To answer questions asked by members of the public. The constitution requires that questions are received three working days before the meeting (deadline 4.00pm on Monday, 12 December 2011).

Question 1

The following question has been received from Mr Alan Preest, 7 Greenacre, Bream, Lydney Glos GL15 6AP

At the full Forest of Dean District Council meeting on 2 December 2010 after an assurance given by the then leadership of the council I withdrew a motion that in essence was designed to develop a renewable energy policy, based on other authorities’ policies, for the Forest of Dean.

I quote from item 4 of the minutes of the December 2 meeting. “Cllr Preest confirmed that discussions had been held with the Leader of the Council, Cllr Peter Amos, who had given assurances that a time limited working group would be established to consider the council’s planning policies on renewable energy”.

Could the present Leader, Cllr Molyneux, who at the time last year was the executive member for planning, confirm the assurance given by the previous Leader was acted upon and a renewable energy policy especially for the Forest of Dean now exists? If not, why not? Including who made the decision not to proceed and the reasons why?

Response from Councillor Brian Robinson, Cabinet Member for Efficient Council and Planning Policy

Thank you for your question.

Following the elections earlier in the year the matter of renewable energy was considered by the Planning Policy Group.  The main area of discussion was whether or not a development management policy or policies to specifically address the potential impacts of such development was appropriate.  The group considered that there are adequate policies in place and that applications could be considered on their merits against these policies.  As an example an application for a wind turbine would be able to be considered in respect of its impact on the landscape, on any protected sites, and would need to be accompanied by various assessments including those covering noise and “flicker”.  The application could be properly evaluated under the present (Local Plan) or draft (Core Strategy) policies.

Supplementary question

Mr Preest was not at the meeting and the council would send him the response to his question.

Question 2

The following question has been received from Mr Walt Williams, 47 The Links, Coleford, Glos GL16 8HX

Further to the answer to my earlier questions at previous meetings, on renewable energy generation policy or strategy, when it was stated that the ‘member policy planning group’ was intending to consider this item;

a) could the Council give an update as to the status of such considerations and,

b) would there be some form of public consultation on this most important subject?

Furthermore, due to recent events of a planning application being submitted for a full size commercial wind turbine in the Coleford basin causing a great deal of understandable consternation in the local population, does this Council not appreciate the serious implications for the whole District of the planning decision on this matter, bearing in mind:

1)   The Applicant has stated an intention to make this the first of a string of such turbines in this area,

2)   The damage that will be done to the rural outlook and visual amenity that tourism relies upon and most residents want to protect,

3)   The weakness of just relying upon CSP.1. to protect the environment, as was quoted to me in an earlier answer,

4)   The problems of defending any appeal without a more directed policy or strategy in place which will ultimately cost the Council/taxpayer money,

5)   The fact that this applicant has obviously  not had sufficient guidance through a more direct policy or strategy to enable him to be persuaded from such a venture in a very sensitive area and close to many dwellings,

6)   The absence of well defined Central Government Policy should not be a barrier to any individual District defining how it prefers or intends to fulfil the general Government target on renewable energy generation.

7)   The unfairness of having a planning precedent set without the residents of the whole District being able to be consulted and having an over-riding input in a business enterprise which has little or no contribution to the local community and only detracts from it in a most serious way.

… and therefore will this council now take this deficiency in our planning for the future and safeguarding of our District’s environment as seriously as safeguarding our statutory Forest area.

Response from Councillor Brian Robinson, Cabinet Member for Efficient Council and Planning Policy

Thank you for your questions.  The first part of the answer, in reply to a), is a copy of the reply to the previous question:

Following the elections earlier in the year the matter of renewable energy was considered by the Planning Policy Group.  The main area of discussion was whether or not a development management policy or policies to specifically address the potential impacts of such development was appropriate.  The group considered that there are adequate policies in place and that applications could be considered on their merits against these policies.  As an example an application for a wind turbine would be able to be considered in respect of its impact on the landscape, on any protected sites, and would need to be accompanied by various assessments including those covering noise and “flicker”.  The application could therefore be properly evaluated under the present (Local Plan) or draft (Core Strategy) policies.

In reply to b)…

There will always be public consultation on planning applications and the planning policies both in the Local Plan and in the draft Core Strategy have been the subject of expensive consultation.  Renewable energy policy was indeed the subject of discussion at the recent Core Strategy public hearing.  Mr Williams is invited to make comments on any current planning application that he wishes to, including that for the wind turbine at Coleford.

Comments in respect of the current situation are noted.  There is currently an application for a single wind turbine close to Coleford, which has yet to be determined.  Policies are in place that enable it to be properly and comprehensively evaluated for any likely impacts including noise, visual effects and “flicker”.  Planning applications are determined on their individual merits and further comment beyond stating again that the existing and proposed policies are considered an adequate basis for such decision-making is not appropriate.

Supplementary question

I have been to a number of planning appeals where the council's policies have been found wanting and would point out that the protection of our district's environment and quality should be uppermost on this council's agenda. Therefore will the council rethink its decision to not create a positive guidance document for the types of renewable energy generation that are most suitable for our district and involve the public in a more specific way, rather than the more general consultation for the core strategy when I consider most people linked renewable energy concepts with housing development rather than business enterprises.

Response from Cllr Robinson

He replied that the council had explained why it believed that the core strategy provided an adequate framework for these issues to be considered. The member Planning Policy Group had recently looked to see if any additional positive advice were needed and had taken the view that suitable safeguards were currently in place. However the group would continue to monitor the situation so that it could respond if there were changes.