Planning Minutes 1st October 2014
TOWN PLANNING COMMITTEE
held at
The 1912 Centre, Cow Lane, Harwich
on
Wednesday 1st October 2014 at 6.30pm
| Present: | Councillors Brown, Calver, Flavell, Fowler, I Henderson, J Henderson, King, McLeod, C Powell, Thompson and Thurlow |
| In the Chair: | Councillor Day |
| Clerk: | Mrs Lucy Ballard |
| Also present: | 0 members of the public and 0 members of the press |
Public Question Time:
No questions
| P049/14 | APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Cllrs Morrison, Nicholson, F Powell and Todd |
| P050/14 | DECLARATIONS OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS Cllr McLeod – TDC Planning & Development Committee |
| P051/14 | MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Planning meeting held on Wednesday 10th September 2014 (previously circulated) be approved by the Committee and signed by the Chairman as a true record. |
| P052/14 | MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES None |
| P053/14 | MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES None |
| P054/14 | PLANNING APPLICATIONS The Committee considered a schedule of planning applications for weeks ending 12th September, 19th September and 26th September. RESOLVED: Recommendations in Appendix ‘A’ be submitted to Tendring District Council. |
| P055/14 | FEEL GOOD ABOUT RECYCLING Members of Tendring District Council’s (TDC) Recycling Team gave a presentation and update on the ‘Feel Good About Recycling’ programme and the new garden waste initiative. Joe Foxcroft mentioned there was a declined in household recycling but that bring site usage remained unchanged. He reported that 2k tonnes of waste went to landfill and 12k tonnes to recycling, and that 95% of materials is recyclable. TDC have been rebranding with new leaflets and posters and they’ve conducted a survey of residents about the campaign and roadshows and 94% of residents were encouraged to recycle. Radio campaign is also ongoing. Bill Smith said TDC have emphasised on communicating the benefits of recycling with 23 roadshows held in the last 6 months, 4 of which had been held locally. They expect to return to the Dovercourt market at the end of October. Recycling officers have been calling to properties to encourage residents to partake and provide recycling boxes and food caddies. Welcome packs get sent to all new residents in the district providing info on all the recycling services available. There are 87 bring sites in the district. They have been working closely with local schools giving presentations in assemblies. Lizzie Forrest talked about the garden waste initiative, which started in May 2014 and, more locally, in June. It’s a subscription service, costing £75 in the first year and £50 in subsequent years. The service has to be self-funding and the intention is to break even. The cost has not been put into the council tax bill so that it’s only paid for by those who actually use it. They’ve collected over 250 tonnes with over 2000 customers, 130 of which are in Harwich. It’s a fortnightly service running for 50 weeks a year, only stopping over Christmas. The waste goes to a facility in Birch where it’s sorted to discard any non-green waste, then shredded, put into windrows and maintained at 65 degrees for a 12-week period, being turned periodically before the end product gets used in agriculture. She reported a lot of positive feedback had been received. Bill Smith reiterated recycling is down by 4% but that there was a new transfer station opening up on the A120 at the location of the former east-bound petrol station. All the black-sack rubbish will be taken there where recyclable materials will be removed and the residual materials get taken to a material treatment facility in Basildon since there are new rules being imposed which will prevent waste going to landfill from the end of October. It’s intended to improve the recycling percentage. Cllr Flavell thanked the officers for the glass banks installed at Harwich Town Station and asked if there were any plans for a kerbside collection. Bill reported that it costs £500k a year to collect the glass, so possibly another 5 years before that happens. Cllr Day said low-grade plastics are a real problem so what happens to that if it can’t go to compost and can’t be landfilled. Bill stated that previously these plastics were sorted and went to landfill even though they were put into recycling. Under the current arrangements, customers are asked to sort them at home which saves the council tax payer £400k per year. He said that there would possibly be windrow systems, and may be used for energy but plans weren’t defined as yet. He mentioned that Tendring residents were very environmentally aware but to increase the recycling percentage they could decrease the number of waste collections, to fortnightly, or simply force people to recycle rather than ask them, but it’s hoped that wouldn’t come to that. He said there could be a possible reward scheme for recycling but this would have to be sustainable so as not to be withdrawn.He is aware that the low-grade plastic issue is a national one and is being addressed. Cllr McLeod said there’s a lot of