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 Alistair Willoughby, Ian Moody and Terry Tyler.

Having given due notice, Councillor Amy Allen substituted for Councillor Willoughby and Councillor Michael Muir substituted for Councillor Moody.

Audio recording – 1 minute 31 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Alistair Willoughby, Ian Moody and Terry Tyler.

Having given due notice, Councillor Amy Allen substituted for Councillor Willoughby and Councillor Michael Muir substituted for Councillor Moody.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on the 1 December 2022 and 15 December 2022.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 1 December 2022 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 15 December 2022 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Audio Recording – 2 minutes 0 seconds

The Chair advised that she would take the two sets of Minutes separately to ensure that those present at one meeting could vote.

Councillor Tom Tyson proposed to approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 1 December 2022 and Councillor Daniel Allen seconded and after a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 1 December 2022 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Councillor Val Bryant, as Chair, proposed to approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2022 and Councillor Tom Tyson seconded and after a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 15 December 2022 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

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 – 3 minutes 59 seconds

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 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 clarified the speaking process for public participants.

(4)  The Chair advised that Section 4.8.23(a) applied to the meeting.

(5)  The Chair advised of a change to the order of the agenda and Item 8 would be taken before Item 6.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 4 seconds

(1)  The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be 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 clarified the speaking process for public participants.

(4)  The Chair advised that Section 4.8.23(a) applied to the meeting.

(5)  The Chair advised of a change to the order of the agenda and Item 8 would be taken before Item 6.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

The Chair confirmed the registered speakers were in attendance.

Audio recording – 5 minutes 56 seconds

The Chair confirmed the registered speakers were in attendance.

RESOLVED: That application 22/01464/OP be GRANTED planning permission subject to the completion of a satisfactory S106 agreement and the reasons and conditions set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager.

Audio recording – 43 minutes 50 seconds

The Senior Planning Officer provided the following update:

·         Since the report had been published, there had been an additional seventeen letters of objection from neighbouring residents.

·         Hertfordshire County Council Growth and Infrastructure Unit had confirmed changes to the financial contributions required for the development, which had delayed the application.

·         There were minor changes to the conditions.

·         Condition 2, second line: the word ‘internal’ was deleted.

·         Condition 20 (i), second sentence was deleted.

·         Condition 30 (i) was deleted.

·         Condition 31 reference M4(3) was deleted.

There were no questions from Members.

The Senior Planning Officer presented the report in respect of application 22/01464/OP supported by a visual presentation consisting of photographs and plans.

The Chair invited Mr Kevin Hinton to speak against the application. Mr Hinton thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided the Committee with a verbal presentation, including that:

·         The site was a historic conservation area, and the planning application had an effect on the wider community.

·         No details had been given on the access point to the site, which included lines and turning circles.

·         Croft Lane was the only viable access to the site, however the lane was narrow at 3.8m wide, which meant cars could not pass each other.

·         Traffic had increased since Hertfordshire County Council had assessed the site.

There were no points of clarification from Members.

The Chair thanked Mr Hinton for his presentation and invited Ms Clare Newbury to speak in support of the application. Ms Newbury thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided the Committee with a verbal presentation, including that:

·         The adoption of the New Local Plan had resulted in the allocation of this site for residential development.

·         The current application was submitted and established the principle of the application, which was supported by the Local Plan.

·         Matters relating to access, layout, scale and landscaping would be addressed as part of the Reserved Matters application.

·         An illustrated layout plan had been submitted with the outline application to deliver 42 dwellings.

·         The applicant noted the comments from Statutory Consultees and Planning Officers in relation to the detailed policy matters, which would be addressed in the detailed design and development.

·         The application was supported by an updated Suite of Technical Assessment Work including an updated transport statement.

·         Existing trips along Croft Lane were 13 trips per hour in the AM traffic peak and 11 trips in the PM peak.

·         The proposed 42 dwelling development would result in one trip every two minutes in both the AM and PM traffic peaks.

·         The scheme would deliver affordable housing to meet the district’s needs, public open space, a biodiversity net gain, employment during construction and more use and investment of local community facilities.

·         Off-site improvements would be made to encourage walking and cycling.

·         Planning contributions had been requested by the HCC growth and infrastructure team, as well as NHDC.

The following Members had points of clarification:

·         Councillor Daniel Allen

·         Councillor Simon Bloxham

In response to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

RESOLVED: That application 22/01810/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 3 and the addition of Condition 9 to read:

“Condition 3:

To use hereby approved shall only take place between the hours of 07.00 and 20.00.

Reason: To ensure the amenity of neighbouring occupiers is protected and that no unacceptable harm is caused to the local environment and wildlife.

Condition 9:

Prior to the first occupation of the containers hereby approve, details of fencing are to be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The approved details are to be implemented prior to the first occupation of the containers and thereafter retained for the duration of the use hereby permitted.”

Reason: To restrict vehicle size.”

Audio recording – 77 minutes 15 seconds

The Senior Planning Officer provided the following updates:

·         Two items in the report were updated before being presented to the Committee.

