Application: 21/P1851

Ward: Lower Morden

Recommendation: Refuse Permission

Proposal: ERECTION OF A TWO STOREY-FOUR BEDROOM DWELLING, AND A TWO STOREY-TWO BEDROOM DWELLING, INSTALLATION OF DRIVEWAY WITH PARKING, LANDSCAPING, ALONG WITH ASSOCIATED WORKS

The Development Control Leader (South) presented the report.

The committee received a verbal representation from two objectors who made points including:

·         The objector obtained 113 signatures of petition and submitted to the Committee, 55 of these are parents and the rest residents

·         There was poor connectivity to the road

·         There was no arboriculture impact assessment

·         The Land is in flood risk zone 2 area

·         The application was not in-keeping with surrounding areas, land and layout

·         The proposal is contrary to DMO1 as it fails to meetopen space policies

·         There was failure to demonstrate adequate vehicle access

·         Concerns that the application could compromise access to the existing school.

The Applicant spoke in response and made points including:

·         The Applicant bought the land during lock down period, prior to that the land was used as a dumping site for refuse The Applicant had removed all fire hazards and used low level tools for maintaining the land

·         The site’s Open Space designation has been the subject of reassessment by Merton Council as part of its local plan review

·         The Applicants felt disappointed that the application had been expedited to committee without trying to resolve issues with them first and that the three reasons could have been addressed prior to going to committee

·         Concerns regarding waste collection could have been subject to planning conditions

·         The Applicant informed planning officers that the arboriculture reports would be provided

Councillor Sally Kenny speaking on behalf of Forest Hill School and residents, gave a verbal presentation raising the following concerns:

Councillor Kenny had paid a site visit and spoke about the right of access, which belonged to the school and the access road would not enable big vehicles that would need to carry materials to and from the site

-       The road leading to the site is part of a school street scheme to support health    and safety for children Councillor Kenny maintained that the healthy outdoor approach would be severely affected

-       Building a two storey building compromises privacy. A large tree would be impacted as the roots would be damaged by vehicles going over it.

-       In conclusion Councillor Kelly said that the area was unsuitable as a construction site in close proximity to schools and a residential area.

·         The Planning Officer responded that the application was not to change the site’s open space designation (this could only be done through the local plan process).

·         The Council had commissioned an open space study and findings had shown that the land was surplus to requirements and that the draft local plan no longer identified it as an open space. The land owner has right of access and there would be no impact on the highway. The Council attach conditions to require construction management plans to address the issues of vehicle access. 

The Development Control Team Leader (South) responded to councillors questions

·         Only two houses are appropriate. There was no analysis by the applicant as to whether more than two houses could be built on the site. Whether housing output had been optimised in accordance with adopted policy had not been demonstrated.

·         Development of the site has to be considered under adopted policies including DMO1. Officers concluded on the basis of the available information that the development of the land would not breach planning policy. Officers commented that the removal of the site from its open space designation was proposed in the draft the local plan. It would be for a Planning Inspector at the public examination of the draft local plan to determine whether or not the proposed removal of the open space designation was acceptable.

·         Part H of Building Regulations refers to sewerage to ensure this is dealt with. This is statutory regulation.

Members commented on the proposal that refusal should be on the grounds of an approved local plan which says that the designation has not changed from current open space. The discussion on changing from green space to open space, should be on a Councillor level.

No motion was tabled by members to refuse permission on grounds that differed from the officer’s recommendation.

The Chair moved to the vote on the officer’s recommendation and it was endorsed.

RESOLVED:

The Committee agreed to refuse planning permission for the reasons set out in the officers’ report: