Agenda item

Dispensation Request

Report by the Town Clerk.

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk relative to a request for a dispensation from Mr Oliver Sells, Common Councilman for the Ward of Farringdon Without and a member of the Planning and Transportation Committee.  It was noted that Mr Sells had requested a dispensation to speak on a planning application for temporary structures at the Inner Temple which was currently expected to be considered by the Committee on 11th September 2018 but may, in due course, be considered at a later date. It was further noted that the request for a dispensation had arisen due to Mr Sells’ disclosable pecuniary interest arising from his being a professional and residential tenant of the Inner Temple.

 

The Sub-Committee agreed that Mr Sells had a disclosable pecuniary interest in respect of the application to the Planning and Transportation Committee and considered whether, as per the request, Mr Sells’ knowledge and experience of the Inner Temple area and therefore his potential contribution to the debate was sufficient to justify granting a dispensation in the interests of the members and residents of the Inner Temple.

 

In noting the grounds on which a dispensation could be granted by the authority (as set out under the Localism Act 2011), the Sub-Committee determined that Mr Sells’ request for a dispensation to speak on the planning application for temporary structures at the Inner Temple (on 11th September 2018 or thereafter) should be refused as they were not satisfied that any of the statutory grounds had been established. It was felt that Mr Sells’ knowledge and expertise in this area was not unique. It was also noted that other members of the Planning and Transportation Committee could be lobbied by Mr Sells with a view to them making known, during a debate on the application, the views of members and residents of Inner Temple.

 

RESOLVED:- That the request for a dispensation from Oliver Sells, to speak on a planning application for temporary structures at the Inner Temple (currently expected to be considered by the Planning and Transportation Committee on 11th September 2018 or at a later date), be refused.

 

 

Supporting documents: