Agenda and minutes

Prior to commencement of the meeting, a site visit was undertaken, as follows, in response to an objection received.

The following Members were present on the site visit:

Councillors Karen Leytham, Eileen Blamire, Helen Helme and Billy Hill.

Officers in Attendance:

It was proposed by Councillor Blamire and seconded by Councillor Ashworth that Councillor Helme be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Appeals Committee for the Municipal Year 2013/14.  There being no further nominations, the Chairman declared the proposal to be carried.

Resolved:

That Councillor Helme be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Appeals Committee for the Municipal Year 2013/14.

Minutes of the Meeting held on 14 December 2012 (previously circulated) 

The minutes of the meeting held on 14^th December 2012 were signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

There were no items of urgent business.

To receive declarations by Members of interests in respect of items on this Agenda.

Members are reminded that, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011, they are required to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which have not already been declared in the Council’s Register of Interests.  (It is a criminal offence not to declare a disclosable pecuniary interest either in the Register or at the meeting.)

Whilst not a legal requirement, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, and in the interests of clarity and transparency, Members should declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which they have already declared in the Register at this point in the meeting.

In accordance with Part B, Section 2, of the Code of Conduct, Members are required to declare the existence and nature of any other interests, as defined in paragraphs 8(1) or 9(2) of the Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest.

Report of the Head of Governance

The Committee considered a single, formal, written objection to a decision of the Council under Section 198 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (T&CPA 1990) making an Order in respect of a woodland, comprised of mixed broadleaf species trees, established to the south of the Crook O’Lune Caravan Park, Crook O’Lune, Lancaster, known as Queen’s Well Wood (identified as “W1”), being Tree Preservation Order (TPO) No. 512 (2013), and thereafter whether or not to confirm the Order.

It was reported that the City Council had received an objection from Blackfryers Town Planning, on behalf of Pure Leisure Group (PLG) (the Appellant), who owned and managed W1 as part of their caravan park.  The City Council had become aware that 7 woodland trees (5 mature trees and 2 semi-mature trees) had been felled within W1, and concerns had been expressed from the public that further felling may continue.

Tree Preservation Order No. 512 (2013) had been served following the felling of the 7 trees during ground investigation works in relation to a proposed development to install an underground sewage treatment plant and associated kiosk.  PLG had submitted planning application no. 12/00081/FUL to the Council a short time after the trees had been felled.  This had been due to be refused on the grounds of the unresolved threat to existing trees and the applicant had chosen to withdraw the application in light of this and objections to the scheme, including the adverse impact on existing woodland trees.  As such, there was therefore no existing permission to undertake the installation works within the site.

A new planning application no. 13/00434/FUL had since been submitted to the Council, which was, as yet, undetermined.  There remained significant concerns at the loss of additional trees and the unacceptable threat to trees proposed for retention. 

Trees within the woodland in question had been assessed in terms of their amenity value using the Tree Evaluation Method for Preservation Orders (TEMPO).  The use of a Tree Preservation Order was described as “definitely merits” with a total score of 20.

It was reported that the City Council considered it expedient in the interests of amenity to make provision for the preservation of W1 under sections 198, 201 and 203 of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 for the following reasons:

• Important public visual amenity
• Important landscape feature in keeping with the character of the immediate and wider locality
• Significant potential to provide important wildlife and resources for a wide range of protected and unprotected wildlife communities
• Potential threat from removal and inappropriate management.

Appellant’s Representative

Present at the meeting was Mr. Peter Black from Blackfryers Town Planning, on behalf of the Appellant (PLG).  Mr. Black presented the case on behalf of the Appellant.

He advised Members that PLG was a locally-based company that owned several other local caravan parks and employed many people directly.  The visitors the company attracted spent millions of pounds each year in the local Lancaster economy and supported hundreds of jobs, including  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.