Agenda item

RESOLVED: That the application 22/01657/FP be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager

Audio recording – 40:36

Anne McDonald presented the report and gave a verbal presentation, which included:

·         There is one update which is the addition of condition 4 which states that prior to the erection of the canopy, the marquee is to be dismantled and removed from the site.

·         This is a full application for a small section of canopy roofs just alongside the main pathway from the car park to the main building which is already covered by a canopy.

·         The marquee is an unauthorsied structure and will go, the proposed canopy will be open and is the same height as the existing canopy.

·         The application has been called in the committee for determination by Councillor Dennis-Harburg and the applications recommended for conditional permission

There were no questions from Members.

The Chair invited Mark Whitby to speak against the application.

Mark Whitby thanked the Chair for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave presentation, including:

·         I represent a group of 5 neighbours who live immediately opposite the garden centre

·         We have watched a slow intensification of the use of the garden centre and have had good relationships with the planners and seen that two applications have gone to appeal and been refused.

·         With the new owners we have seen further intensification of the use of the garden centre.

·         This is the fourth of five applications which have been made since March 2021.

·         The first two were made during lockdown and we were not informed for the works and was passed by delegated powers despite the fact they created a 65% increase in covered areas on the site

·         These areas which were formerly used for the display of plants and pots were now dedicated to things such as hot tubs and teddy bears.

·         There are plant pots and bagged materials now occupy car parking space. The result of this is the car park spilling out onto the adjacent field.

·         We want the owners of the site to come forward with a master plan rather than a series of small applications

·         The impact of this growth and use of the site is significant on the site. We have increased traffic as a result and we have problems exiting our driveways due to the road layout.

·         This is a green belt site.

·         The marquee was put on the site demonstrates inappropriate use of the previous areas they were using for the display of plants and our argument is that they don’t need this extension and they can use the existing areas.

There were no points of clarification.

The Chair invited David Lazenby to speak for the application.

David Lazenby thanked the Chair for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave presentation, including:

·         I am the applicant and I work at the garden centre company that owns Hitchin garden centre. I’ve worked and known the garden centre for about 7/8 years.

·         This is a minor addition to the garden centre but will make a significant improvement to the garden centre

·         The reason for the application is plant protection. In the cold months you need frost protection and in the summer, you need protection from the sun

·         These structures are common and acceptable in garden centres

·         The items in the car park are generally to help them so they don’t have to carry large bags of compost. This is for the customer benefit but we can look into this if the residents are concerned by this but it doesn’t form part of this application.

·         If you look at the marquee and the intended use of the canopy we are selling plants and we have no intention of putting anything else underneath

·         There have been 4 applications to date. This fourth one is because the third got refused and it was for a bigger scheme of canopies in the plant area that went throughout the external plant area.

·         There has been no applications on the green belt sites so there should be no impact to those

·         We have always sold things like hot tubs and teddy bears, gifts, complimentary goods. We have a big emphasis on plants and Christmas

·         We do have other things such as a nursery on site and caravan storage, and the overflow car park has been used for many years and there hasn’t been an issue

The following Members asked questions:

·         Councillor Amy Allen

·         Councillor Michael Muir

·         Councillor Tony Hunter

In response, David Lazenby advised:

·         The canopy will go where the marquee is currently. It won’t be as big and will about half the size.

Anne McDonald also advised:

·         The condition we are adding on asks for the marquee to be taken down. If there was another marquee put up they can put it up for 28 days until they need planning permission so we can’t really add a further condition to this

·         There is an open enforcement case regarding the open area car park but it is in the early stages so I can’t comment on it

Councillor Daniel Allen proposed and Councillor Michael Muir seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the application 22/01657/FP be GRANTED planning permission subject to the reasons set out in the report of the Development and Conservation Manager