Agenda and draft minutes

The evacuation procedure was noted.

In the interest of transparency Councillor Sylvia Wlamsley informed the Committee that in relation to item 24/0211/REM Thornaby Football, she had attended several meetings at Thornaby Football club relating to the ongoing developments of the football pitches. Councillor Walmsley informed Members that she was not pre-determined regards this development. Councillor Walmsley took part in the debate and the vote.

The minutes were approved and signed as a correct record by the Chair.

The planning protocol was noted.

Consideration was given to planning application 24/0211/REM 10no dwellings at Land South of Thornaby Football Club, Acklam Road, Thornaby

Following the grant of outline consent at appeal (ref; 18/0409/OUT), reserved matters approval was sought for appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for the erection of 10no dwellings on land to the South of Thornaby Football Club.

Members were advised that the list of approved plans needs to be changed to remove drainage strategy plans but this was covered by a condition

The application site related to housing within the defined settlement limits, on unallocated land outside of the designated green wedge, thereby drawing support from Local Plan Polices.

The application had been assessed in full, and whilst it was acknowledged that there would be some environmental impact in terms of tree loss, overall, it was considered that the development would not result in any significant conflict with the policies of the Local Plan or relevant chapters of the NPPF and there were no technical reasons why the proposed scheme would be deemed unacceptable in planning terms in which to justify refusal of the application.

The consultees that had been notified and the comments that had been received were detailed within the main report.

Neighbours were notified and the comments received were detailed within the main report.

The planning policies and material planning considerations that were relevant to the consideration of the application were contained within the main report.

The planning officers report concluded that in view of the assessment detailed within the report, it was considered that the proposed development would not result in any significant conflict with the policies contained within the Stockon on Tees Local Plan or the relevant chapters of the NPPF and there were no technical reasons why the proposed scheme would be deemed unacceptable.

In planning terms, the proposed development was considered acceptable in all other regards and was therefore recommended for approval subject to those planning conditions set out in the report.

The Applicants Agent attended the meeting and was given the opportunity to make representation. Their comments could be summarised as follows:

Following the grant of outline consent at appeal (ref; 18/0409/OUT) the appeal inspector concluded 10 homes with landscaping and tree protection could be accommodated without undue harm and would not undermine the setting and character of the area or cemetery.

The layout and design had been carefully positioned with the removal of 11 trees which would be replaced and replanted in a more appropriate place and would provide screening and add to the character for this location. The access road which had been in place since 1917 would be upgraded and enhanced.

There had been no technical objections or any objections from highways.

Natural England had issued a nutrient credit certificate certifying the developer’s compliance with nutrient neutrality.

The applicants’ agent urged the Committee to approve the reserved matters application.

Thornaby Football Clubs's chief operating officer attended the meeting and was given the opportunity to make representation. Their comments could be summarised  ...  view the full minutes text for item P/55/25

Consideration was given to a report on Planning Compliance Performance - Quarterly Update. This was the latest quarter report (Quarter 3, 2025/26).

The Stockton on Tees Local Enforcement Plan (LEP) was approved at planning committee in September 2024 and became live on the 1 November 2024 and this report provided the latest quarterly report.

As part of the LEP, service targets were introduced which were;

70% of enforcement cases closed where no breach identified within 20 working days.

60% of enforcement requests receiving an initial response, for example no breach of control identified or further investigation to be undertaken, within 10 working days.

60% of planning enforcement cases, where the case actions were determined within the established priority timescales.

Details of current performance and trends were contained within the officers’ report, such as annual comparatives in caseloads and performance as well as a snapshot of last quarter’s performance.

The last three years caseloads had increased year on year, with the last year 2025 being the highest in recent records and a 36% increase on year end in 2024 and a 49% increase on 2023. The nature of the caseload as well as the total number of cases continued to be monitored to ensure resources remained adequate.

Despite the increase in new allegations being received , the numbers of open cases were consistent with those open cases at the end of 2024, with the average number of days to process such cases reducing from 353 days to 132 days. With the variance from that figure and the average ‘closed case’ periods reported on a quarterly basis following the introduction of the LEP, being due to historic cases being closed alongside new ones.

The total number of served enforcement notices over the past two years (20) had also quadrupled since 2020-23 (5).

In terms of quarter 3 2025/2026, performance against the internal performance standards continued to remain high with the relevant thresholds being exceeded in all cases, and overall 97% of all the number of cases in the last quarter had had case actions determined within the identified priority period.

Over the last quarter the number of cases received had dropped slightly, although there continued to be year on year increases in cases reported.

Notwithstanding that, the overall time to process cases had marginally increased, although the average turnaround period remained comparable to those across the year so far.

Two cases from the previous quarter where there had been no compliance with an enforcement notice, had seen landowners begin to rectify works and the planning service team continued to discuss a case of non-compliance with colleagues in legal services over appropriate next steps.

Currently the total number of unresolved compliance cases equated to 181, with 47 cases being historic cases received before the introduction of the Local Enforcement Plan.

The next quarterly update of the ‘Planning Compliance Performance Report’ would be quarter 4 of 2025/26 (January - March), which was anticipated being reported in April/May 2026.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.  ...  view the full minutes text for item P/56/25