Minutes Council Planning Meeting June 18 2024

Minutes of the Planning Meeting held on Tuesday 18th June, at 6.20pm in the Village Hall

Members present – Councillors W Knowles, C Payne, J Mansfield

AGENDA

1. Apologies were received from Cllr S Davey, Cllr G Parkman, Cllr J Widdowson & Cllr D Wotton

2. Declarations of Interest – none recorded

3. The Public – 10 members present.

There was considerable feeling expressed by those present concerning the proposed demolition and replacement with a new build at Oakdale. A highly detailed summary was given by Matt Butcher of the many issues which are causing concern. It was felt that the first application which was approved earlier this year and subsequently withdrawn, was merely a precursor to the second design submitted for a new dwelling. There were a number of inaccuracies highlighted between the drawing and the associated documentation, finished height of the property being a major issue. The trees surveyed only represented a small proportion of those on site and excluded those with Class 1 protection orders. Notices to advise of the planning submission were not obviously visible to the public. The residents felt that there were far too many discrepancies and assumptions quoted that were inaccurate.

Another individual comment was that North Devon and Mid Devon Councils seem to have different protocol when considering planning applications.

4. Planning application to be considered

24/00818/FULL Erection of a dwelling and detached double garage/log store with home office above following the demolition of the existing dwelling, Oakdale Stoodleigh. Full details can be found via the link on the Stoodleigh Website or via MDDC Planning.

The Council then took a vote having listened to the various objections and just visited the site. It was unanimously agreed to support the application in principle, but that MDDC Planning should be made aware and fully investigate the errors and contradictions which had been highlighted by members of the public before reaching a final decision. The Council felt that some of these objections were outside of their remit to investigate and needed more specialist attention.

5. Finance

A payment of £1704 was approved to J Widdowson for purchase of a second defibrillator. The VAT will be reclaimed in due course.