Falklands : Falklands Planning and Building Committee Report
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 08.07.2007 (Article Archived on 22.07.2007)
Graham France updates us on what happened during this important committee meeting.
HELD 5th JULY 2007
(By Graham France)
This month’s meeting of the Planning and Building Committee began with a word of thanks from chair, the Hon Richard Davies, to Alan Dawson (the Building Adviser) for his good works over the past two years with the local building fraternity and who is to leave shortly.
Of twelve applications for planning permission to be considered by members, just one was a case deferred at a previous meeting. This was for the erection of a one-and-a-half-storey house at 1a Ian Campbell Drive for Grant and Stacey Budd but, due to an objection raised by a neighbour, the scheme was then slightly modified to reduce its height and the committee resolved to grant conditional planning permission.
New applications
The following proposals received conditional planning permission: the erection of a covered firing point at the Phillips Point Range on Stanley Common for the Falklands Gun Club; a single-storey dwelling at the rear of 3 Brandon Road for Kevin Jones (this followed the earlier grant of outline consent); Robin Goodwin’s proposal to change the use of the ground floor of The Traveller’s Rest (formerly known as the Great Britain Hotel) at Plot 51 Mount Pleasant Road to form tea rooms and a retail outlet; the installation of a housed, back-up generator to the rear of the Standard Chartered Bank on Ross Road; extensions to the north and south of the existing dwelling also the erection of a garage at 3 St Mary’s Walk for Gus and Andrea Clausen; the erection of a one-and-a-half-storey dwelling for Jacqueline Allen at 26 Callaghan Road (rear of 56 Davis Street); Steven Poole’s proposal to erect two sheds at 8 Anderson Drive; and the erection of a single-storey dwelling at Mullet Creek Farm for Martyn and Andrea Barlow.
Andrew (Drew) Irvine’s outline submission for the erection of a house on land west of 17 Goss Road was refused planning permission since the proposal was contrary to the policy adopted in the Stanley Town Plan 2004 on Greenspace Provision.
Deferred at the meeting was Chris May’s proposal for the erection of dog cages south of Lookout Rocks for kennelling of working sheepdogs for George, Barren and Speedwell Islands and is to be the subject of discussion on siting.
There was one application which, as it sought temporary approval for the winning of minerals, required the approval of Executive Council (ExCo) and members were invited to recommend that it be approved subject to conditions which they duly did. This, submitted by Fraser McKay, was for the excavation of 300 tonnes of dead calcified seaweed from the foreshore at Pond Valley on Spring Point Farm on West Falkland over a period of one year for use as an agricultural liming agent at Teal River Farm.
The committee then reviewed the work of Alan Dawson in his dealings with applications for building permits and noted that two of the three listed were to be approved with additional information awaited for the third.
Next, were the four appeals being made to ExCo following decisions to refuse planning permission. In the cases of the first three (erection of an extension to Malvina House Hotel, the erection of a dwelling on land west of the Beaver Hangar, and the change of use from living room to temporary retail outlet for bicycles at 31 Ross Road West) this was to inform the committee of the written statement received from the appellant also any letters received from third parties and to seek members’ agreement to the comments made on those documents by the Environmental Planning Officer – EPO - (Andrea Wright). The committee duly noted the appeal evidence received and agreed with the comments in all three cases.
The fourth appeal was in respect of the refusal to grant outline planning permission for the erection of a new cycle shop and repair premises at 31 Ross Road West and was submitted by Robin Goodwin. Here the committee was invited to review the statement on the case prepared by the EPO which they did and agreed its content.
Members then looked at the report prepared by the EPO on “Infill Plots” following the invitation to the public to submit their comments on the subject. Seven written responses had been received with all voicing their objections to the proposed maximum 20% plot coverage. It was agreed that each application would be looked at on a case-by-case basis but that Plot Guidelines produced in January 2006 should be borne in mind by applicants. At the forthcoming Workshop to be held later this month, further advice is to be given to committee members on the subject.
Lastly, the committee reviewed a report by the EPO on Conservation Area Legislation and were joined by archivist Jane Cameron. This set out the reasons for the proposed designation of a Conservation Area for Stanley and asked members to consider what would be the appropriate boundaries for this. The committee decided to recommend to ExCo the general principle of amending the Planning Ordinance to allow for the designation of such an Area, and agreed the boundaries as shown on the aforementioned Town Plan. Should ExCo agree to this, then decisions will have to be made on the extent of controls to be exercised within the Area.
The next meeting of the committee is scheduled to take place on Thursday 2nd August, commencing at 8.30am and to be held in the Liberation Room of the Secretariat.
Graham France 7th July 2007
|
