Agenda item

The Planning Committee received and noted a report setting out the actions taken and the matters considered in relation to a request that had been made by Councillor Roger Hickford (a local Member), on behalf of the community of Hildersham that South Cambridgeshire District Council issue a Direction under Article 4,  Part 4 of ‘The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (as amended) removing the permitted development rights enjoyed by the Pear Tree Public House that would otherwise have allowed its owner to change its use from a pub into a shop or any of the other permitted changes in the ‘A Class’ of the Use Classes Order. The pub was on the Council’s ‘Community Asset Register’ and there were concerns that the contribution that the building made socially to the local community would be lost if the applicant was able to use his permitted development rights to change the use of the property into a different retail use without proper controls being in place.

Jean Kelly, Secretary of community Group Save the Pear Tree (SToPiT), addressed the meeting and gave the matter context by referring briefly to the history and community function of the Pear Tree.  Mark Logan, Chairman of SToPiT, urged the Council to recognise the wishes of local people, and SToPiT overriding message was that the Pear Tree represented the heart of the village of Hildersham.

Councillor Trisha Bear, a local Member, addressed the meeting and urged the Council to lobby Central Government about Local Government’s lack of effective powers in such situations.

Councillor Roger Hickford, a local Member, addressed the meeting and expressed his sadness at the disjointed nature of Central Government which had resulted in an inability for the Council to prevent the conversion of the Pear Tree. Officers confirmed that, in planning land use terms, the business was now operating as a shop, and Councillor Hickford accepted, and explained to those in the public gallery, that the Council was powerless to make an Article 4 Direction retrospectively.

Councillor Ray Manning, Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, addressed the meeting.  He agreed that village pubs were very often the heart of their communities.  He criticised Central Government for being “too urban” and failing to understand the specific nature of village life.  He identified the need to lobby Members of Parliament and organisations such as the Local Government Association.  He welcomed the idea of a Motion being laid before Full Council in order to generate a debate among the wider membership, and said that the question of Article 4 Directions would also be examined by the Planning and Economic Development Portfolio Holder. 

Responding to Members’ comments, the Development Control Manager described the issue arising from the Pear Tree, Hildersham as a national issue needing urgent attention.  He assured Members that any attempt now to convert a shop to a private residential use would require planning permission.

Following further comments from Members, the Committee Chairman summed up by reiterating the Council’s determination to protect rural communities in South Cambridgeshire, starting with a detailed analysis of the available options by the Planning and Economic Development Portfolio Holder.