confusion over what recyclable materials can be recycled in Tendring because the logos on the packaging simply say they are recyclable. Cllr Brown asked about comparative figures with other authorities. Bill Smith said Tendring had the lowest in Essex because they haven’t collected garden waste in the past. Cllr Brown asked about littering, and can this be instilled in the children when doing the roadshows because a lot of litter is recyclable. TDC are already working with schools to carry out litter picks and have done this with All Saints just this week. But it’s not part of the curriculum, only environmentalism is. Cllr J Henderson congratulated them on the leaflet about the garden waste but raised concern over the residual waste left in the bins once collected and that it would sit for a fortnight before another collection occurred. She asked if collections could be increased during the summer and reduced during the winter. Bill said there is call for the service year round, and keeping it regular helps to keep the cost low. He did mentioned that TDC are looking into what can be done to advise people about issues in the winter i.e. frozen bins. Cllr Powell said what happens if they don’t reach 100% take-up of the waste collection and the tips close? Bill said there are no plans to close the tips by ECC. Cllr I Henderson asked what is the target for recycling in Tendring and will the landfill tax cease? Bill said the self-imposed target was 33%. He also clarified that TDC is the waste collection authority but that Essex County Council (ECC) is the waste disposal authority so the landfill tax affects ECC. Cllr Henderson also mentioned how flimsy the black sacks were and asked about seagull-proof bags. Bill confirmed that the gull-proof bags aren’t plastic; they are a collapsible bin to put your sacks in to prevent the seagulls from attacking them. He said they are funded through the Clacton Town Partnership and TDC joined in Partnership with them. Cllr Calver said it was clear how environmentally friendly residents are in Tendring and asked if there was a correlation between the investment from TDC in the service and the take-up with residents? Bill said no. He mentioned there’s been a lot of analysis and looking at the results of surveys but that it was not easy to state what sector of the community was more inclined to recycle. The Chair thanked the Officers for their time. |
| P056/14 | MATTERS RECEIVED IN THE POST OR RAISED BY MEMBERS Cllr Flavell referred to the former Main Road school site and mentioned that the S106 report circulated recently didn’t include this site and that it didn’t appear that any payment had been made as yet from the developer which he felt was a breach of the planning permission. Cllr I Henderson said he’d attended a meeting of TDC’s Audit Committee and had raised issues like this, aswell as the loss of S106 funding to another part of the district and developers who default on the S106 agreements. He said he has asked for a full report on those developers. Cllr McLeod said the whole process needs monitoring and we need consulting over it to ensure the funds are duly received and spent where they should be. Cllr Day suggested HTC obtain an up-to-date S106 list. Cllr Calver felt that HTC should ask for an update on the status of the agreement on that specific site. And Cllr I Henderson suggested we also ask for the criteria of that agreement. Cllr Calver asked if HTC could be updated as to the current status of all S106 agreements that are still open within the Harwich area. Cllr King asked why it wouldn’t be possible for HTC to keep records of the permissions and monitor the status of the agreements, but Cllr Day confirmed that it’s not always possible to know what agreements will be set up since they will sometimes become required after the permission is granted, due to a failure to fulfil the criteria of the development, which can be mitigated by an S106 agreement.RESOLVED: To write to head of Service, Catherine Bicknell, copied to the Portfolio Holder, Carlo Guglielmi, to request an update on the status of the former Main Road school site and the criteria of the agreement, and also to request an update on the current status of all S106 agreements that are still open within the Harwich area.
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| P057/14 | DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next Town Planning meeting will be held at the 1912 Centre, Cow Lane, Harwich on Wednesday 22nd October 2014 at 6.30pm. |
The Chairman closed the meeting at 7.48pm
- HARWICH TOWN COUNCIL:
Recommendations of the Planning Committee Meeting held on 1st October 2014
| WEEK ENDING 12th SEPTEMBER 2014 | ||
| 14/01287/OUTMr Gavin 422 Main Road Harwich |
Demolition of existing garage and construction of new detached 3 bed roomed dwellinghouse on land adjacent 422 Main Road, Dovercourt, CO12 4DW. | No Objection |
| WEEK ENDING 19th SEPTEMBER 2014 | ||
| 14/01299/FULMr Nicolas Osman 429 Main Road Harwich14/01360/TPO Mrs V Green |
Proposed two storey rear extension.1 No. Horse Chestnut – reduce by 25% | No ObjectionNo Objection |
| WEEK ENDING 26th SEPTEMBER 2014 | ||
| NONE | ||