Issue - meetings

DECISION

1.    Approve the report justifying the Introduction of Article 4 Direction in Appendix 1. 

2.    Approve the making of an Article 4 Direction which does not come into effect immediately but after 12 months (Annex 2) for the Gwynedd Local Planning Authority Area in order to revoke the permitted development rights for the following uses:

a.    Change of use from C3 (primary residence) to C5 (second home) or C6 (short-term holiday let) and specific mixed uses;

b.    Change of use form C5 (second homes) to C6 (short-term holiday let) and specific mixed uses;

c.     Change of use from C6 (short-term holiday let) to C5 (second home) and specific mixed uses.

3.    That the Article 4 Direction notice as is presented in Appendix 3 be published and served in accordance with the requirements, (accepting that it is not practicable to present individually to each owner and occupier within the area because of its size) for a period of not less than six weeks to allow the public to submit responses to the intention. 

4.    Receive a further report to consider any responses received (following the public engagement period) in order to make the decision to confirm the Article 4 Direction.

5.    Delegate the rights to the Head of Environment Department in consultation with the Head of Legal Services to make editorial adjustments to the notice prior to publication.

The report was submitted by Cllr Dafydd Meurig.    

DECISION

1.    To approve the Justification Paper on the Introduction of an Article 4 Direction in Appendix 1. 

2.    To approve the making of an Article 4 Direction which does not come into effect immediately but after 12 months (Appendix 2) for the Gwynedd Local Planning Authority Area in order to revoke the permitted development rights for the following uses:

a.    Change of use from C3 (primary residence) to C5 (second home) or C6 (short-term holiday let) and specific mixed uses;

b.    Change of use from C5 (second homes) to C6 (short-term holiday let) and specific mixed uses;

c.     Change of use from C6 (short-term holiday let) to C5 (second home) and specific mixed uses.

3.    It was agreed that the Article 4 Direction notice as was presented in Appendix 3 be published and served in accordance with the requirements, (accepting that it was not practicable to present individually to each owner and occupier within the area because of its size) for a period of no less than six weeks to allow the public to submit responses to the proposal.

4.      It was agreed to receive a further report to consider any responses received (following the engagement period) in order to make the decision to confirm the Article 4 Direction.

5.    The right was delegated to the Head of Environment Department in consultation with the Head of Legal Services to make editorial adjustments to the notice prior to publication.

DISCUSSION

It was reported that, historically, it had not been possible to control whether or not a home was converted for use as a second home or self-contained holiday let. It was explained that the Welsh Government had introduced new use classes (C5 - second home and C6 - short-term holiday let), but there was no current requirement for planning permission before changing the use class of a house.

It was explained that introducing an Article 4 Direction would enable the Gwynedd Local Planning Authority to impose a requirement for planning permission before owners could amend the use class of their home. It was emphasised that there was no requirement for planning permission if the owner intended to amend the use class of their home from C5 or C6 back to primary residence (use class C3), unless an original application had previously been submitted to the Authority for C5 or C6 use.

It was emphasised that the main intention of the Council when introducing an Article 4 Direction was to gain control over changing use classes, not to prevent developments from proceeding.

An overview of the Justification Paper on the Introduction of an Article 4 Direction was provided, which noted the following main points:

·       The current situation was analysed detailing how the use of holiday homes had developed over the past four years.

o   It was reported that there had been an increase in the number of holiday lets over this period. It was also noted that there had been a reduction  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7