In the interests of transparency, Councillor Amran disclosed, in respect of the item relating to Private Hire and Hackney Carriages – Changes to Conditions (Minute 17), that he had family members who were in the private hire business and also that he was acquainted with a number of people who were present at the meeting in respect of this matter.

In the interests of transparency, Councillor Griffiths disclosed, in respect of the item relating to Private Hire and Hackney Carriages – Changes to Conditions (Minute 17), that as a General Practitioner he was sometimes asked to undertake medical examinations for taxi drivers.

In the interests of transparency, Councillors Brown and Warburton noted, in respect of the item relating to Private Hire and Hackney Carriages – Changes to Conditions (Minute 17), that they were acquainted with a number of people who were present at the meeting in respect of this matter.

During the meeting and in the interests of transparency, Councillors Amran, Rickard and Wainwright disclosed, in respect of the item relating to Land at Hill Top, Thornton, Bradford (Minute 15), that they had been Members of the Area Planning Panel (Bradford) when a previous application for a smaller development at this site had been considered.  They stated that they would approach the issue with an open mind and consider all the relevant material planning issues before making a decision.

Recommended –

That the minutes of the meetings held on 27 April and 15 May 2017 be signed as a correct record.

(Sheila Farnhill – 01274 432268)

Resolved –

That the minutes of the meetings held on 27 April and 15 May 2017 be signed as a correct record.

ACTION:       City Solicitor

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

(Sheila Farnhill - 01274 432268)

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents.

The Committee will be asked to consider recommendations, if any, to appoint Members to Sub-Committees of the Committee.

                                                            (Sheila Farnhill – 01274 432268)

No resolution was passed on this item.

NO ACTION

Baildon

(i)         Application No: 16/06606/MAF

The Assistant Director - Planning, Transportation and Highways will present a report (Document “E”) in relation to a planning application for the conversion and alteration, including partial demolition, of existing buildings and the replacement of a garage block with a new building to form 42 residential units at Baildon Mills, Northgate, Baildon.

Recommended –

That the application be approved for the reasons and subject to the conditions set out in the Assistant Director - Planning, Transportation and Highways’ technical report.

(ii)        Application No: 16/06607/LBC

A report will be submitted by the Assistant Director - Planning, Transportation and Highways in respect of an application for Listed Building Consent for works to convert a listed building to residential use at Baildon Mills, Northgate, Baildon (Document “F”). The listed building is one of the buildings proposed for residential conversion under planning application 16/06606/MAF.

Recommended -

That the application for Listed Building Consent be approved for the reasons and subject to the conditions set out in the Assistant Director - Planning, Transportation and Highways’ technical report.

(iii)       Application No. 17/00921/MAF

The Assistant Director - Planning, Transportation and Highways will submit a report (Document “G”) in relation to a planning application for the development of 14 residential dwellings on land within the site of Baildon Mills, Northgate, Baildon, which is currently covered by a large warehouse.

Recommended –

That the application be approved for the reasons and subject to the conditions set out in the Assistant Director - Planning, Transportation and Highways’ technical report.

(John Eyles – 01274 434380)

The Assistant Director - Planning, Transportation and Highways presented three reports in respect of the following applications at Baildon Mills, Northgate, Baildon:

(i)            Planning application for the conversion and alteration, including partial demolition, of existing buildings and the replacement of a garage block with a new building to form 42 residential units – 16/06606/MAF (Document “E”).

(ii)          Application for Listed Building Consent for works to convert a listed building to residential use (Document “F”). The listed building being one of the buildings proposed for residential conversion under planning application 16/06606/MAF ((i) above).

(iii)         Planning application for the development of 14 residential dwellings on land within the mill site currently covered by a large warehouse (Document “G”) – 17/00921/MAF.

The Assistant Director reported on the substance of a further objection, from a local resident, received since the publication of his technical report.  He also reported the receipt of additional comments from the Council’s Conservation Team and Historic England.  He proposed that, if Members were minded to approve the applications, Condition 3 in each case should be amended to specify the need for certain design details to be approved by the Local Planning Authority.

In response to questions from Members he explained that:

·         There were currently 58 small business units on the site.

·         The use of the main mill for spinning had ceased a number of years ago.

·         Most of the units were small offices which accommodated a wide range of uses.  The majority of these uses employed one or two people and did not generate a lot of visitors.  25 units were in use with 33 being vacant and a number having given notice.

·         The retention of the mill pond was considered to be ecologically beneficial but it had become very overgrown and the margins around it were quite narrow. In addition it had been advised that the existing vegetation did not provide the optimum setting for it.  The proposed scheme included some planting in this area, of a scale more fitting for the space available, so there would be some screening for adjacent properties.

·         Consideration was also being given to the use of raised level windows or the use of obscure glass in some units to minimise any impact in terms of overlooking of existing properties, although it was noted that the separation distance was in excess of 21 metres.

·         80 parking spaces were currently proposed to serve 56 units which was close to the standard of an average of 1.5 spaces per dwelling; the shortfall was not significant enough to give rise to any concerns given the location of the site . He did not have the figures for the existing provision which was all surface parking.

·         The scheme would provide a range of units including a number suitable for first time buyers; there was a shortage of this type of property in Baildon.

·         There would be footfall into Baildon town centre from the existing commercial units but it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Thornton and Allerton

The report of the Assistant Director - Planning, Transportation and Highways (Document “H”) considers an outline application for the construction of 11 residential units on land to the south of Hill Top Road, Thornton - 16/09443/MAO. The report explains that the proposal involves the creation of a new adopted access from Hill Top Road and that all matters save access are reserved for later approval.

Recommended –

That the application be approved for the reasons and subject to the conditions set out in the Assistant Director - Planning, Transportation and Highways’ technical report.

