Issue - meetings

Further to Minute No. 56 of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 30 September 2015, the Cabinet considered the report on the Chief Executive which provided details of the draft House Extensions and New Housing Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD), the rationale for the SPD and the key proposed changes from the existing documents.

The Cabinet was advised that the Planning Committee had requested an amendment to the proposals within the SPD with regard to the size of garden/open areas for flats in future developments.

Decision Made:

That the Draft House Extensions and New Housing SPD’s be approved for public consultation, subject to the size of garden spaces for flats in future developments being amended from 5 sq metres to 20 sq metres.

Reasons for Decision:

Draft Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD’s) are required to undergo public consultation prior to adoption. Approval for consultation of draft versions of the House Extensions and New Housing SPD’s is necessary to progress both documents and give them maximum weight when used to determine planning applications.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

One alternative would be not to update the existing SPD’s. However this would result in the existing documents becoming further inconsistent with national planning policy and consequently being of limited weight in making decisions on planning applications.