Agenda, decisions and minutes

Members are required to notify any substitutions by midday on the day of the meeting.

Late substitutions will not be accepted and Members attending as a substitute without having given the due notice will not be able to take part in the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mike Hughson and Ian Moody.

Having given due notice Councillor Ian Moody substituted for Councillor Michael Muir.

Audio recording – 00:25

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mike Hughson and Ian Moody.

Having given due notice Councillor Ian Moody substituted for Councillor Michael Muir.

Members should notify the Chair of other business which they wish to be discussed at the end of either Part I or Part II business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no other business notified.

Audio recording – 0:50

There was no other business notified.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chair of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda.  Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1) The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded.

(2) The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

(3) The Chair gave advice to the registered speakers on the speaking procedure and time limits.

(4) The Chair advised that a break would be taken around 9pm, if required.

Audio recording – 0:55

(1)       The Chair welcomed those present at the meeting, especially those who had attended to give a presentation;

(2)       The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded;

(3)       The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

(4)       The Chair advised that a break would be taken around 9pm, if required.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

The Chair confirmed that the eleven registered public speakers were in attendance.

Audio recording – 2:02

The Chair confirmed that the eleven registered public speakers were in attendance.

RESOLVED: That application 21/00434/HYA be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions outlined in the report of the Senior Planning Officer along with the following additional condition:

·         Condition 30 to be added with the following:

Prior to commencement of each phase of the development herby permitted, detail of the installation of fire hydrants for that phase shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority in consultation with the Highway Authority.  The development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details.

Reason: To ensure there are adequate water supplies for use in the event of an emergency for the proposed development.

Audio Recording: 3:00

The Senior Planning Officer advised that there was one update to the report which had been attached to the agenda as a supplementary agenda pack, which related to the Primary Education contribution referenced at Paragraph 3.3 and 5.4.104 of the report. The amount in the report should be £859,510 and not £859,838. The contributions to the County Council will be index linked. The Senior Planning Officer also reported that the County Council has requested that the matter of fire hydrants not be dealt with in the S106 agreement but as a condition.

The Senior Planning Officer presented the report in respect of application 21/00434/HYA supported by a visual presentation consisting of photographs and plans.

The following Members asked questions:

·         Councillor Ian Mantle

·         Councillor Tom Tyson

·         Councillor Mike Rice

In response to a question from Members, the Senior Planning Officer advised:

·         The trees alongside the northern end of the site were to be retained but weren’t part of the planned site.

·         There is a national government order that says that for applications in the green belt over a certain size, the application should be referred to the Secretary of State for them to consider to call in.

·         The County Council are the education authority and it is for them to determine how the money is spent. The applicant has agreed to offer the contribution that has been sought towards education and it is a matter of the County Council how that money is spent to mitigate the impacts of this development.

The Chair invited Neil Dodds and Alissa McDonald to speak against the application.

Mr Dodds and Ms McDonald thanked the Chair for their opportunity to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation including:

·         Mr Dodds is speaking on behalf of Hitchin Forum, an amenity group which has about 100 members;

·         Hitchin Forum have noted significant concerns, including overloaded sewage infrastructure, high surface water levels, closure of the gap between Hitchin and St. Ippolyts and access problems onto and from the B656 London Road;

·         The government inspector reviewing the proposed updating of the local plan has expressed concerns about the number of houses required and the use of greenbelt land to provide for them;

·         Inappropriate development in the greenbelt should only happen in very special circumstances;

·         South of this proposed site is another proposed development in the greenbelt involving 52 dwellings, which also accesses the same B656;

·         Ms McDonald stated that the Environmental Agency predict rivers to be 30% higher in winter causing flooding, and 80% higher in the summer by 2050. Hertfordshire has been identified as the driest county in England;

·         The Lead Local Flood Authority had, until recently, a number of objections which have now become conditions as part of the application;

·         Issues of sewage does not seem to have been addressed either. The Planning Application suggests that the proposed development will connect with the current sewage system, which the residents will testify has had its problems;

·         It is noted that the S106 funding the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

RESOLVED: That application 21/02973/PIP be REFUSED planning permission for the following reasons:

“Due to there being no unmet need for a shop facility in Barley, there is no policy support for the proposed shop and 9 enabling dwellings on land outside of the village boundary. The proposed development would have adverse harm on the context of open landscape and edge of village setting in this location as well as unacceptable impact on the residential amenities of the adjoining neighbour number 36. As a result, the application is considered to fail to comply with the provisions of saved Policy 6 of the Local Plan 1996 and emerging Policies CGB1, CGB2b and D3 of the Submission Local Plan 2011 – 2031.

The submitted planning application has not been accompanied by a valid legal undertaking (in the form of a Unilateral Undertaking) securing obligations towards education, library and youth services. The secure delivery of these obligations is required to mitigate the impact of the development on local infrastructure and services in accordance with policy 51 of the North Hertfordshire District Local Plan No. 2 – with Alterations (Saved Policies 2007) and proposed Local Plan Policy SP7 of the Council’s Proposed Submission Local Plan (2011-2031) (Incorporating Proposed Main Modifications 2018). Without this mechanism to secure these previsions the development scheme cannot be considered as sustainable form of development contrary of the requirements of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).”

Audio Recording: 1:47:15

The Principal Planning Officer advised that an update to this application had been added as a supplementary agenda pack prior to the meeting but summarised the points including:

·         The Consultation response from the HCC Growth Infrastructure Unit was not received by the Planning Department and came to light only today;

·         This response was seeking contributions towards education, library and youth services;

·         Due to this application being less than 20 housing units the contribution should be obtained by a Unilateral Undertaking;

·         This application does have a Unilateral Undertaking but one which does not include the contributions previously mentioned;

·         As a result of this, a second reason for refusal has been tabled.

