Council apologises after missing quorum

Monmouthshire County Council has apologised after discussions around a contentious planning application were cancelled due to a “very rare” lack of available councillors

An application to convert a six-bedroom home in Chepstow Road, Caldicot, into a house of multiple occupation (HMO) had drawn 78 letters of objection and opposition from town councillors.

Concerns had been raised about a lack of public consultation regarding the proposed development, as well as issues of overdevelopment, overlooking and inadequate parking.

But residents hoping to listen or speak to the proposals were asked to leave a planning committee meeting on Tuesday after it failed to reach the minimum number of councillors needed to grant or refuse planning permission.

Committee chairwoman Cllr Ruth Edwards said: “This is very embarrassing and does not put us a in a good light.”

Under the council’s constitution, half of the committee’s membership must be available in order to meet quorum.

Several committee members were absent while some of those present had declared personal and prejudicial interests, preventing them from discussing the application.

While other items on the agenda were discussed, the committee agreed to delay their discussions on the HMO proposal until their next meeting on September 3.

A spokeswoman for Monmouthshire County Council said: “We would like to offer our sincere apologies to the local community who attended yesterday’s planning committee meeting to speak or to listen to the debate.

“Unfortunately, due to the absence of a small number of committee members, and the need for a further four committee members to declare an interest in this particular application and take no part in the decision-making, the meeting was no longer quorate and a lawful decision could not be made.

“We therefore had to defer this application. This is a very rare occurrence and unfortunately is not something we were able to foresee in advance of the meeting.”

The committee has been recommended to give Monmouthshire Housing Association permission to develop the HMO despite opposition from the community.

Residents had expressed fears that the tenancy licences that would be offered to prospective tenants referred to criminals being released from prison on licence.

But planning officers said the term had been misinterpreted, saying: “There will be no prisoners or offenders housed in this property, rather it is to be used to house local families who are in danger of becoming homeless.”