Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor S. Bridgett, Councillor M. Mather, Councillor W. Pattison and Councillor G. Renner-Thompson.

Minutes of the meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Council held on Thursday, 19 May 2022, as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.  

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Council held on Thursday, 19 May 2022, as circulated, be confirmed as a true record and be signed by the Chair.? 

Unless already entered in the Council’s Register of Members’ interests, members are required where a matter arises at a meeting; 

1. Which directly relates to Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (‘DPI’) as set out in Appendix B, Table 1 of the Code of Conduct, to disclose the interest, not participate in any discussion or vote and not to remain in room. Where members have a DPI or if the matter concerns an executive function and is being considered by a Cabinet Member with a DPI they must notify the Monitoring Officer and arrange for somebody else to deal with the matter.

2. Which directly relates to the financial interest or well being of a Other Registrable Interest as set out in Appendix B, Table 2 of the Code of Conduct to disclose the interest and only speak on the matter if members of the public are also allowed to speak at the meeting but otherwise must not take part in any discussion  or vote on the matter and must not remain the room.

3. Which directly relates to their financial interest or well-being  (and is not  DPI) or the financial well being of a relative or close associate, to declare the interest and members may only speak on the matter if members of the public are also allowed to speak. Otherwise, the member must not take part in discussion or vote on the matter and must leave the room.

4. Which affects the financial well-being of the member, a relative or close associate or a body included under the Other Registrable Interests column in Table 2, to disclose the interest and apply the test set out at paragraph 9 of Appendix B before deciding whether they may remain in the meeting.

5. Where Members have or a Cabinet Member has an Other Registerable Interest or Non Registerable Interest in a matter being considered in exercise of their executive function, they must notify the Monitoring Officer and arrange for somebody else to deal with it. 

NB Any member needing clarification must contact monitoringofficer@northumberland.gov.uk.  Members are referred to the Code of Conduct which contains the matters above in full. Please refer to the guidance on disclosures at the rear of this agenda letter.

sures at the rear of this agenda letter.

Councillor Hunter and Councillor Thorne advised the committee that they had personal, but non prejudicial interests in items 5 and 6 of the agenda, 21/03792/FUL and 21/01112/FUL

Councillor Hardy (Vice Chair – Planning), in the Chair.

To request the committee to decide the planning applications attached to this report using the powers delegated to it. 

Please note that printed letters of objection/support are no longer circulated with the agenda but are available on the Council’s website at  http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Planning.aspx

The report requested the Committee to decide the planning applications attached to the report using the powers delegated to it. Members were reminded of the principles which should govern their consideration of the applications, the procedure for handling representations, the requirement of conditions and the need for justifiable reasons for the granting of permission or refusal of planning applications.  

RESOLVED that this was noted.

Retrospective: Construction of outdoor timber serving building and temporary sitting of 4 no. all weather restaurant sheds.
Land East of The Craster Arms, The Haven, Beadnell, Northumberland

Retrospective: Construction of outdoor timber serving building and temporary sitting of 4no. all weather restaurant sheds.
Land East of The Craster Arms, The Haven, Beadnell, Chathill, Northumberland, NE67 5AY

J. Sharp – Senior Planning Officer, introduced the application with a PowerPoint Presentation, there had been no updates since the agenda was published.

G. Martindale spoke on behalf of the Beadnell Parish Council and gave the committee the following information:

·       The applicant was a Beadnell Parish Councillor but had taken no part in Parish Council deliberations.

·       The Parish Council agreed unanimously to support the application.

·       No objections had been submitted from the 29 neighbour notifications.

·       The popularity of Beadnell as a retirement and holiday village had grown.

·       The enhancement of the beer garden provided additional restaurant seating in a secure atmosphere in addition to permanent employment for additional staff.

·       The serving building and restaurant sheds allowed the garden to be used in the winter.

C. Scott-Roy spoke in support of the application and gave the following information:

·       There had been overwhelming public support, including the local Vicar.

·       The Craster Arms was a community pub that had been operating for over 100 years.

·       The owner, M. Dawson had provided hot meals for 93 vulnerable and shielding residents for free during the Covid-19 pandemic.

·       The pods were intended for temporary use whilst the shed was intended for permanent use.

·       Local artists had designed the pods.

Following questions from members to the planning officer, the following information was provided:

·       The Built Heritage Officer had observed that there would be less than substantial harm.

·       The dining cabin, alone, would be deemed acceptable in a planning application.

·       The applicant was seeking temporary planning permission for the pods for three years.

Councillor Castle proposed to grant planning permission, against officer recommendation, (permission for the dining cabin was permanent and permission for the pods to remain for three years temporarily) with delegated authority provided to the Director of Planning in consultation with the Chair of the Planning Committee for conditions to be applied to the permission. This was seconded by Councillor Thorne, stating that the public benefit outweighed the negative impact.

A vote was taken as follows: FOR; 5, AGAINST; 3, ABSTAIN;1

RESOLVED that the application be GRANTED with delegated authority to the Director of Planning in consultation with the Chair of the Planning Committee to agree conditions to be attached to the permission.

