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Waverley Borough Council Committee System - Committee Document

Meeting of the Development Control Committee held on 05/09/2005
Procedure Not Application Reports


ANNEXE 3


Introduction

A new application report format has been devised to apply to all types of application. This can be found as REPORT in SX3. This will apply from XX August 2005 to all current applications where a report does not already exist.

The basic approach to revising the report format and other procedural changes has been to:
· present the content of reports in a more logical order,
· streamline report drafting and reduce the time taken to draft them
· reduce the number of times the same information is typed., eg Development Plan policies,
· encourage the receipt and use of electronic consultation and Parish comments
· make more use of merged information from elsewhere in SX3 which can be reused in other documents.

The new report format is shown on the attached example. The headings should be used as appropriate for the case. The nature and complexity of the case will determine whether all the headings are used and the amount of information included under each heading. For example Planning Policy Constraints will rarely apply to urban house extensions and can be deleted.

Procedure

The following describes what information should be included under the report headings and whether it is merged from elsewhere in SX3 or if it is free text provided by the case officer.

Location or layout plan. It is intended, with the new Committee structure to add a plan to every Committee report. If possible this will be by merging the plan from the image window in SX3. This will not be available for some months.

Site and Development. This is for free text and should describe the location of the site and any relevant features, followed by what the application is for.

Relevant Planning History. This is currently for free text but should not be used for the full history of a site but only those applications, appeals and enforcement issues relevant to the case. If there is no relevant history type None. This can be done at any time after the case officer receives the file and doesn’t have to wait to drafting the report.
It is planned that the current paper information provided for each application will be copied into SX3 and merged into the report. Case officers will then amend it if and where appropriate.

Development Plan Policies and Proposals. These will have been pre-selected in SX3 and will be merged into the report. It will be a list of policy numbers and a short description. This can be done at any time after the case officer receives the file and doesn’t have to wait to drafting the report. This list will then also be merged into the Decision Notice. If for any reason the list requires amending this must be undertaken in the LPI information window, not in the report itself.
Planning Policy Constraints. This is for free text and relates to any relevant PPGs or PPSs and any relevant SPG or SPS, for example design guidance. This can be done at any time after the case officer receives the file and doesn’t have to wait to drafting the report.

Consultations and Town and Parish Council Comments. Revised consultation letters are encouraging an email response to planconsult@waverley.gov.uk so that they can be copied and pasted into SX3 and save copy typing. It is planned that consultation comments will be held in an additional window in the Officer Report screen – see attached. From there they can be merged into the application report. If for any reason the information requires amendment this must be undertaken in the new consultation window, not in the report itself. This can be done at any time after the consultation comments are received and doesn’t have to wait the drafting of the report.
arrange for admin staff to do the copying and pasting into SX3.

Parish and Town Councils are going to be asked to email their comments to planconsult as well, so that the same procedure can be followed. Their comments should be at the end of the consultees. This will undoubtedly be patchy to start with but it is something that we really must push to save the copy typing from comments on paper.

Representations These will have been typed elsewhere in SX3 (planned to be in the re-titled Res Assoc screen to be called Representations) and merged into the report. If for any reason the information requires amendment this must be undertaken in the Representations window, not in the report itself.

Determining Issues. This is for free text and will be a numbered list of the issues dealt with in full in the Planning considerations. The other way of looking at it is that these are the material considerations to the application.

Planning Considerations. This is for free text and is for the amplification of each of the numbered determining issues. Concise explanations should be the norm.

Conclusion. This is for free text and should only be used where the latter section is more than a page long. Any conclusion should be succinct and not a regurgitation of the planning considerations! In the case of marginal recommendations the use of the phrase “on balance” in the conclusion would assist in any subsequent appeal against overturned recommendations since it provides scope for the appeal case officer to counter arguments that the recommendation was so unequivocal that the Committee’s decision was unreasonable.

Recommendation. This is for free text and will be followed by the merged conditions or reasons for refusal.

Screen views

Currently the views of most drop down window screens in SX3 are set at a minimum view and cannot be increased or maximised. This makes reading and editing the information difficult. The SX3 supplier is being approached to increase the size of the screen views or to enable the maximisation button so that more of the text is visible at once.


Responsible Officer
Review date
John Anderson
Development Control and Policy Manager
XX August 2005


WA/2005/1532Variation of Condition 36 (scheme of aftercare) of planning permission WA/2003/1866 dated 01/02/05 such that the development shall not commence until a scheme of aftercare has been submitted to and approved by the County Planning Authority.at LAND AT CRANLEIGH BRICK AND TILE WORKS, Knowle Lane, Cranleigh,
Cherokee Cranleigh Ltd
20/07/2005
Grid Reference:E: 506660N: 135500
Parish :Cranleigh
Ward :Alfold, Cranleigh Rural and Ellens Green
Case Officer:Ian Ellis

RECOMENDATION PERMISSION/APPROVAL/REFUSAL etc

Location or layout Plan

Site and Development

Relevant Planning History

Development Plan Policies and Proposals

Planning Policy Constraints

Consultations and Town/Parish Council Comments

Representations

Determining Issues

Planning Considerations

Conclusion

Recommendation



















Possible home for Representation comments

Change the name of the screen from Res Assocs to Representations and add representation tab and text box.






Example of the use of the representation screen

14 letters of objection were received raising the following points:
· the development conflicts with Local Plan policies X1, X3 etc
· overdevelopment
· loss of privacy
· loss of trees