Agenda and minutes

Venue: Worthing Town Hall, Committee Rooms

Contact: Katy McMullan
Democratic Services Officer
01903 221006  Email: katy.mcmullan@adur-worthing.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

WBC-PC/1/22-23

Substitute Members

Any substitute members should declare their substitution.

Minutes:

Councillor Nigel Morgan substituted for Councillor Dan Coxhill

Councillor Sally Smith Substituted for Councillor Emma Taylor

WBC-PC/2/22-23

Declarations of Interest

Members and Officers must declare any disclosable pecuniary interests in relation to any business on the agenda.  Declarations should also be made at any stage such as interest becomes apparent during the meeting.

 

If in doubt contact the Legal or Democratic Services representative for this meeting.

 

Members and Officers may seek advice upon any relevant interest from the Monitoring Officer prior to the meeting.

Minutes:

Cllr Atkins declared an interest in items 6 and 7 as a resident of Heene Ward. He also declared an interest in item 8 as a Salvington Councillor and as an elected member of WSCC.

Cllr Cochran declared an interest in item 7 as he was on the Licensing Committee at which the Karma Lounge licensing application was heard.

Cllr Silman declared an interest in item 7 as a Heene Councillor.

Cllr Whight declared an interest in item 8 as a Marine Councillor.

WBC-PC/3/22-23

Public Question Time

So as to provide the best opportunity for the Committee to provide the public with the fullest answer, questions from the public should be submitted by midday on Monday 23 May 2022.

 

Where relevant notice of a question has not been given, the person presiding may either choose to give a response at the meeting or respond by undertaking to provide a written response within three working days.

 

Questions should be submitted to Democratic Services -

democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk

 

(Note: Public Question Time will last for a maximum of 30 minutes)

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

WBC-PC/4/22-23

Confirmation of Minutes

To approve the minutes of the Planning Committee meetings of the Committee held on Wednesday 23 March 2022, which have been emailed to Members.

Minutes:

RESOLVED, that the minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 23 March 2022 be confirmed as a correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

WBC-PC/5/22-23

Items Raised Under Urgency Provisions

To consider any items the Chair of the meeting considers urgent.

Minutes:

There were no items raised under urgency provisions.

WBC-PC/6/22-23

TPO 7 of 2021 The Swallows 1 Browning Road Worthing

To consider the TPO, attached as Item 6.

Minutes:

The Chair stated that this item had been removed from the agenda as, on the advice of Officers, the TPO was no longer being confirmed.

The Chair explained to the members and gallery that when the report was originally prepared Officers were unaware that the Tree Officer had identified evidence of fungal infection within the tree which would result in the tree dying prematurely. However, the Tree Officer would be able to continue to monitor the tree as it was within a conservation area.

WBC-PC/7/22-23

Planning Enforcement Report pdf icon PDF 129 KB

To consider the report by the Director for the Economy, attached as Item 7.

Minutes:

The Planning Services Manager delivered an Enforcement Report on Karma Lounge, 171-173 Tarring Road, Worthing, clarifying that there were no further additions to the report and explaining the background and development of the site.

 

There were three representations from registered speakers, one in objection to the Enforcement Report from a director of the company that owned Karma Lounge. There were two in favour of the Enforcement Report, one from the Ward Councillor and one from a resident, living adjacent to the site.

 

The comments of those speaking in favour of the Enforcement Report encompassed aspects of noise and disruption due to the site having an outside drinking area with some fixed seating, excessive noise due to two recent events held at the premises, the remodelling of the business to reflect demand in the area and required planning permission.

 

Members raised questions to the speakers including issues about the wall around the outside seating area, the fact that some of the seating was fixed and so unable to be removed when the premises were shut and the fact the original intended use of the site was a bakery / pizzeria but that it now appeared to be a bar with some food served.

 

The Senior Legal Officer clarified for the committee that they should be certain to focus on planning matters alone in respect of this item and to avoid any aspect which was a licensing concern.

 

The Planning Services Manager noted that it had become evident to him that the Karma Lounge was a premises that required planning permission but in the absence of such an application the Enforcement Report had become necessary.

 

The Senior Legal Officer explained that not all breaches of planning control are necessarily included within an Enforcement notice and that the ethos of enforcement was expediency, (i.e. necessity) and proportionality. In addition there was a right of appeal against an Enforcement notice if the steps were considered excessive for example. She explained that the recommendation to the committee was to delegate authority to the Head of Legal Services to serve the Enforcement notice but that he and the Officers would use their discretion to look at all the evidence and decide whether any of the steps recommended within the Enforcement Notice were excessive or readily enforceable.

 

The Senior Legal Officer clarified for the committee that 30 days’ notice is usually given before an Enforcement notice comes into force (there is a statutory period) and if an appeal is lodged the Enforcement notice would not take effect until the appeal had been considered.

 

An adjournment was held at 7.24 pm for a discussion between the Chair and Officers.

The meeting was reconvened at 7.35 pm.

 

Following the adjournment, the applicant committed to submitting a planning application by 30 June.

 

The Chair advised the committee that the Officers had a proposed revision to the recommendation which the Senior Legal Officer read out -

 

The committee was recommended to delegate authority to the Head of Legal Services to serve  ...  view the full minutes text for item WBC-PC/7/22-23

WBC-PC/8/22-23

Planning Appeals

A verbal update by the Planning Services Manager on the appeal decisions for –

 

·         Broomhill, Mill Lane.

·         32 Central Avenue, Offington

·         45 Hurston Close

·         The Dovecotes, 55 Pembroke Avenue

Minutes:

The Planning Services Manager gave a verbal update on the outcome of four recent appeals  which had all been upheld. These were-

Broomhill, Mill Lane

32 Central Avenue, Offington

45 Hurston Close

The Dovecotes, 55 Pembroke Avenue

WBC-PC/9/22-23

Worthing Local Plan Briefing paper May 2022 pdf icon PDF 91 KB

To consider and note the report by the Director for the Economy, attached as Item 9.

Minutes:

The Planning Policy Manager presented the Worthing Local Plan Briefing paper to the committee and provided a verbal update on the 19 representations that had been submitted during the Worthing Local Plan Modifications Consultation. He also delivered a verbal update on the status of the Chatsworth Farm appeal explaining that the council had lodged an appeal at the High Court to challenge the appeal decision. He advised that the Council had been given an indication that they had passed the first stage of the process, in that it had been decided there were grounds for the challenge. A decision now needed to be taken as to whether the Council would progress to the next stage and discussions were ongoing to that regard.