Agenda and minutes

To agree the minutes of the meetings of the Panel held on 17 January and 29 January 2008 (attached).

            RESOLVED:

            That the minutes of the meetings of the Panel held on 17 January and 29 January 2008 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive) To report the attendance of any substitute members for the meeting.

It was noted that Councillor B Rolfe was substituting for Councillor Mrs R Gadsby.

To declare interests in any item on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were made pursuant to the Code of Conduct for Members.

Exclusion: To consider whether, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press should be excluded from the meeting for the items of business set out below on grounds that they will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the following paragraph(s) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended) or are confidential under Section 100(A)(2):

The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, which came into effect on 1 March 2006, requires the Council to consider whether maintaining the exemption listed above outweighs the potential public interest in disclosing the information. Any member who considers that this test should be applied to any currently exempted matter on this agenda should contact the proper officer at least 24 hours prior to the meeting.

Confidential Items Commencement: Paragraph 9 of the Council Procedure Rules contained in the Constitution require:

(1)        All business of the Council requiring to be transacted in the presence of the press and public to be completed by 10.00 p.m. at the latest.

(2)        At the time appointed under (1) above, the Chairman shall permit the completion of debate on any item still under consideration, and at his or her discretion, any other remaining business whereupon the Council shall proceed to exclude the public and press.

(3)        Any public business remaining to be dealt with shall be deferred until after the completion of the private part of the meeting, including items submitted for report rather than decision.

Background Papers:  Paragraph 8 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution define background papers as being documents relating to the subject matter of the report which in the Proper Officer's opinion:

(a)        disclose any facts or matters on which the report or an important part of the report is based;  and

(b)        have been relied on to a material extent in preparing the report and does not include published works or those which disclose exempt or confidential information (as defined in Rule 10) and in respect of executive reports, the advice of any political advisor.

Inspection of background papers may be arranged by contacting the officer responsible for the item.

RESOLVED:

That, in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the item of business set out below as it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act indicated and the exemption is considered to outweigh the potential public interest in disclosing the information:

Agenda Item              Subject                       Exempt Information

No:                                                                  Paragraph Numbers

6                                  Appeal No: 2/2008       1 and 2

To consider a restricted report.

The Panel considered an appeal against a decision made by officers under delegated authority to refuse permission for a vehicular crossover over existing parking spaces to enable the appellant to park a vehicle in a garage which she proposed to erect.  The appellant attended the meeting to present her case.  Mr N Taylor (Area Housing Manager) attended the meeting to present his case.  Mr A Hall (Director of Housing) attended the meeting to advise the Panel as required on details of the national and local housing policies relative to the appeal.  The Chairman introduced the members of the Panel and officers present to the appellant and outlined the procedure to be followed in order to ensure proper consideration was given to the appeal.

The Panel had before them the following documents which were taken into consideration:

(a)        copies of documents submitted by the appellant namely:

(i)         the application to the Housing Appeals and Review Panel dated 21 November 2007;

(ii)        nine photographs showing the appellant's property and the immediate locality;

(b)        the case of the Area Housing Manager;

(c)        copies of documents submitted by the Area Housing Manager, namely:

            (i)         the Council's leaflet "Off-Street Garden Parking - A Guide for Residents of Council Estates";

            (ii)        letter dated 12 July 2007 from the Area Housing Manager to the appellant's agent;

            (iii)       letter dated 15 October 2007 from the appellant's agent to the Assistant Head of Housing (Operations);

            (iv)       letter dated 13 November 2007 from the Assistant Head of Housing (Operations) to the appellant's agent;

            (v)        location plans showing the area as existing and without the bollards needing to be removed in order for the appellant to achieve the parking of a vehicle in the proposed garage.

The Panel considered the following submissions in support of the appellant's case:

(a)        the public parking area was only used by the appellant, her family and her next-door neighbour; during the six years that the appellant had resided at her property no-one else had used the public parking area apart from visitors;

(b)        the appellant permanently parked two cars outside of her property;

(c)        the provision of front garden access would free up parking space currently being used by the appellant;

(d)        the appellant's property was one of two semi-detached houses; to the rear were blocks of garages; to the front was the parking area and the rear gardens of old people's bungalows;

(e)               from an aesthetic perspective the provision of a garage in the curtilage of the appellant’s property would be more in keeping with traditional values that were part of the charm of the estate;

(f)                 the appellant’s property was not closely surrounded by housing that either required or used the parking available; as a result there would be no actual loss of space to the general public as a result of the appellant’s proposals;

(g)        the appellant’s household had five vehicles and there was never any difficulty in parking those vehicles in the locality of the appellant’s property;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 116.