this case, the local County Councillor had asked that the application be decided by the Committee.

He drew the Committee’s attention to the published addenda which provided a response to Ewelme Parish Council and a subsequent change to the recommendation as noted below.

The Committee were presented with slides detailing the geographical landscape and the Committee was advised that Application P00/W0534/CLD was submitted to the County Council in October 2002, and the report outlined the uses that were certified as lawful and also the uses that were subject to identified limitations. 

The recommendation to the Committee was as follows:

It is RECOMMENDED that a Certificate of Lawful Existing Use or Development is GRANTED for the MW.0171/23 application site (as shown edged red on the attached Location Plan and described in the certificate as “the Land”), for the uses set out in Schedule 1.

The claimed uses, as set out in Schedule 1, are considered lawful within the meaning of Section 191(2) of the 1990 Act. Oxfordshire County Council considers that there is, on the balance of probabilities, sufficient evidence that the claimed use has been carried out on the Land for the past 10 years. The issue of a Certificate of Lawful Existing Use and Development on the terms set out below is accordingly justified.

First Schedule

The uses hereby certified as lawful are:

(a) The receipt of waste via HGV skip lorries, tipper lorries, agriculture tractors and trailers and light goods vehicles (including vans and pickup trucks only) with or without trailers.

(b) Sorting and segregating waste material by various mechanical methods and processes (as set out in description c) for either transfer off site as waste to other processors or landfill, or for recycling on site by crushing, grading and washing to produce usable secondary aggregates for the building, construction and civil engineering industries.

(c) Stationing of both static and mobile plant and machinery at the land for use in receiving, unloading, handling, moving, stockpiling, sorting, segregating, grading, crushing and loading waste and recycled materials at the land. Such plant and machinery only includes conveyor belt apparatus, crusher, loading shovel, rubber duck, 3 way  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27/24