Agenda item

Report No: DEV/SE/19/002

Planning Application - Access road to serve residential development

Planning Application - Access road to serve residential development

This application was referred to the Development Control Committee as it related to a major planning application.

A Member site visit was held prior to the meeting.  The Parish Council objected to the proposal which was contrary to the Officer recommendation of approval, subject to conditions as set out in Paragraph 11.0 of Report No DEV/SE/19/002.

As part of her presentation the Principal Planning Officer explained that the applicant had cited operational reasons for requiring this application to be determined at this time.

Officers had intended to bring both the access road and residential development applications to the Development Control Committee at the same time, however, the applicant was still working with Officers on the final number of dwellings proposed on the residential land and the design and layout of those dwellings.

Attention was also drawn to the ‘late papers’ which had been circulated after the agenda had been published and which contained a corrected plan and additional/reworded conditions.

Speaker:      Councillor Ben Lord (Chairman, Ixworth & Ixworth Thorpe Parish Council) spoke against the application

Considerable discussion took place on the application, primarily in relation to; prematurity, highway safety, drainage and the impact on the established tree belt.

In response to which the Principal Planning Officer:

·         Explained that Officers considered the principle of development to have been established as the site in question had been allocated for the development of housing;

·         Made reference to the right turn ghost island junction that had been granted on appeal and was not part of the application before the Committee;

·         Advised that it was not unusual for the Highways Authority to choose not to adopt the drainage attached to a road scheme such as that proposed and for the management to be carried out by a separate commercial company, and clarified that this was not a material planning consideration; and

·         Informed the Committee that approximately 5% of the tree belt was likely to be lost to accommodate the road and there was limited scope for replacement planting, however, this could potentially be addressed via future residential development applications.

Councillor Julia Wakelam proposed that the application be refused, contrary to the Officer recommendation of approval, due to the insufficient detail provided on the potential impact on the established tree belt.  This was duly seconded by Councillor David Nettleton.

The Service Manager (Planning Development) confirmed that the Decision Making Protocol would not need to be invoked in this case and that a risk assessment was not considered necessary by Officers.

Therefore, upon being put to the vote and with the vote being unanimous, it was resolved that

Decision

Planning permission be REFUSED, CONTRARY TO THE OFFICER RECOMMENDATION OF APPROVAL for the following reason:

1.   The proposed access road will encroach upon the established tree belt along the western boundary of the wider area and will result in the loss of trees and vegetation at this point.  The applicant has failed to supply a detailed arboricultural survey for the area and the number of trees to be removed is unknown.  Consequently the Local Planning Authority is unable to fully assess the impact of the proposal on this significant landscape and biodiversity feature and the effect of the access road on the landscape character of the area.  As submitted the proposal fails to demonstrate that it will conserve and protect the local landscape and that it will not have an unacceptable adverse impact on the character and appearance of the area.  The proposal therefore fails to comply with Core Strategy Policies CS2 and CS3, Joint Development Management Policy DM13 and paragraph 170 of the National Planning Policy Framework in this regard.