(John Eyles – 01274 434380)

Thornton and Allerton

The report of the Assistant Director - Planning, Transportation and Highways (Document “H”) considered an outline application for the construction of 11 residential units on land to the south of Hill Top Road, Thornton - 16/09443/MAO. The report explained that the proposal would involve the creation of a new adoptable access from Hill Top Road and that all matters save access were reserved for later approval.

An objector to the application put forward the following concerns:

·         He lived on Close Head Lane. The main issue was the certainty that the  existing properties would flood and the need for a full understanding of the implications for drainage.

·         Close Head Lane was also a bridleway and formed part of the Bronte Way. The Council’s own Rights of way Officer had stated that obstruction of this would be an offence.

·         There was no way of gaining access to Thornton Road for the disposal of waste water so a pump system would be needed to transport it up to Hill Top Road, if this system failed it would cause problems for Close Head Lane and its residents. The Lead Drainage Officer had required a condition in respect of the disposal of surface water and noted the location of the nearest public sewers; it had been stated that connection to either of these would require extensive and complex off-site works.  It was questioned what this work would entail and it was considered that these details should be available prior to approval being granted.

·         Flooding already took place along the bridleway. Close Head Lane effectively became a river and this could happen a couple of times a year.  The properties had not yet flooded but at present the existing fields absorbed surface water.

·         Water would be able to flood into the terraced properties through windows at or below ground level.

·         The comments submitted by the resident of Poppy House explained the concerns in detail.

·         A Drainage Report published in January 2017 noted that the site sloped steeply with an average gradient of between 1 in 6 and 1 in 8. There were no public sewers on site and it had not been explained how the developer would access the sewers in Thornton Road. Members were asked to look at Section 2.2 of this report.

The Assistant Director explained that:

·         Both the Lead Local Flood Authority and Yorkshire Water had been consulted and had raised no objections but had recommended the inclusion of Conditions 4, 5 and 7 as set out in his technical report in order to secure an appropriate drainage scheme.  It was common practice to impose conditions to secure detailed designs.  Surface water run-off from the site would be controlled and this would be considered within the design of the scheme.

·         If the Local Planning Authority was not happy with a drainage scheme it could refuse to discharge the relevant condition.

Resolved –

That the application be approved for the reasons and subject to the conditions set out in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

The Assistant Director - Planning, Transportation and Highways will present his report (Document “I”) which updates Members on the performance of Development Services against the national assessment criteria and local performance indicators between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017.

Recommended –

That Document “I” be noted.

(Jenny Seaman – 01274 434195)

The Assistant Director - Planning, Transportation and Highways presented a report (Document “I”) which updated Members on the performance of Development Services against the national assessment criteria and local performance indicators between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017.

Resolved –

That Document “I” be noted and officers be thanked for their hard work and contribution to the results achieved.

NO ACTION

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “J”) seeks the approval of the Committee to implement new conditions for private hire driver/operator/proprietor licences and hackney carriage drivers and vehicle licences.

The report explains that the conditions will assist operators, proprietors and drivers in delivering an effective and safe service, improved vehicle maintenance and better business protocols. It states that the use of good practice will increase the safety of the travelling public.

Recommended –

That the implementation of the proposed new conditions for private hire driver/operator/proprietor licences and hackney carriage drivers and vehicle licences, as set out in Paragraphs 3.1 to 3.5 of Document “J”, be approved.

(Carol Stos - 01274 437506)

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “J”) sought the approval of the Committee to implement new conditions for private hire driver/operator/proprietor licences and hackney carriage drivers and vehicle licences.

The report explained that the conditions aimed to assist operators, proprietors and drivers in delivering an effective and safe service, improved vehicle maintenance and better business protocols. It stated that the use of good practice would increase the safety of the travelling public.

In presenting the report the Strategic Director highlighted the following points:

·         Condition – Display of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)/Safeguarding Information in Licensed Vehicles (Paragraph 3.1):

This required the display of approved safeguarding information in the form of a window sticker in all licensed vehicles.

·         Conditions – Suitability of Employees (Paragraph 3.2) and Employee Code of Conduct (Paragraph 3.3):

The Licensing Service had no direct responsibility or powers in terms of the employees of operators.  These members of staff could have access to a lot of personal information and it was therefore important that operators take responsibility for undertaking basic checks on them to ensure that they were suitable and to ensure that they were aware of their obligations in respect of the Employee Code of Conduct.

·         Condition – Amendments arising from the Deregulation Act 2015 (Paragraph 3.4):

This meant that drivers would have the option of either a one or three year licence and operators a one or five year licence. It was noted that the changes to fees would need to be advertised prior to implementation.

·         Condition – Vehicle Safety and Maintenance (Paragraph 3.5):

The Service had worked hard with proprietors to ensure the safety of vehicles but the overall rate of failure of safety inspections remained around 40% and the percentage of these vehicles with serious or multiple faults was around 20%. It was acknowledged that drivers had raised concerns that, in some cases, a vehicle had been deemed to pass its MOT but problems had been identified by the safety inspection soon afterwards. In these instances details were passed to the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) in these instances. In order to encourage safety the new condition would require proprietors to provide a certificate of mechanical safety and vehicle maintenance and the fee structure would be revised to increase the fees for safety failures judged to be either critical or dangerous.

In response to Members’ questions the Strategic Director explained that:

·         The provision in relation to Licensed Operators being responsible for conducting checks on employees to ensure that they were of a good character and suitable for the position held and for providing training did not relate to drivers but to employees such as those based in their offices.

·         The Council encouraged the installation of CCTV (in accordance with the Council’s CCTV Code of Practice) but this was currently on a voluntary basis. It was understood that the Local Government Association intended to publish new guidance on the use of CCTV later in the year and this was awaited prior  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.