(Councillor Peter
Stevens declared, in the interests of openness and transparency,
that his daughter was employed by the West Suffolk NHS Foundation
Trust and worked at Newmarket Community Hospital. Councillor Sara
Mildmay-White also declared, in the interests of openness and
transparency, that she was the West Suffolk Portfolio Holder for
Housing and Strategic Health, however, the application was not a
District Council project and Councillor Mildmay-White had not been
involved in the project.)
Hybrid planning
application - a. outline application (means of access to be
considered) for a new hospital (use class C2) of up to 100,000
square metres and surface and multistorey car park with associated
infrastructure, structural landscape buffer, temporary construction
compound and demolition of existing hospital buildings. b. full
planning application - change of use of Hardwick Manor from a
single residential dwelling (use class C3) to health related uses
associated with the new hospital (use class C2)
This application was referred to Development
Control Committee because the application is a Major Development
and is also a departure from the Development Plan.
Bury St Edmunds Town Council support the
application but raised transport concerns and sought assurances
that part of the current site would not be sold for redevelopment.
Horringer cum Ickworth Parish Council
objected to the application raising safety concerns about the main
construction compound access.
A Member site visit was held prior to the
meeting.
Officers were recommending that the
application be approved, subject to the completion of a S106
Agreement and conditions, as set out at Paragraph 365 of Report No
DEV/WS/22/046 and inclusive of the amendments as itemised in the
supplementary ‘late papers’.
The Principal Planning Officer made a detailed
presentation on the scheme seeking approval, which included the
changes that had been made to the proposal since its original
submission, the site selection process undertaken by the applicant
and the need for the replacement facility due to the life
expectancy of the existing hospital.
Visuals were shown to the meeting which
illustrated the proposal at year 1 of completion and also year 15.
Members were advised that landscape planting would commence
alongside the construction, as soon as practicable.
Attention was drawn to the fact that much of
the Hardwick Manor site was classified as Irreplaceable Habitat.
The loss of which was considered profound and weighed heavily
against the development in the planning balance.
However, the Committee was informed that the
proposal of a new District General Hospital was considered to be a
“wholly exceptional circumstance” (as defined in the
NPPF), and the application would secure a compensation strategy for
the loss of the Irreplaceable Habitat; with the compensation land
representing 10 hectares for every 1 hectare lost of Irreplaceable Habitat and including the
specialist translocation of waxcap grasslands.
The site’s relationship to Hardwick
Manor’s Grade II Listed Building and wall was also referenced
in the presentation. As were highways considerations and flooding
mitigation.
Speakers: Michael Schultz (neighbouring
objector, speaking on behalf of his household and other
neighbouring objectors) spoke against the application
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