·         Proposed amendments to the conditions had been circulated to Members and included as addenda to the report prior to the meeting. These amendments had been agreed with the agent of the applicant.

·         The Environmental Health Officer highlighted that there had been no noise assessments submitted in support of the application and in light of objections, it would be prudent to restrict the night-time activity at the site.

·         This could be done with a condition requiring the submission of a noise management plan for approval prior to use or restricting the hours of use to daytime hours 07.00-23.00 with a noise impact assessment if night-time use is required.

The Senior Planning Officer presented the report in respect of application 22/01810/FP supported by a visual presentation consisting of photographs and plans.

The following Members asked questions:

·         Councillor Val Bryant

·         Councillor Tony Hunter

·         Council David Levett

In response to the questions, Harriet Sanders advised:

·         Condition 3 detailed the restriction to access hours.

·         Lighting conditions would be considered.

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

·         The location displayed very minimal coverage for security and screening for existing hedging.

·         The containers would not be obscured from the nearby playing field, which would degrade the appearance of the field.

·         There would be no secure fencing around the perimeter of the site, which could lead to climbing on the containers and graffiti.

·         There was concern for the vulnerability of lone workers at other units on the site, with the site being unsupervised.

·         There was regular traffic congestion at the site.

·         The containers would take up car parking space for other site users.

·         There were concerns about noise, the unlimited access, lighting at the site, waste, and surveillance.

There were no points of clarification from Members.

The Chair thanked Ms Russell for her presentation and invited Mr Pete Turness to speak in support of the application. Mr Turness thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided the Committee with a verbal presentation, including that:

·         Hitchin Motor Care were the only occupiers of the site, and occupied three spaces under a historic lease.

·         Container storage was a relatively new innovation and Customer parking generally occurred adjacent to a customer’s container.

·         Working from a rented container would be prohibited.

·         There were currently 9 occupied containers at the site, and more was required for the Applicant’s own use.

·         The application aimed to target long-term tenant and intended to impose strict terms and conditions.

·         Trading on-site would not be an option, with significant monitoring and security.

·         Highways had chosen not to restrict parking in Cadwell Lane and Wallace Way.

·         The application would be a natural progression of the site.

The following Members asked points of clarification:

·         Councillor David Levett

·         Councillor Daniel Allen  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

RESOLVED: That application 21/03533/FP be REFUSED planning permission due to the following reasons:

“The application site is outside of the settlement envelope of Therfield in a location designated as rural area beyond the Green Belt. The proposed development therefore conflicts in principle with Policies SP2, SP5 and CGB1 of the Local Plan 2011 - 2031 (2022) which seek to focus new housing within defined settlement boundaries.”

Audio recording – 6 minutes 27 seconds

The Senior Planning Officer provided the following update:

·         The application was for three residential units in Therfield.

·         Since the publication of the report, a letter of objection had been received from the Parish Council and had been circulated to Members.

·         This application had been presented to the Committee previously, however following the adoption of the new Local Plan the application had to be submitted again.

·         Previously developed land was land which is or was occupied by a permanent structure, whereas brownfield land was previously developed land that is no longer being used.

·         These terms were often used interchangeably in Planning, but the Planning Officer did not believe that this technicality was relevant for the purposes of this application.

·         Point of clarification in Paragraph 4.7.7, the second sentence was amended to: “All planning applications are considered on merit, and this site already has Officer recommendation for approval and Members resolve to grant permission”.

The Senior Planning Officer presented the report in respect of application 22/03533/FP supported by a visual presentation consisting of photographs and plans.

In response to a question from Councillor Michael Muir, the Senior Planning Officer advised that it was for Highways to address the matter of visibility when entering the road.

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

·         There was concern regarding the application and the manner the application had been dealt with.

·         The application went against the New Local Plan and Policies.

·         The application would extend the village on a narrow and busy road.

·         The site would cause harm to local assets, and with no public transport in the village, car traffic would increase in the area.

·         The nature of the roads meant that there was no safe access to the site and the village centre.

·         There were multiple planning harms in the planning application.

There were no points of clarification from Members.

The Chair thanked Ms Bogie for her presentation and invited Mr Matthew Wood to speak in support of the application. Mr Wood thanked the Chair for the opportunity and provided the Committee with a verbal presentation, including that:

·         The Officer’s report was impartial and the five year plan was improved.

·         The site was not agricultural and unspoilt, with a history of use.

·         The urban and industrial character of the site did not fit in with the village.

·         The application for three residential dwellings would allow a resolution to this, as the site would be more in keeping with the village location.

·         The concrete would be removed, access to the site would be narrowed and side edges would be enhanced with soft landscaping.

·         There would be ample room for significant planting, which would contribute to a biodiversity net gain.

There were no points of clarification from Members.

Councillor Daniel Allen commented that this was previously developed land and would follow the Officer’s recommendation for approval.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

REPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION MANAGER.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the report.

Audio recording – 121 minutes 38 seconds

The Acting Development and Conservation Manager advised the Committee that there had been 3 new planning appeals in the last monitoring period.

Two decisions were made and had been dismissed by the Inspector.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the report.