Planning Inspections Committee

Agendas and minutes for the 2012/2013 civic year

Agenda	Minutes

Click here for archived agendas and minutes of the Planning Inspections Committee from previous years

What does this committee do?

It carries out site visits to help determine planning applications.

If a site visit is necessary the Development Management Committee will refer the application to the Planning Inspections Committee.

Full details of the responsibilities of the various planning committees are set out in EDDC's Constitution

The Planning Inspections Committee meets every four weeks, in the next week following the Development Management Committee, usually on a Friday morning. Meetings are held in the Council Chamber, Knowle, Sidmouth and are open to the public.

Who Can Speak at the Meeting

There is no general restriction as to who can speak at the meeting. However, in order for the meeting to be kept moving, it is necessary to limit the number of speakers in the following way:

A single Parish or Town Council representative may speak but only to represent the views of their Council.
Where there is a group of objectors or supporters (e.g. a residents group), a spokesperson should be appointed to speak on behalf of the group – individual objectors are not affected by this.
Only one representative of an amenity or interest group may speak.
Either the applicant (only one in the case of joint applicants) or their agent can speak but not both.

How to Speak

If you wish to speak on a particular application, simply enter your name on the sheets located near the entrance to the Council Chamber, in the corresponding section which indicates whether you are a supporter or objector. There is no requirement or facility to record the details of the speaker before the day of the meeting.

The Procedure

1) The Planning Officer will present the report or case and make a recommendation.

1) The order in which speakers are called to the table is:Parish or Town Council, Objectors, Supporters and Applicant or agent. When called, please raise your hand to indicate that you wish to speak.

Ward Members and relevant Member Champions (if present) will then be invited to speak before the Committee debates the item

3) Speaking time is strictly limited to 3 minutes and speakers will not be able to ask any supplementary questions or make additional points. In the case of objectors and supporters speakers should indicate who they are and where they live in relation to the application site. Speakers will not be able to table any information or other material to Members at the meeting.

4) Speakers should restrict their comments to planning considerations only. Please do not repeat or present the same point an earlier speaker has made. If speakers do so, the Chairman may stop you and move on to the next speaker in order to make best use of the meeting time.

5) The Committee may choose to ask the speaker a question about what has been said, if clarity is required. After this, speakers should return to their seat and take no further part in the debate.

6) At the end of public speaking on the item, the Planning Officer may choose to respond to any points made by speakers.

7) The Committee will then debate the item.