Members were reminded that at the 14 April 2015 Planning and Development Committee meeting it was resolved unanimously to serve an Article 4 Direction on Barrack Wood.  Since this decision was made, Legal Services had identified that the format of the Article 4 Direction in the earlier report needed to be updated because  it did not meet the current legislative requirements and so was not valid.  Members were therefore recommended to endorse the serving of an updated Article 4 Direction for Barrack Wood to reflect current legislation and the clear intention of the Planning and Development Committee’s April 2015 decision.

Cllr McCheyne MOVED and Cllr Barrell SECONDED the recommendations in the report and following a discussion it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:

1.            That an Article 4 Direction be authorised and served for Barrack Wood (see Map attached in Appendix A to the report).

2.            That authority be delegated to Head of Planning and Environmental Health, after consultation with the Chair and Ward Members, to issue and serve  Article 4 Directions in relation to other  woodlands in the Borough where deemed appropriate.

Reasons for Recommendation

Given the potential immediate threat to the integrity of the woodlands affected, it was deemed necessary to issue the two Article 4 Directions, one of which should take immediate effect due to the potential risk of inappropriate works.