Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence received.

Apologies were received from Councillor’s Lou Bowerman, Keith House and Gary Hughes. Councillors Sarah Pankhurst and Wayne Irish attended as deputies.

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code.  Furthermore all Members with a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider, having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, consider whether it is appropriate to leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Non-Pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 2 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

To confirm the minutes of the 14 July 2021 Regulatory Committee meeting.

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed.

To receive any deputations notified under Standing Order 12.

The Committee had received three deputations for the meeting including a local Member, and it was confirmed that they would have 10 minutes each to speak at the appropriate time.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

There were no formal announcements.

To consider a report from the Assistant Director of Waste, Planning and Environment regarding the processing and storage of wood waste and gypsum at Four Dells Farm, Poles Lane, Otterbourne SO21 2DY (No. 20/01546/HCS) (Site Ref: WR215).

Processing and storage of wood waste and gypsum at Four Dells Farm, Poles Lane, Otterbourne SO21 2DY (No. 20/01546/HCS) (Site Ref: WR215)

The Committee considered a report from the Head of Strategic Planning (item 6 in the minute book) regarding an application in Otterbourne.

The officer summarised the application and the Committee was shown aerial photos of the site and surrounding road network, as well as elevation photos from within the site.

The key issues were highlighted the mitigation measures proposed as part of the conditions found to be appropriate and approved by the Environmental Health Officer. An update paper with minor updates to the report and representations had been published and circulated to the Committee.

The Committee received three deputations on this item. David Jobson spoke on behalf of The Compton Down Association against the application, sharing concerns over previous breaches of conditions and routine dust, noise and light pollution. Richard Alderman, Geoff Venn and John Venn spoke on behalf of the applicant and told Committee of the strong drive towards organic compost and the ongoing work to improve the soils at the farm. It was confirmed that heavy clay soil required more gypsum, but the amount required was a maximum anticipated and not necessary every year.
Councillor Jan Warwick addressed Committee was the local Member and whilst was ordinarily very supportive of the farming community, shared her concerns regarding the application, questioning whether the benefits outweighed the concerns.

During questions of the deputations, the following points were clarified:

·         It was unknown whether breaches had been formally reported

·         It was unknown whether the issues around dust, noise and light pollution were coming from the farm specifically, but they were originating from the Four Dells industrial unit.

·         No additional nitrates would be generated from the composting

During questions of the officers, the following points were clarified:

·         If operations ceased on site, then the site would return to Greenfield.

·         Work would not commence until all the relevant schemes had been submitted and approved following consultation.

·         The Environment Agency would monitor the amount of gypsum required and used on site.

·         Policy 29 did not apply in this instance as transportation was not required as part of the application.

·         An ecological study had been completed and the Hampshire Ecologist was happy with the proposals.

·         The Environmental Permit would cover drainage and water management.

In debate, Members agreed that the main issue was the use of agricultural land, as the composting proposed was only to be used by the farm, but on balance it was agreed that the benefits did outweigh the concerns.

RESOLVED

Planning permission was GRANTED subject to the conditions listed in Appendix A and the update report.

To receive a report from the Assistant Director of Waste, Planning and Environment regarding the Liaison Panel Protocol.

The Committee received a report from the Head of Strategic Planning on the Liaison Panel Protocol (item 7 in the minute book).

Members agreed that descriptive wording regarding inappropriate behaviour should be removed, so that the Chairman had discretion as to whether a person should remain at a meeting and it was not set against specific criteria. It was also suggested that ‘any other business’ (AOB) be removed from the agenda formatting, or perhaps a caveat be added that subjects could only be raised subject to prior agreement from the Chairman before the meeting.

Officers agreed to look at the corporate stance around the use of the word ‘Chairman’ and ‘Chair’ for consistency going forward.

RESOLVED

Regulatory Committee noted the updated Liaison Panel Protocol and provided comments on the draft before finalisation and publication on the County Council’s website.