A veteran councillor has refused to back official minutes of a decision approving a controversial housing scheme. Cllr Eileen Wragg (Lib Dem, Exmouth Town) said she "could not accept the minutes" on the plan for up to 130 homes in Seaton.
A veteran local politician has refused to back the official record of a decision linked to a major controversial housing development.
Cllr Eileen Wragg (Liberal Democrat, Exmouth Town) said she could “not accept the minutes” that act as the formal account of the decision to approve an outline housing scheme in Seaton for up to 130 homes.
Baker Estates’ application has been controversial since it was first debated at East Devon District Council’s planning committee in February, where chair Cllr Olly Davey appeared to change his vote.
Cllr Wragg, who has been involved in local planning for 30 years, expressed displeasure about the events at that meeting and objects to the official record, saying it doesn’t fully reflect what happened.
“The committee was asked to vote to accept the minutes, but I was challenging it as I didn’t feel they were accurate,” she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the meeting.
“The vote [in February] was changed and that is procedurally wrong.”
During this week’s meeting, Cllr Wragg pushed for the minutes to include that Cllr Davey, as chair, had used his casting vote after reconsidering his initial one, which meant the application was approved.
“I really do think that should be included in case of any future actions which may be taken,” she told the meeting.
“That would cover us legally.”
Cllr Davey noted that he did “wonder if it should be recorded”, adding that the decision to approve the Seaton scheme had needed to explained at a subsequent planning meeting, “which is not usual”.
“I’m not saying we should do this every time the chair uses their casting vote, but I do think on this occasion given the controversial nature of it and the fact there are rumblings about possible legal action we need to make sure we are absolutely crystal clear,” he said.
But the council’s solicitor, Damian Hunter, said the February minutes – which state that the scheme was approved “as per officer recommendation” subject to conditions – were “legally sound” and that minutes “don’t normally go into that level of detail” about casting votes.
Mr Hunter reiterated his “strong advice” was that the minutes did not need amending, and that to use the level of detail being proposed by Cllr Wragg would mean “we will get into difficulty as that is not what needs to be put into the minutes”.
Some councillors backed the suggestion that the minutes should be changed, whereas others warned against that, given they had been approved by the legal team.
Cllr Wragg proposed that the minutes be amended, but nobody seconded it, meaning it failed.
When it came to voting for the minutes as presented, five members voted in favour, two against and eight abstained, including Cllr Davey.
Residents who attended the February meeting expressed confusion and disappointment about how the decision was made.
Last month, the council acknowledged extra rules to clarify how planning decisions should be made were to be drafted following the controversy.
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