Replacement of existing store and smoking shelter within the rear car park with a shipping container to provide outdoor food and drink service ancillary to Beadnell Towers Hotel.
Beadnell Towers Hotel, The Wynding, Beadnell, Chathill, Northumberland, NE67 5AY

Replacement of existing store and smoking shelter within the rear car park with a shipping container to provide outdoor food and drink service ancillary to Beadnell Towers Hotel.
Beadnell Towers Hotel, The Wynding, Beadnell, Chathill, Northumberland, NE67 5AY

J. Sharp – Senior Planning Officer, introduced the application with the aid of a PowerPoint presentation and explained that the application was recommended for refusal for Impact on Designated Heritage Assets and Impact on AONB.

G. Martindale spoke on behalf of the Beadnell Parish Council and gave the committee the following information:

·       The Beadnell Parish Council had suggested a condition to restrict the opening times from 12:00 to 20:00, daily, to be applied to any granting of planning permission.

·       The Beadnell Parish Council had requested that the parking spaces were to be reinstated as soon as practical as parking remained a contentious issue in that part of the village.

D. Puttick spoke on behalf of the applicant, in support to the application, and gave the following information:

·       The applicant had been continuing to suffer a financial impact since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

·       The Beadnell Towers Hotel was significant to the local community and the business had relied on government loans.

·       Customers had returned in smaller numbers and the owners of the hotel have had to adapt to change.

·       The applicant would welcome planning permission even if only on a temporary basis.

Following questions from members to the planning officers, the following information was provided:

·       If members felt that there were sufficient reasons to approve the application, then the amenity of residents could be protected by the imposition of a condition to restrict the opening hours of the outdoor food container.

·       There would be the same number of parking spaces as previously, the container would replace the smoking shelter.

·       There was significantly less outdoor seating than there was in 2021.

·       There was open space on the other side of the Beadnell Towers Hotel, but it was not associated with the building.

Councillor Watson proposed to accept officers’ recommendation to refuse the application as outlined in the report, which was seconded by Councillor Castle.

Councillor Hill agreed with the recommendation stating that it tops on the balance of harm and the applicant should look for a better application.

Councillor Thorne explained that he could see the benefit, the industry needed all the help it could get and that he would be supporting the hotel.

A vote was taken as follows: FOR; 7, AGAINST; 1, ABSTAIN;1

RESOLVED that the application be REFUSED in line with the officers recommendation, for Impact on Designated Heritage Assets and Impact on AONB 

Resubmission: Rebuilding of Grahamslaw Cottage following significant fire damage. Detached garage.
Grahamslaw Cottage, Priests Moor, Christon Bank, Northumberland

Resubmission: Rebuilding of Grahamslaw Cottage following significant fire damage. Detached garage.
Grahamslaw Cottage, Priests Moor, Christon Bank, Northumberland

J. Hudson – Senior Planning Officer, introduced the application with the aid of a PowerPoint Presentation.

G. Grahamslaw, applicant and owner of the site, spoke in support of the application and gave the following information:

·       In May 2020, a fire destroyed the cottage that was on the site.

·       The cottage had been in the family since its original construction.

·       The application would sit on the current site, with no changes to the boundary.

·       The applicant believed that the application was supported by local planning policy and had the support of the Parish Council.

·       The applicant was happy to enter into a section 106 agreement for a Coastal Mitigation payment.

Following questions from members to the planning officers, the following information was provided:

·       The planning officer had come to the view that the site was previously abandoned before the fire and not been used for 20 years.

·       There was no information available on whether Council Tax had been paid for the property, the applicant did not supply any evidence that Council Tax had been paid.

·       The cottage was over 100 years old, but nobody had lived in the dwelling prior to the fire, for 20 years.

·       The only image of the cottage prior to the fire damage was from a Google Maps – Street View from 2008, which showed the building to be overgrown by trees and bushes.

·       The cottage was not on a farm and was an isolated building.

Councillor Watson proposed to move the recommendation to refuse the application as outlined in the report, which was seconded by Councillor Hill, stating that whilst they had sympathy with the applicant, the policy was very clear.

Councillor Swinbank stated that he believed it was abandoned due to the levels of trees and bushes that had grown over, if the design was of exceptional design and sustainable, the recommendation may have been different.

A vote was taken, and it was unanimously:

RESOLVED that the application be REFUSED in line with the officers recommendation in the report.

For Members’ information to report the progress of planning appeals.  This is a monthly report and relates to appeals throughout all 5 Local Area Council Planning Committee areas and covers appeals of Strategic Planning Committee.

RESOLVED that this was noted.

For Members’ information to report the agreement monitoring and collection of s106 contributions in the planning process.  This is a monthly report and relates to agreements throughout Northumberland during the previous monthly period.

RESOLVED that this was noted.

The next meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Council is scheduled for Thursday, 21 July 2022 at Berwick Leisure Centre, Northumberland Rd, Tweedmouth, Berwick-Upon-Tweed

RESOLVED that this was noted.