Agenda item

Committee considered a report in relation to the above application presented by the Development Management and Land Charges Manager, who gave details of the application and highlighted the location and features of the site and key issues.  The application was outside the development envelope within an area of open countryside.  The proposed use was not compliant with Policy SS9 (Development in the Countryside) but would meet the requirements of other relevant policies in the adopted local plan.  A judgement was therefore necessary on the planning balance having regard to the issues relating to the development.  The application was recommended for approval subject to conditions.

To a question on the ownership of the access, the Development Management and Land Charges Manager advised that it was quite common for historic, shared accesses to not be registered and that the existing dwellings served off it would have established rights of access which would likely be contained in the title deeds for the properties.  The enforcement of such rights would be a civil matter.

Moved by Councillor Deborah Watson and seconded by Councillor Janet Tait

RESOLVED that application no. 25/00258/OUT be APPROVED subject to the following conditions:

1. Application for approval of the reserved matters shall be made to the Local Planning Authority before the expiration of three years from the date of this permission and the development to which this permission relates shall be begun either before the expiration of three years from the date of this permission, or before the expiration of two years from the date of approval of the last of the reserved matters to be approved, whichever is the later.

2. Approval of the details of the layout, scale, appearance, access and landscaping (hereinafter called "the reserved matters") shall be obtained from the Local Planning Authority in writing before any development is commenced.

3. The dwellings hereby approved must be single storey only.

4. Before any dwelling on the site is first occupied, a 2.4m x 43m visibility splay must be provided from the access in the southeastern direction.  The splay must be maintained free from obstruction over 1m in height thereafter.

5. Before development first commences on site, a landscaping scheme including a programme of implementation and details of the maintenance and management of the landscaping (including any on site habitat creation) for a 30-year period must be submitted to the Local Planning Authority for approval.  The landscaping scheme must be provided and maintained on site in accordance with the approved scheme.

6. Prior to building works commencing above foundation level on any dwelling, a Species Enhancement Plan must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.  The approved measures must be implemented in full and maintained as such thereafter.  The Plan must clearly show positions, specifications and numbers of features, which will include (but are not limited to) the following:

·       universal nest boxes at ratio of 1:1, in line with British Standard 42021:2022;

·       integrated bat boxes each of the dwellings;

·       insect bricks in dwellings and / or towers in public open space;

·       fencing gaps 130 mm x 130 mm to maintain connectivity for hedgehogs in all gardens

A statement of good practice including photographs must be submitted to the local planning authority prior to the discharge of this condition, demonstrating that the enhancements have been selected and installed in accordance with the above.

7.     Development other than that required to be carried out as part of an approved scheme of remediation must not commence until: 

a)    A Phase I contaminated land assessment (desk-study) shall be undertaken and approved in writing by the local planning authority.

b)    The contaminated land assessment shall include a desk-study with details of the history of the site use including:

·       the likely presence of potentially hazardous materials and substances;

·       their likely nature, extent and scale;

·       whether or not they originated from the site;

·       a conceptual model of pollutant-receptor linkages;

·       an assessment of the potential risks to human health, property (existing or proposed) including buildings, crops, livestock, pets, woodland and service lines and pipes, adjoining land, ground waters and surface waters, ecological systems, archaeological sites and ancient monuments;

·       details of a site investigation strategy (if potential contamination is identified) to effectively characterise the site based on the relevant information discovered by the desk study and justification for the use or not of appropriate guidance. The site investigation strategy shall, where necessary, include relevant soil, ground gas, surface and groundwater sampling/monitoring as identified by the desk-study strategy

The site investigation shall be carried out by a competent person in accordance with the current U.K. requirements for sampling and analysis.   A report of the site investigation shall be submitted to the local planning authority for approval.

8.     Before the commencement of the development hereby approved, where the site investigation identifies unacceptable levels of contamination, a detailed remediation scheme to bring the site to a condition suitable for the intended use by removing unacceptable risks to human health, buildings and other property and the natural and historical environment shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority.  The submitted scheme shall have regard to relevant current guidance.  The approved scheme shall include all works to be undertaken, proposed remediation objectives and remediation criteria and site management procedures.  The scheme shall ensure that the site will not qualify as contaminated land under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in relation to the intended use of the land after remediation.

The developer shall give at least 14 days notice to the Local Planning Authority (Environmental Health Division) prior to commencing works in connection with the remediation scheme.

9.     No dwelling hereby approved shall be occupied until:

a)    The approved remediation works required by 8 above have been carried out in full in compliance with the approved methodology and best practice.

b)    If during the construction and/or demolition works associated with the development hereby approved any suspected areas of contamination are discovered, which have not previously been identified, then all works shall be suspended until the nature and extent of the contamination is assessed and a report submitted and approved in writing by the local planning authority and the local planning authority shall be notified as soon as is reasonably practicable of the discovery of any suspected areas of contamination.  The suspect material shall be re-evaluated through the process described in condition 7b to 8 above and satisfy 9a above.

c)     Upon completion of the remediation works required by conditions 8 and 9a, a validation report prepared by a competent person shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority.  The validation report shall include details of the remediation works and Quality Assurance/Quality Control results to show that the works have been carried out in full and in accordance with the approved methodology.  Details of any validation sampling and analysis to show the site has achieved the approved remediation standard, together with the necessary waste management documentation shall be included.

Statement of Decision Process

Officers have worked positively and pro-actively with the applicant to address issues raised during the consideration of the application.  The proposal has been considered against the policies and guidelines adopted by the Council and the decision has been taken in accordance with the guidelines of the Framework. 

Equalities Statement

Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 places a statutory duty on public authorities in the exercise of their functions to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (i.e., “the Public Sector Equality Duty”).

In this case, there is no evidence to suggest that the development proposals would have any direct or indirect negative impacts on any person with a protected characteristic or any group of people with a shared protected characteristic.

Human Rights Statement

The specific Articles of the European Commission on Human Rights (‘the ECHR’) relevant to planning include Article 6 (Right to a fair and public trial within a reasonable time), Article 8 (Right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence), Article 14 (Prohibition of discrimination) and Article 1 of Protocol 1 (Right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions and protection of property).

It is considered that assessing the effects that a proposal will have on individuals and weighing these against the wider public interest in determining whether development should be allowed to proceed is an inherent part of the decision-making process.  In carrying out this ‘balancing exercise’ in the above report, officers are satisfied that the potential for these proposals to affect any individual’s (or any group of individuals’) human rights has been addressed proportionately and in accordance with the requirements of the ECHR.