Agenda, decisions and minutes

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

In accordance with Procedure Rules Nos.11 and 35 a period of 10 minutes is allocated for members of the public to address the meeting on any matter relating to the work of the body in question.  Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes but the Chairman or person presiding will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned where there are a number of speakers. Members of the public are not required to give notice to use this facility. However, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours’ notice is encouraged.

Members of the public wishing to ask a question at the meeting should provide at least three clear working days’ notice in writing and should include the question with that notice. This will enable an informed answer to be given.

Mike Benson, a Sandbach town councillor, expressed his full support for the proposed amendments to the Sandbach Town Centre Conservation Area,  and welcomed the further review and consultation in relation to Dingle Farm.

John Minshull, a member of the Sandbach Neighbourhood Plan Working Group, commended the draft Plan which represented strongly the views of local residents and set out clearly the town’s priorities on housing, the protection of green fields, heritage, employment and infrastructure.

To consider proposed revisions to the Sandbach Town Centre Conservation Area.

RESOLVED

1.    That officers be authorised to undertake the necessary notification of amendment to the Conservation Area as required by Section 70 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and also be authorised to carry out the necessary amendments to the Conservation Area character appraisal and associated management plan and to publish them accordingly, as set out in 10.17 to 10.20 of the report.

2.    That officers be authorised to engage in the implementation of actions within the Management Plan in accordance with standing orders and subject to separate reporting requirements as deemed necessary on an action by action basis.

3.    That officers be requested to carry out a further review of the Conservation Area boundary adjacent to Dingle Farm at the earliest possible time.

The Portfolio Holder considered proposed revisions to the Sandbach Town Centre Conservation Area.

The review had comprised the preparation of a character appraisal for the conservation area, a review of the conservation area boundary and preparation of draft management proposals for the conservation area, including a draft management plan.

An extensive programme of consultation had been undertaken as outlined in the main body of the report at 10.9.  The responses had provided clarity on the community’s conservation priorities and in relation to proposed boundary changes.

Given the consultation responses and the recent planning appeal decisions at Dingle Farm, it was proposed that a further, targeted review be undertaken at the earliest opportunity to consider extending the conservation area further to include the paddocks and land associated with Dingle Farm within the Conservation Area.  This would include appropriate consultation, as required by legislation and to reflect the community consultation procedures of the Council. It was envisaged that this would take place in June/July of this year, subject to resources being available.

Appendix 1 to the report showed the proposed amended Conservation Area boundary plan, identifying the existing conservation area boundary edged blue, the amended conservation area boundary edged red and the area proposed to be consulted upon as a possible further extension to the conservation area boundary in a blue hatch. Appendix 2 comprised a summary of consultation responses and Appendix 3 was the proposed Management Plan summary.

Councillor B Moran welcomed the report and supported its findings. He asked when the further consultation would be carried out and when the final report would be published. The officers responded that although the necessary resources were not yet in place, the review would be given a high priority. The Portfolio Holder stressed that any capacity issue within the team was not critical to the completion of the review and would be managed appropriately.

RESOLVED

1.    That officers be authorised to undertake the necessary notification of amendment to the Conservation Area as required by Section 70 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and also be authorised to carry out the necessary amendments to the Conservation Area character appraisal and associated management plan and to publish them accordingly, as set out in 10.17 to 10.20 of the report. 

2.    That officers be authorised to engage in the implementation of actions within the Management Plan in accordance with standing orders and subject to separate reporting requirements as deemed necessary on an action by action basis.

3.    That officers be requested to carry out a further review of the Conservation Area boundary adjacent to Dingle Farm at the earliest possible time.

To consider a consultation response to the draft Sandbach Town Council Neighbourhood Plan.

RESOLVED

That the comments and recommendations shown in Appendix 1 of the report be submitted to Sandbach Town Council as Cheshire East Council’s formal response to the Sandbach Town Council Neighbourhood Plan consultation subject to the inclusion in paragraph 3.4 of the comment that Cheshire East Council is supportive of the allocation of the site for employment use.

The Portfolio Holder considered a consultation response to the draft Sandbach Town Council Neighbourhood Plan.

Draft neighbourhood plans had to be subject to public consultation prior to submission to the Local Planning Authority. At this stage, the plan consulted upon had to be the preferred option of the community producing the plan.

Consolation allowed representations to be made and, where appropriate, for Sandbach Town Council to make amendments to its proposed plan, prior to submission to Cheshire East Council for consideration. 

The report provided a consultation response to the draft Sandbach Town Council Neighbourhood Plan which was set out at Appendix 1. The reasons for each recommendation were outlined in the response which took into account the National Planning Policy Framework, the existing Congleton Borough Local Plan, the emerging Cheshire East Council Local Plan Strategy and other relevant legislation including the Localism Act 2011 and the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012.

Councillor Corcoran, local ward Member, commented that he was pleased that the proposed response was generally supportive of the Sandbach Neighbourhood Plan. He expressed concern, however, at comments about the Junction 17 site which he felt could undermine the development of the site for employment use and attract more housing development. He also referred to an email from Mr Paul Foden to Councillor Stockton and copied to himself dated 26^th April 2015 in which Mr Foden expressed concern at the possibility of more housing on the Capricorn Business Park which he felt would be a mistake, given the need for more jobs in Sandbach and the fact that the town was well located for business with excellent motorway access to key northern cities.

Councillor Stockton responded that Cheshire East Council was supportive of the allocation of the site for employment use and asked that the Council’s response be amended to reflect this.

RESOLVED

That the comments and recommendations shown in Appendix 1 of the report be submitted to Sandbach Town Council as Cheshire East Council’s formal response to the Sandbach Town Council Neighbourhood Plan consultation subject to the inclusion in paragraph 3.4 of the comment that Cheshire East Council is supportive of the allocation of the site for employment use.