Issue - meetings

REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGER

Erection of 10 dwellings (6 x 3-bed, 3 x 4-bed and 1 x 5-bed ) including creation of vehicular access off Police Row, associated garaging, landscaping, drainage infrastructure and ancillary works (as amended by drawing nos. JBA 23_231 01, JBA 23_231 02, 19251-100A; -101B; -102B; -103B; 104C; -106C; -110B; -113B and -114B received on 09/02/2024, drawing no.SK04 received on 13/05/2024, drawing nos. 19251 - 107D; -1001G; -1002F; -1003F; -1005C received on 17/06/2024, and drawings nos. 19251 - 105D; -111B and -112D received 25/06/2024, drawings nos. 1925 - 1004F received 27th June 2024; and drawing -19328-THER-5-SK001-E received 3rd July 2024).

RESOLVED: That application 23/01885/FP be GRANTED planning permission subject to:

A)      The completion of a S106 agreement in line with the agreed Heads of Terms;

B)    The receipt of the Impact and Conservation Payment Certificate following an application to Natural England under the GCN District Level Licensing (DLL) or any other means to address impact on GCN and a response of no objection from the North Herts Ecologist;

C)    Seeking to address the objection from the Highway Authority relating to refuse collection, which the Highway Authority have indicated can be reasonably achieved, and this matter is delegated to the Development and Conservation Manager and the Chair of Planning Control Committee, so that this application would not need to come back to Planning Committee for this reason alone;

D)    The agreement to an extension of time to the statutory determination date to allow time for (A), (B) and (C) to occur; and

E)    The conditions and informatives recommended in the report, and any other reasonable and necessary conditions that are recommended by the Highway Authority.

And the following additional Condition 35 to read:

“Condition 35:

Notwithstanding the submitted plans, no gates shall be provided across the access to the site.

Reason: In the interests of local visual amenity and to comply with Policy D1 of the North Hertfordshire Local Plan 2011 to 2031.”

Audio recording – 9 minutes 16 seconds

The Senior Planning Officer provided updates, including that:

·       A draft section 106 agreement had been received, which had been forwarded onto the legal team at the Council.

·       The current recommendation subject to the receipt of impact assessments had been updated, due to changes in the approach of the applicant to address the issues and it was not possible to consult with the Ecology Officer ahead of the meeting.

·       The Highways Authority continued to object to the application, due to the collection of refuse from the site. However, the proposals outline the collection of refuse from Police Row which was acceptable in the planning balance, and it was therefore considered that refusal for this reason would not be sustainable.

·       If the refuse matter can be resolved, without compromise to the design, then the matter should be explored further.

·       Should Members consider current refuse proposals to be unacceptable, then a proposed further amendment to the recommendation for resolution to grant had been circulated which would allow the Development and Conservation Manager, alongside the Chair of the Committee, to make this decision to prevent the application returning to Committee for this reason alone.

·       There was an error at paragraph 4.3.52 and an archaeological report had been received and was included on the website.

The Senior Planning Officer presented the report in respect of Application 23/01885/FP supported by a visual presentation consisting of photographs and plans.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Ruth Brown

·       Councillor Amy Allen

·       Councillor Michael Muir

·       Councillor Mick Debenham

In response to questions, the Senior Planning Officer advised that:

·       Affordable housing requirements only applied to developments of 11 or more dwellings. If the application was for 12 dwellings, then 3 units would need to be affordable to be policy compliant.

·       There was only one access point proposed to the site within the application, but there was an informal footpath to the south.

·       Any open spaces in the proposals were expected to be for any Therfield residents and would not be sectioned off.

·       The Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) had been consulted and this is detailed in points 4.3.53 to 4.3.57 of the report. They noted the need to have regard to SUDs and boreholes but raised no objection subject to the inclusion of 3 conditions.

·       It would be unreasonable to reject the application on flooding grounds, as no objection had been received from the LLFA.

·       In assessments undertaken, and outlined at 4.3.46 to 4.3.49 of the report, there would be ecological and biodiversity gains. These had been consulted on with the Ecology Officer who had proposed 2 conditions.

·       The application was submitted prior to the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements being mandatory and so it is beneficial this is being done regardless.

The Chair invited Parish Councillor Andy Osbourne to speak against the application. Parish Councillor Osbourne thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided the Committee with a verbal presentation, including that:

·       It had been 8 years since the application was first  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38