Issue - meetings

REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGER

Erection of three detached dwellings (1 x 3-bed,1 x 4-bed and 1 x 5-bed) and with associated infrastructure and landscaping

RESOLVED: That application 24/02606/FP be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager, with the following amendment to Condition 10 and the addition of Conditions 20 to 23 as follows:

‘Condition 10:

No dwelling hereby permitted shall be occupied until the vehicle to vehicle inter-visibility splays of 2.4 metres by x 57 metres to the eastern direction and 2.4 metres by x 59 metres to the western direction shall be provided and permanently maintained as shown on the drawing (Ref-196661-001), Within which, there shall be no obstruction to visibility between 600 mm and 2.0 metres above the carriageway level. These measurements shall be taken from the intersection of the centre line of the permitted access with the edge of the carriageway of the highway respectively into the application site and from the intersection point along the edge of the carriageway.

Reason: To ensure construction of a satisfactory development and in the interests of highway safety in accordance with Policy 5 of Hertfordshire's Local Transport Plan.

Condition 20:

No development shall take place (including any ground works, site clearance) until a Biodiversity Method Statement has been submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority. The Statement shall be informed by the November 2024 Ecological Assessment Report and include the following:

a) Review of site potential and constraints.

b) Details of any necessary working methods to prevent harm to wildlife.

c) Type and source of materials to be used where appropriate.

d) Persons responsible for implementing the works.

The Method Statement must include a timetable for the delivery of measure on site and any agreed measures are to remain on site thereafter.

Condition 21:

No development shall take place until an Ecological Enhancement Plan (EEP) for the creation of new wildlife features such as hibernacula, the inclusion of integrated bird/bat and bee boxes in buildings/structures, as informed by the November 2024 Ecological Assessment Report, has been submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority. The agreed measures are to be implemented on site prior to the first occupation of the first dwellinghouse hereby approved and shall remain on site thereafter.

Condition 22:

The effect of paragraph 13 of Schedule 7A to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is that planning permission granted for the development of land in England is deemed to have been granted subject to the condition "(the biodiversity gain condition") that development may not begin unless:

(a) a Biodiversity Gain Plan has been submitted to the planning authority, and

(b) the planning authority has approved the plan.

The planning authority, for the purposes of determining whether to approve a Biodiversity Gain Plan if one is required in respect of this permission would be North Herts Council.

There are statutory exemptions and transitional arrangements which mean that the biodiversity gain condition does not always apply.

Based on the information available this permission is considered to be one which will  ...  view the full decision text for item 152

Audio recording – 6 minutes 09 seconds

The Area Planning Officer presented the report and supplementary document and advised that:

·       An update to the report had been published as a supplementary document and four conditions relating to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) had been included.

·       An additional map had been provided in the supplementary document, which was attached to the original s106, which had been located and provided for further clarification regarding existing landscaping conditions.

·       Condition 10 in the report required an amendment and instead of ‘Prior to the occupation of the development hereby permitted vehicle to vehicle inter-visibility splays…’, the condition should read ‘No dwelling hereby permitted shall be occupied until the vehicle to vehicle inter-visibility splays...’.  

The Area Planning Officer presented the report in respect of Application 24/02606/FP supported by a visual presentation consisting of plans and photographs.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Ruth Brown

·       Councillor Martin Prescott

·       Councillor Louise Peace

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

·       There had been no indication from County Highways that the 30mph zone would be extended and no objection or suggested conditions had been received.

·       There was no objection from the Inspector to the site being outside of the settlement boundary. The objection was related specifically to the size of plot 3.

·       There would be a connection point to existing rights of way, but this would be agreed at a later stage by condition.

The Chair invited Ms Lynne Bogie to speak against this application. Ms Bogie thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided the Committee with a verbal presentation, including that:

·       Applications for this site had previously been rejected by this Committee.

·       There had been a similar application for a site in Barkway recently, which was outside of the village settlement, and the Officer recommendation in that case was to refuse due to the weight which should be placed on this consideration.

·       There were modest benefits to the scheme, but these did not outweigh the harm done.

·       The site was on a 60mph road with no provision for pedestrians.

·       A recent application for Tussocks in Therfield was deemed to be unacceptable within the village boundary without the provision of a pavement. This should be applied in this case.

·       This site had been specifically rejected from the adopted Local Plan.

·       There was already a significant level of development in Therfield and the village could not support further luxury housing outside of the settlement boundary.

In response to a point of clarification from Councillor Ruth Brown, Ms Bogie advised that the site referenced in Barkway was a greenfield site.

The Chair thanked Ms Bogie for her contribution and invited Mr Simon Warner to speak as the agent to the applicant in support of this application. Mr Warner thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided the Committee with a verbal presentation, including that:

·       This application represented a positive contribution on a brownfield site and was policy compliant.

·       Any negatives from the site would need to demonstrably harm  ...  view the full minutes text for item 152