Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 17th October, it had agreed to defer consideration of a report on the deferrals process to enable further information to be obtained on:     

·         the authority permitting individual Members and the Committee as a whole to seek to defer applications for office meetings;

·         the level of support by the Council which may be available to Members in the event of any subsequent challenge; and

·         clarification on the use of the Committee’s delegated powers in relation to the deferrals process.

            The Committee was advised that discussions had taken place with the Planning Service, the Urban Development Manager and the Town Solicitor in that regard and that the following clarification had been obtained:

·      the authority permitting individual Members and the Committee as a whole to seek to defer applications for office meetings:

            The authority is contained in the Standing Order 46(f), viz.,

            The Town Planning Committee shall be responsible for:-

            Considering applications for permission to carry out development within the area of the Council and formulating views thereon for submission to the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland, the Committee having delegated authority from the Council in this regard where its decisions are unanimous. Considering and commenting on housing development programmes and proposals submitted by the Government and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

·      The level of support by the Council which may be available to Members in the event of any subsequent challenge:

In the event of a planning application being deferred for an office meeting by an individual Member and that request was not challenged by any other Member of the Committee, then it would be the Committee as a whole which had agreed to defer the application.

In the event that the Committee did not accept a proposal that a particular application be deferred, the decision, as it was not unanimous, falls to be determined by the full Council.

In the event of a challenge being made to a decision to defer a particular application that challenge would, therefore, be against a Committee decision.  Any such challenge would be referred to the Legal Services Department for attention as would any other challenge against any Committee decision.

·      Use of the Committee’s delegated powers in relation to the deferrals process:

The use of the Committee’s delegated powers in relation to this issue is contained in the Standing Order 46(f) above.  The Guidance Notes, which had been issued by the Planning Service in 2005, had stated that a long and established element in the consultation process had allowed for district councils to request the Planning Service to defer consideration of individual applications if they disagreed with the preliminary opinion.  As the powers to consider applications for permission to carry out development within the area of the Council have been delegated to the Town Planning Committee, then any decision taken by that Committee is under the authority of the Council.  It is however important that decisions represent the corporate view of the Council and are taken against the policy context.

            After discussion, the Committee agreed that, in relation to requests for deferrals to enable office meetings to be held in respect of individual planning applications on the schedule, it would be prudent to record such decisions as “deferred by the Committee” as opposed to being attributed to a particular Member.  Furthermore, the Committee agreed also to provide a reason or reasons when requesting a deferral of a planning application to enable an office meeting to be held, based on the criteria set out hereunder:

1.      applications which clarify the interpretation of a newly published or previously untested planning policy or where there is a lack of specific policy;

2.      applications which involve a departure from the Regional Development Strategy or a development plan or a draft development plan;

3.      applications which have significant environmental impact, requiring the submission of an Environmental Impact Statement;

4.      applications which have generated strong local/neighbourhood objections based on valid planning concerns;

5.      where the council considers that all material planning considerations have not been assessed or where the opinion has been made contrary to, or departs from, prevailing planning policy.