Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Bhim and Councillor McGrath.

Councillor Matthew Willis attended as substitute.

Councillor Susie Hicks declared that one of the applications was located within her ward.

Councillor Foley declared that in his professional capacity he knew Marcus Beale who represented the applicant for agenda item 6.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 November 2022 are agreed as an accurate record.

The Chair will announce the order of Items at the beginning of the Meeting.

A Supplementary Agenda with any modifications will be published on the day of the meeting.

Note: there is no written report for this item

The Committee noted the amendments and modifications to the officer’s report. The Chair advised that the agenda would be taken in the published agenda order.

Application No: 22/P2446

Ward: Hillside

Officer Recommendation: GRANT Planning Permission Subject to Conditions and S106 Agreement 

The Planning Officer presented the report.

There were no objectors registered to address the Committee on this item.

In response to questions raised by the committee, Planning Officers advised:

·       Due to the size of the scheme and the amount of space around each property, there were no concerns about bin storage facilities.

·       Conversations between the applicant and residents had taken place to discuss the provisions due to loss of garden space. If councillors continued to be concerned, an option would be that re-provision would need to be agreed between Councillors and Planning Officers.

·       Concerns of the property later becoming a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) could be met with a condition which ensured that any such application would need to be submitted to the committee.

·       As detailed in the modification sheet, the construction method statement noted that the fire path, which was part of the access into the building, would not be blocked.

·       The method statement provided further detail that addressed the concerns raised by the committees around resident safeguarding.

·       Trees would be replanted to replace any loss of trees. As a result of the development, the existing TPO tree would remain unaffected.

The Chair invited the applicant to respond to clarify details raised within questions from the committee.

The representative of the applicant informed the committee of the following:

·       Safety was of vital importance to the applicant. There were 2 separate access gates, one gate would be accessed by pedestrians and the other gate could only be accessed with an electrical fob.

·       The applicant would be happy to support a condition whereby those visiting the property would only be permitted to turn left when leaving the access gate from Westhouse.

·       Previously the stores on the premises were not well utilised. As part of the changes made many activities previously completed on site would now be contracted. This would result in there not being a need to replace any space that could be lost.

The Chair moved to the vote on the Officers’ recommendation with the following additional conditions:

·       Residents would be required to turn left when leaving the access gate from Westhouse. This would be demonstrated in the condition between the applicant and occupiers. This would need to be evidenced to the council.

·       Permitted development rights to later convert the properties to an HMO would be removed. If the applicant wanted to convert the properties into an HMO they would be required to submit another application to the Council.

·       That semi mature trees would be planted with the appropriate girth.

·       Although it was recognised that a speed limit could not be enforced, it was agreed that signage for 5mph when leaving the property would be put in place and managed by the applicant.

RESOLVED: That the Committee GRANTED Planning Permission Subject to Conditions and S106 Agreement

Application No: 22/P2414

Ward: Hillside

Officer Recommendation: GRANT Planning Permission Subject to Conditions  

The Planning Technician presented the report.

There were no objectors registered to address the Committee on this item.

In response to questions from the committee, the Planning Officer advised:

·       The 2018 application to extend the two middle houses 2.8 meters deeper was reviewed. There were no further requirements from the planning officer at the time which the existing planning officer agreed with.

·       Conditions would not usually be added to single storey extensions but given the concerns raised by the committee a further review could be completed by the Flood Risk Officer on the post completion work of the final drainage.

·       It would be recommended for the committee to review the submitted plans when making a judgement as it would be difficult to give weight to the images supplied by objectors.

·       The overall height would be increased by 200mm, but the width and depth of the garden should be a considered factor.

·       As detailed on page 9 of the submission, the single storage extension would be off the boundary which satisfied the planning officer that there would be no harm to light.

·       The feature roof provided as 0.2 meter increase.

The Chair invited the applicant to provide clarification on queries raised by the committee who advised the following:

·       To help with construction, the developer squared off the basement which they did not administer.

·       The contract was a design and build contract which meant that their images were taken and acted upon.

·       There were leaks in two of the four terraces which were associated with walk-on skylights and the way that they were waterproofed.

·       They have found no evidence of leaks to the basement walls, flooding, saturation or underground streams.

The Chair moved to the vote on the Officers’ recommendation with the following additional conditions:

·       The committee would delegate observation power to Ward Councillors which would allow them to observe and report back any issues or concerns seen as part of the construction process and post build review.

·       Delegated priority would be given to Ward Councillors and the Chair of the Planning Application Committee to further review raised concern of water ingress and flooding.

·       The application would be approved via delegated powers.

RESOLVED: That the Committee GRANTED Planning Permission Subject to Conditions

Officer Recommendation:

That Members note the contents of the report.

The report was noted.

Officer Recommendation:

That Members note the contents of the report.

The report was noted.

Members of the committee expressed gratitude for the work completed thus far by the Planning Team.

That Committee note the following update:

Planning application number:22/P1945

Query: Whether the application should be included in the agenda for 8^th December 2022 Planning Committee meeting

The decision: That the Application should be discharged under delegated powers

Who made the decision: Chair of Planning Committee

When it was taken: Friday, 25^th November 2022

The context: New plan is first floor is 0.39m wider than the previously inspector approved application. It is noted that the site width has also been found to be 0.39m wider than the approved plan and therefore the relative distance is the same. The plan was deemed not materially different. The Chair noted that we would want to encourage good behaviours for developers to regularise their schemes if onsite conditions differ from reported.

The report was noted. 

The Chair of the committee noted that the Decision Log would be introduced to meetings going forward.