Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from County Councillor Serridge.

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

County Councillor Stephen Clarke declared a non-pecuniary interest in Item 5 as he was Chair of the Corporate Parenting Board.

The committee are asked to agree that the Minutes of the last meeting held on 24 April 2024 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 April 2024 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

The Update Sheet will be considered as part of each related agenda report.

The Update Sheet was circulated prior to the meeting (copy attached).

Following a short adjournment, it was confirmed that County Councillor Clarke's declaration of interest as Chair of the Corporate Parenting Board was a non-pecuniary interest and, as such, County Councillor Clarke could exercise his right to vote on this application.

A report was presented on an application for the change of use of an existing residential dwelling house at 23 Hutton Drive, Burnley (planning use class C3(a)) to a children's home (use class C2), to enable the property to be used as a home for up to three young persons between the ages of 11 and 17 years with no more than two carers staying in the property overnight, providing care as required.

The property was in the process of being purchased by the applicant (Lancashire County Council) and the property would operate as a Lancashire County Council care facility.

The report included the views of Burnley Council, Lancashire County Council Policy, Commissioning and Children's Health and Lancashire County Council Highways. 61 representations objecting to the application had been received and 2 letters of support, the details of which were provided in the Committee report.

The Senior Planner presented a Powerpoint presentation showing site location plans and an aerial view of the site, the internal layout, and photographs of the front elevation of the property, side elevation (east facing) of the property, views westwards along Hutton Drive, the view eastwards along Hutton Drive (from adjacent no:9) and the views eastwards from the property and its relationship to no:26 Hutton Drive.

Committee's attention was drawn to the Update Sheet which included details of the petition received requesting refusal of the application and reference to the additional information provided collectively by a number of residents which had been circulated to the Committee. It was reported that the restrictive covenant was a separate issue to the planning application and that this was a private legal matter for Lancashire County Council as landowner and that it was not a material planning consideration.

Elizabeth Grieves, local resident, addressed the Committee and said the following:

'I live at 28 Hutton Drive. I moved here 10 years ago with my husband who is now in a care home with severe Alzheimer's disease, hence I live alone. Whilst I appreciate how difficult it must be to find suitable homes for young people with complex needs, I feel Hutton Drive is an inappropriate setting for them. According to a government website, some behaviours could result in safeguarding risks, such as aggressive, sexualised or offending behaviours, as well as going missing frequently. All of these can make it difficult to keep children safe. Often some behaviours manifest from learning difficulties, autism and ADHD being the most common. Obviously these conditions need specialist help in schools and in this area there is a shortage of places. There are covenants attached to all properties on Hutton Drive, two of which will have an impact on the decision. Covenant B says 'No building on the property shall be used for any purpose other  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

A report was presented on an application for an amendment of Condition 6 of planning permission 8/10/0241, to allow approval of amended restoration contours together with the submission of a restoration and aftercare scheme to comply with Conditions 29 and 31 of planning permission 8/10/0241 at Round O Quarry, Cobbs Brow Lane, Lathom.

Committee had undertaken a site visit to Round O Quarry on Monday 15 July 2024.

This planning application had been reported to the meeting of the Development Control Committee on 24 April 2024, when it had been resolved to defer the application to allow the Committee to visit the site. This report had been set out at Appendix 'A.

The county council's Ecologist had visited the site on 22 May 2024 to advise on the current condition of the land and the restoration of the site. The Ecologists comments were set out in the Committee report. It was reported that a revised restoration scheme had now been submitted which included various amendments to the original proposal which were included in the Committee report.

The report included the views of the Greater Manchester Ecological Advisory Service. The views of West Lancashire Borough Council, Newburgh Parish Council, the Environment Agency and the Lancashire Badger Group had been detailed in the April 2024 Committee report, along with the details of the 3 representations objecting to the application.

The Head of Development Control presented a Powerpoint presentation showing site location plans and an aerial view of the application site, plan showing permitted contours, current contours with amended restoration proposals, a 1960's air photograph of the site and photographs of the view from Cobbs Brow Lane looking south and north, the view over the site, the view of the northern side of the site and the view of the western boundary.

Committee's attention was drawn to the Update Sheet which contained amendments to conditions 1b and 2.

Martin Ainscough, adjacent landowner, addressed the Committee and said the following:

'I own the land to the north, to the south, and to the east of Round O Quarry, and I'm really grateful that you've allowed me to speak today. At the last meeting, please remember that there was a huge amount of local objection to this proposal. I hope from your visit to site on Monday, you were able to see the enormous extent of the overtipping. I hope you were shown the conditions that the applicant was meant to have adhered to, and the complete avoidance of any of those conditions having being met. It's quite staggering how much money they've made out of the overtipping there and, more than anything, it's quite staggering that your executive seems to be quite happy to allow this to continue without any penalty and any real wish to see them do any more to improve the site. Thousands of extra movements to fill that quarry have been made to the detriment of the local area in Newburgh, theroads locally. Would it not be sensible to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

A report was presented on an application to increase the width of existing vehicle site access and provision of a pedestrian access gate with footpath at Ringway Tutorial Centre, Ringway, Thornton Cleveleys.

The report included the views of Lancashire County Council Highways. No comments had been provided by Wyre Council. One representation objecting to the application had been received, the details of which were set out in the Committee report.

The Senior Planner presented a Powerpoint presentation showing site location plans and an aerial view of the site, existing site layout, proposed site layout, and photographs of the existing entrance, view looking south along Ringway and view of the side elevation of 123 Ringway.

Resolved: That planning permission be granted subject to conditions controlling time limits, approved plans and surface water drainage, as set out in the Committee report.

It was reported that, since the last meeting of the Development Control Committee on 24 April 2024, seventeen decisions had been taken on development control matters by the Director of Environment and Planning, in accordance with the county council's Scheme of Delegation.

Resolved: That the report be noted. 

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

The next meeting of the Development Control Committee will be held on Wednesday 4 September 2024 at 10.30 a.m. in Committee Room B - the Diamond Jubilee Room, County Hall, Preston.

Resolved: That the next meeting of the Committee be held on Wednesday 4 September 2024 at 10.30am in Committee Room B – The Diamond Jubilee Room, County Hall, Preston.