Agenda and minutes

Any substitute members should declare their substitution.

There were no substitute Members.

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.

Councillor Martin McCabe declared an interest in Item 5.2, AWDM/0934/19, as the freeholder of the property, 55 Bruce Avenue, Worthing.  

The Councillor also declared an interest in Item 7, the report on Affordable Housing and the impact of changes made to national planning guidance, as he was predisposed to take a particular stance and referred to part of his local manifesto as follows:-

"We are committed to increasing the Affordable Housing amount required from developments of all size. The Council's current policy for 15 or more dwellings is for 30% Affordable Housing, which we will increase to 40%.

However, the Councillor said he had not predetermined his decision and came to the meeting with an open mind. 

Councillor Noel Atkins and Councillor Paul High declared an interest as West Sussex County Councillors and the Chairman also declared his Division at WSCC was Worthing West.

To approve the minutes of the Planning Committee meetings of the Committee held on Wednesday 26 June 2019, which have been emailed to Members.

RESOLVED, that the minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 26 June 2019 be confirmed as a correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

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

There were no items raised under urgency provisions.

To consider the reports by the Director for the Economy, attached as Item 5.

1

The Head of Planning and Development introduced the report and began his presentation by showing Members an aerial view of the site.  

Members were provided with background information on the Grade II Listed Building which was originally built as a pair of semi-detached Swiss Cottages.  The property had been converted into a hotel in the 1930’s, and recently used as a public house for some years. 

Due to the property’s poor state of repair, it was proposed to refurbish the existing building which would remain as a hotel with upgraded bar and restaurant facilities. 

The Officer referred to the arranged Member/Officer site visit which had taken place shortly before the meeting.

The Officer ran through the details of the proposal and highlighted the key areas of change on the aerial view of the site.  He advised the proposals had been amended following discussions with Officers which had included a more formal outdoor seating/dining areas with paved terrace, decking and covered seating booths.  A number of photographs and plans were also produced to assist Members in their consideration of the application.

The Officer referred to the Addendum, which provided Members with updates to the original Committee report.  One of the key issues, mentioned within the revised recommendation, had been the concern expressed by the Local Highway Authority (LHA) as to the creation of a trade garden providing 250 covers outdoors.  The LHA required additional information in order to adequately assess the application.  The other issues raised were to address any adverse impact on preserved trees identified by the Council’s Tree and Landscape Officer and the current proposal for the kitchen extraction system, and its impact on the Listed Building and surrounding Conservation Area.  The Officer explained all three issues could be negotiated further with the applicant to identify an acceptable solution, and delegated to the Head of Planning and Development for approval.  He confirmed that should an acceptable solution not be forthcoming, the application would return to Committee. 

The Officer concluded his presentation by referring Members to the extra three conditions included within the revised recommendation, and suggested an additional condition for an archeological watching brief.

The Committee Members raised a number of queries with the Officer with the majority  ...  view the full minutes text for item WBC-PC/18/19-20

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

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)

There were no questions raised under Public Question Time.

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

The Head of Planning and Development outlined the report for Members.   

The report was seeking recommendation from the Planning Committee to the Executive Member for Regeneration that the existing Interim Position Statement on Affordable Housing be updated given the change in national planning guidance.  

In summary, the Councils’ would not now seek financial contributions from developments of 6 to 9 dwellings.

Following a short debate, the majority of Members’ agreed the Officer’s recommendation as stated within the report.  

            Decision

The Committee recommended to the Executive Member for Regeneration that the existing Interim Position Statement on Affordable Housing be updated.  The revised Statement would clarify how the local policy position has had to be amended to reflect changes made at the national level.  Contributions for affordable housing (including any Vacant Building Credit that might apply) would be sought in line with the revised National Planning Policy Framework (2018).  This position also reflected the policy approach being advanced within the emerging Worthing Local Plan that only seeks financial contributions or on-site delivery of Affordable Housing from ‘major developments’ (10+ dwellings).  

Financial contributions would therefore not be sought from developments of 6 to 9 dwellings which would have been the case under the full provisions of Core Strategy Policy 10.