Agenda and minutes

To receive any announcements from the chair, and general housekeeping matters.

The chair ran through housekeeping arrangements appropriate to an in-person meeting which was being simultaneously broadcast.

To record apologies for absence and the attendance of substitute members. 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ron Batstone, Cheryl Briggs, Jenny Hannaby and Janet Shelley. Councillor Paul Barrow substituted for Councillor Batstone.

To adopt and sign as a correct record the Planning Committee minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 9 March 2022.

RESOLVED: to approve the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 9 March 2022 as a correct record and agree that the chair signs them as such.

To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting.  

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive notification of any matters which the chairman determines should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances which have made the matters urgent. 

There was no urgent business.

To receive any statements from members of the public that have registered to speak on planning applications which are being presented to this committee meeting. 

The committee had received a list of public speakers prior to the meeting. Statements which had been made by the public in respect of the application had been circulated to the committee prior to the meeting.

Full planning application for the demolition of existing structures and the erection of 45 dwellings, provision of public open space, formation of vehicular and pedestrian accesses from the A338, provision of pedestrian access to Ashfields Lane, landscaping and other associated works (as amplified by biodiversity metric information received 3 March 2021) (as amended by agent’s email and amended plans dated 09 December 2021, reducing the number of dwellings from 50 to 44 and other associated design changes throughout the site, as detailed within the revised design and access addendum, and as amended and amplified by information received 27 January 2022, 8 & 24 February 2022, 15 March 2022 & 01 April 2022).

The committee considered application P21/V0376/FUL for full planning application for the demolition of existing structures and the erection of 45 dwellings, provision of public open space, formation of vehicular and pedestrian accesses from the A338, provision of pedestrian access to Ashfields Lane, landscaping and other associated works (as amplified by biodiversity metric information received 3 March 2021) (as amended by agents email and amended plans dated 09 December 2021 reducing the number of dwellings from 50 to 44 and other associated design changes throughout the site, as detailed within the revised design and access addendum, and as amended and amplified by information received 27 January 2022, 8 & 24 February 2022, 15 March 2022 & 01 April 2022) on land at Ashfields Lane and A338, East Hanney.

Consultations, representations, policy and guidance, and the site’s planning history were detailed in the officer’s report, which formed part of the agenda pack for the meeting.

The planning officer reported to the committee that the table under paragraph 5.95 of the report contained an error; the paragraph ‘…public art on site or in Stanford in the Vale Parish’, should read ‘… in East Hanney Parish’. With reference to paragraph 5.41, in respect of public open space, the planning officer advised the committee that council officers had understood that the East Hanney Parish Council wished to manage those areas in the event of planning permission being approved. This could be secured through a S.106 legal agreement.  The planning officer also reported that further details of the Local Equipped Area for Play (LEAP) and attenuation basins were to be provided via a pre-commencement condition.

The planning officer reported that access into the site was acceptable and that the required visibility could be achieved.  Following amendment to the layout, a relocated footpath would lead to the southeast corner of the site into Ashfields Lane and was considered acceptable to provide safe pedestrian access and connections from the site into the village. This was in addition to the highways officer requesting a connection to the footpath at the northeast of the site onto A338 into an existing public right of way (PROW) - (footpath 198/2). Pre-occupation condition 16. ‘footpath connection PROW 198/2 details’ would consequently be removed from the proposed conditions.

A drainage statement by Mr. David Bell, the senior flood risk engineer, who was the district council’s senior drainage officer, had been sent to the committee by the democratic services officer prior to the meeting.

The planning officer concluded by stating that there were no protected species on the site and that the proposal was fully policy compliant and on an allocated site. Layout, design, forestry and landscaping issues were acceptable and there were no technical objections. Pedestrian connections and highways aspects of the development were considered to be safe.

Councillor Steve McKechnie, a representative of East Hanney Parish Council, spoke objecting to the application. A statement by the parish council had been sent to the committee by the democratic services officer prior to the meeting.

Ms. Roz  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.