Meeting of the Plans Scrutiny Committee held on Tuesday 18 March 2008 in the Civic Chamber, Council Offices, Skelmanthorpe
Members Present: Cllrs T Sigsworth (Chair), C Barnfield, K Waites E Shaw, S Simpson,
491 Speaker
Jim MacDonald, Senior Trees Officer of Kirklees Council addressed the Committee on the subject of tree preservation orders. He explained that TPOs are put on trees which have an impact on public amenity irrespective of species. However the order will depend on the health of the tree. There are currently 1300 TPOs across the district and only two tree officers to look after them. Mr McDonald explained that the current legislation covering trees contained a number of loopholes which should be addressed to prevent people from cutting down trees which may or may not have orders on them. However, there are severe penalties for anyone found guilty of cutting down a tree which is covered by an order – the penalty can be a fine of up to £20,000 and an order to plant replacement trees in the same place. One solution might be to impose preservation orders on all trees within the parish as is the case with the Kirkburton area. It was RESOLVED that Mr MacDonald be thanked for his interesting talk.
492 Public Discussion Time
No members of the public were present
493 Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were submitted by Cllrs A Heaton, D Kaye, K Thursby, A Tribe and G Turner. It was RESOLVED that the reasons for absence submitted by the above councillors be accepted as valid.
494 Declarations of Councillors’ Interests
Cllr Shaw declared a personal interest in Planning Application No. 2008/60/90649.
495 Minutes
It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 26 February 2008 be received.
496 Street Naming
The Clerk submitted correspondence from Kirklees Council requesting proposals for the naming of the development off Cuttlehurst, Scissett. Since the site had formerly housed a print factory set up by Hirst Buckley and ‘hirst’ was an old word for woodlands and it was RESOLVED to propose ‘Hirstlands’.
497 Parish/Town Councils and Planning Applications
The Clerk submitted correspondence from Philip Hume, Head of Policy and Governance Service of Kirklees Council responding to the Parish Council’s complaint to the Audit Commission about the decision by Kirklees Council to remove the automatic right of referral to the planning sub-committee of applications where the Parish Council has made a recommendation contrary to the officer recommendation. Kirklees Council is now proposing that a planning application will be considered by the Area Planning Committee if, in the view of the Head of Service, Planning and Building Control, a Parish or Town Council has made a well founded and valid case for the application to be determined by Councillors. The reasons will be incorporated in full in the Committee/Sub Committee report. Members welcomed the decision of Kirklees Council to rethink its decision, but expressed the need for clarification about how the new procedure will work. It was RESOLVED to write to Philip Hume to ask him to confirm how the procedure will work; in particular what the order of events/actions will be and how the Head of Service, Planning and Building Control will determine whether a case made by the Parish or Town Council is ‘well-founded and valid’.
498 Planning Notifications
Planning notifications were considered and observations made thereon.
499 Planning Decisions
Planning decisions were considered and observations made thereon.
Signed: …………………………………..(CHAIR)