The Principal Planning Officer presented the report in respect of application 21/02973/PIP supported by a visual presentation consisting of photographs and plans.

The Chair then invited Jerry Carlisle to address the Committee against the application.

Mr. Carlisle thanked the Chair for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation including:

·         Reconfirming the Parish Council’s unanimous objection to this application;

·         Since the Parish Council voiced their objections the plans have not changed;

·         Support the village shop and recognise it is a highly valued village amenity; but that support cannot be at any price;

·         The landowner wishes to see the entire area from the existing housing to the North up to Picknage Corner developed; if the application were to be approved it would be very difficult to resist further development of the remainder of the site.

The Chair invited Councillor Gerald Morris to speak as a Member Advocate against the application.

Councillor Gerald Morris thanked the Chair for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation including:

·         Councillor Morris is District Councillor for the ward which includes the village of Barley;

·         Speaking in support of the officer’s recommendation to refuse this application;

·         The application is based in part on North Herts Council not having a 5-year land supply; this is a way for the Government to try and force Council’s to adopt a Local Plan as quickly as possible, failure to do this penalises the Council and the public by encouraging random house building;

·         This site was originally submitted during the early call for sites while the Local Plan was still being prepared; at around 2016 the Local Plan Officer concluded that this location was inappropriate and should not be included as a selected site.

The Chair invited John Ridge to address the Committee in support of the application.

Mr. Ridge thanked the Chair for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation including:

·         Mr Ridge has been a local resident of Barley for 46 years, and is speaking on behalf of residents in surrounding villages and hamlets in favour of this application;

·         This application provides a golden opportunity to create a well-run and financially viable village store and post office in a sensible location to meet the needs of the local area;

·         The existing shop is not successful and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

RESOLVED: That application 21/01834/FP be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions outlined in the report of the Senior Planning Officer and with the following additional conditions:

·         Condition 22 to be added with the following:

Prior to the commencement of the development hereby permitted full details of all boundary treatments throughout the development shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details.

Reason: In the interests of residential amenity

·         Condition 23 to be added with the following:

Prior to the commencement of the development hereby permitted full details of mobility scooter storage provision shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details

Reason: To ensure adequate provision for mobility scooter users   

Audio Recording:2:06:10

The Senior Planning Officer advised that there were a number of updates to provide to Members including:

·         As alluded to in the report, the applicant has now confirmed their agreement to pay the Council £100,000 as a financial contribution in lieu of affordable housing provision on the site;

·         There are some revisions to the S106 contributions in the report: Paragraph 4.76 has a contribution that is missing. This was originally requested by the County Council and it is £10,296 plus the indexation towards Special Education Needs and Disabilities;

·         The applicant has queried the conclusions in the report regarding the viability. This relates to Paragraphs 4.60-4.63 as not including the revised comments of the Council’s viability consultants Dixon Searle Partnership in response to additional information that the applicant submitted to the Council. Would advise that this query is justified as the revised comments of the consultants do state that they accept the overall conclusion that the scheme will not support a contribution to affordable housing;

·         Following further discussions with local residents, the applicant has suggested an additional planning condition to secure details of boundary treatments.

The Senior Planning Officer presented the report in respect of application 21/01834/FP supported by a visual presentation consisting of photographs and plans

The following Members asked questions:

·         Councillor Ian Mantle

·         Councillor Michael Muir

·         Councillor David Levett

In response to questions from Members the Senior Planning Officer advised:

·         The proposal to remove permitted development rights are one of the conditions included in the report;

·         There are dedicated bin stores and a cycle store for Block D along the left side of it. Block C has a cycle store towards the left hand corner which is shared with Block B. Both Block B and Block C have their own bin storage areas. There is no specific provision for mobility scooters but a condition could be added.

·         The bin storage area for the houses are situated at the back.

·         The main access road includes a turning head in the centre of the site which is suitable for refuse collection vehicle to enter the site and leave in forward gear; the Highway Authority are happy with these arrangements.

·         Part of the vegetation has grown out since the building has been left unoccupied but it is unknown whether that goes past the red line in the plans.

The Chair invited Dan Burden and Jon Scurr to speak against the application.

Mr Burden and Mr Scurr thanked the Chair for the opportunity to speak and gave a verbal presentation including:

·         Mr Burden lives opposite to the proposed entrance of the development and is representing the residents of Hamden Road;

·         All of the traffic will come on the residential road of Hamden, no traffic will go on the main thoroughfare of Cambridge;

·         Since the Old College Site has been redeveloped the pictures shown in the Officer’s presentation of Hamden Road do not show that is now essentially a car park;

·         Paragraph 5.54 of the reports state a prediction of an extra  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

RESOLVED: That application 22/00848/FPH be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions outlined in the report by the Principal Planning Officer.

Audio Recording: 2:50:53

The Principal Planning Officer advised that there were no updates to provide to Members and presented the report in respect of application 21/00484/FPH supported by a visual presentation consisting of photographs and plans.

Councillor Morgan Derbyshire proposed and Councillor Simon Bloxham seconded and, following a vote it was:

RESOLVED: That application 22/00848/FPH be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons and conditions outlined in the report by the Principal Planning Officer.

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Planning Appeals be noted.

Audio Recording:2:53:10

The Strategic Sites Planning Officer presented the report entitled Planning Appeals

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Planning Appeals be noted.