Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Allnatt, Browne and Higgins.

Councillor Mike Brown was appointed as substitute for Councillor Allnatt and Councillor Butcher was appointed as substitute for Councillor Higgins.

(a)  To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2025

(b)  To confirm the minutes of the special meeting held on 5 February 2025

(a)  The minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2025 were confirmed as a true record;

(b)  The minutes of the special meeting held on 5 February 2025 were confirmed as a true record.

Members to declare any interest as appropriate in respect of items to be considered at this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair announced that Application 21/00405/FUL (agenda item 4.2), Jeld Wen, Snow Hill, Melton Mowbray, had been withdrawn from the agenda to enable more information to be included in the officer report and the item would be presented at a future meeting.

Red Lion Inn, 2 Red Lion Street, Stathern

Location : Red Lion Inn, 2 Red Lion Street, Stathern, LE14 4HS

Proposal : Partial demolition of Red Lion Inn and conversion to 1 dwelling; conversion of outbuilding to 1 dwelling & construction of no. 4 new dwellings to the rear together with associated boundary treatments, parking & landscaping

The Planning Officer (AC) addressed the committee and provided a summary of the application. He advised the application was before the committee as more than 10 objections had been received as well as two further objections had been received since the agenda was published, the concerns of which were already included in the report. He stated there was a minor clerical error in the report at paragraph 8.2.23 this should state ‘as detailed within paragraph 8.2.13’ instead of 8.2.10. Members were given the opportunity to ask questions for clarification.

Pursuant to Chapter 2, Part 9 Paragraphs 2.8-2.28 of the Council’s Constitution in relation to public speaking at Planning Committee, the Chair allowed the following to give a three minute presentation:

Councillor Ken Bray of Stathern Parish Council made the following points:

·       The Parish Council had a strong objection to the application as it went against the major policies and was of poor design

·       The report consistently admitted conflict with policies and then chose to ignore or excuse

·       Haphazard parking arrangements were shown in the plans with no parking for visitors

·       There was no access to maintain the beck which was known as a flood risk

·       The site was in a conservation area and there was an impact on the historical core of the village

·       The existing building had been deliberately allowed to deteriorate and had not been maintained

·       The site and the pub were listed as Assets of Community Value and this had not been taken into account

·       25 years ago a similar application with arguments of non-viability and high refurbishment costs was refused and in that case the pub had been opened within a year

·       The application should be refused

Members were given the opportunity to ask questions for clarification.

Sally Fagan of Stathern Community Benefit Society made the following points:

·       The Community group focused on 3 aspects, these being why the applicant’s report should be disregarded, why they believed the pub to be viable, why the marketing was not consistent with ACV policy

·       The application conflicted with the Local Plan policies and the NPPF

·       The applicant’s viability reports were flawed and the community group had  challenged the assumptions and commissioned an independent assessment and produced a robust business plan

·       The Council’s independent review was not truly independent

·       The damage to the building was from wilful neglect and not vandalism

·       The pub was viable when taken over yet went into insolvency within 9 months with no evidence that the business was unviable

·       Community owned pubs had a high success rate and the community group had a business plan and expertise to ensure it would thrive

·       Due to new homes being built in the area, the village could support 2 pubs

·       The car  ...  view the full minutes text for item PL82

Jeld Wen, Snow Hill, Melton Mowbray

This item has been withdrawn.

This application had been withdrawn from the agenda.

To consider any other business that the Chair considers urgent

There was no urgent business.