Issue - meetings

REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGER

To update Members on appeals lodged and any decisions made.

The Development and Conservation Manager provided an update on Planning Appeals.

Audio recording – 1 hour 59 minutes 2 seconds

The Development and Conservation Manager provided an update on Planning Appeals and advised that:

·       The appeal relating to 10 St Katherines Close, Ickleford had been dismissed.

·       The appeal relating to 68 Chiltern Road, Baldock was rejected by the Committee for the impact on the street scene. This appeal was allowed by the Inspector who decided it would not impact the street scene.

·       The appeal decision relating to 14 dwellings at the High Street, Ashwell was rejected by the Committee due to harm on the Conservation Area which would outweigh the harm of the dwellings. However, as the Council no longer had a 5 year housing land supply, the Inspector decided that the contribution this would make to meeting the 5 year land supply outweighed the impact on the Conservation Area.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Ruth Brown

·       Councillor Tom Tyson

·       Councillor Martin Prescott

In response to questions, the Development and Conservation Manager advised that:

·       When the High Street, Ashwell application was considered, the Council had met its 5 year housing land supply. However, the circumstances around this had now materially changed since the Committee decision.

·       Substantial weight would be given to the delivery of housing in all appeals lodged going forward, as the Council cannot now demonstrate a 5 year housing land supply following changes to the NPPF.

·       The land ownership issues relating to the High Street, Ashwell application were resolved during the appeal process, which did not materially change the plans and was considered acceptable by the Inspector.

·       The Council would not be liable for cost for either the Rhee Spring or the High Street, Ashwell applications as neither party made an application for costs and there was no basis that the Council had acted unreasonably.

The Development and Conservation Manager presented an update on the recent appeal decision relating to Rhee Spring, Baldock and advised that:

·       The application was rejected by Committee as it did not meet the need for 40% affordable housing to be provided, as per the policy of the adopted Local Plan.

·       However, the Inspector concluded there was a viability issue with the requirement to provide 40% affordable housing on this site.

·       As part of the process, there remained scope for a greater number of affordable housing units to be delivered, subject to further appraisal once the review mechanism was triggered.

Councillor Ruth Brown noted that she was disappointed with this decision not to follow the adopted policy of the Council regarding affordable housing provision and the impact this might have on other applications.

In response to a question from Councillor Daniel Allen, the Development and Conservation Manager advised that the Council had spent approximately £90k for the Waldon End Inquiry. The applicant did not apply for costs in this instance.