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 sought approval for the erection of 6 dwellings.  The application had originally been referred to the Committee by Councillor John Ritchie for reasons outlined in the report.

 

At the Committee’s January 2026 meeting, Members were minded to approve the application (contrary to officer recommendation) and resolved that delegated approval be given to the Development Management and Land Charges Manager and Principal Planners to grant planning permission with conditions to cover all matters raised, and conditions recommended by consultees, following advertisement of the application in the press as a departure from the development plan and subject to no further comments being received.

 

The application had been advertised by a press notice, and 1 representation had been received from Councillor Tom Kirkham.  The application was therefore referred back to the Committee for consideration and determination.

 

Stuart Hill (the applicant) spoke in favour of the application.

 

Members had no further questions of Stuart Hill nor the Development Management and Land Charges Manager.

 

Members maintained that the development would not detract from the openness, character and appearance of this part of the countryside, having regard to the remnants of a farmstead, including a dwelling that had occupied the site and resolved to grant planning permission subject to conditions recommended by consultees, contrary to the officer recommendation.

 

6 in favour

1 abstention

 

Moved by Councillor Phil Smith and seconded by Councillor Steve Fritchley

RESOLVED that planning application no. 25/00454/OUT be APPROVED subject to the following planning conditions:

 

1.     Application of the details of layout, appearance, landscaping, and scale (hereinafter called 'the reserved matters') must be obtained from the Local Planning Authority, in writing, before the development is commenced.

 

2.     Application for the approval of the reserved matters must 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 must be begun before either, 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 land of the reserved matters to be approved, whichever is the later.

 

3.     The development hereby approved must be carried out in accordance with the following approved plans:

 

·       Site Location Plan - Drawing 2025-845-000 dated October 2025;

·       Access Plan - Drawing 2025-845-002 dated October 2025.

 

4.     No part of the development hereby approved shall be occupied until the access has been provided as shown on drawing 2025-845-002 dated October 2025.

 

5.     The development hereby approved shall not be occupied until visibility splays are provided from a point 0.6m above carriageway level at the centre of the access to the application site and 2.4 metres back from the near side edge of the adjoining carriageway, (measured perpendicularly), for a distance of 160 metres in each direction measured along the nearside edge of the adjoining carriageway and offset a distance of 0.6 metres from the edge of the carriageway.  These splays shall thereafter be permanently kept free of all obstructions to visibility over 0.6m in height above carriageway level.

 

6.     No tree, scrub or hedgerow clearance shall take place between 1^st March and 31^st August inclusive, unless preceded by a nesting bird survey undertaken by a competent ecologist no more than 48 hours prior to clearance.  If nesting birds are present, an appropriate exclusion zone will be implemented and monitored until the chicks have fledged.  No works shall be undertaken within exclusion zones whilst nesting birds are present.

 

7.     As part of any reserved matters application, updated badger surveys shall be undertaken and submitted in line with recommendations set out in the Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (Fenland Ecology, October 2025).  The surveys shall be carried out at a suitable time of year by a suitably qualified ecologist, following standard methodology.  A Badger Mitigation Strategy shall then be submitted to the Local Planning Authority for approval in writing with any reserved matters application.  The Strategy shall include:

           

·       The status of badger setts within 30m of the site boundary;

·       An impact assessment of proposals;

·       A rationale for the site layout and how this has been informed by the badger survey results;

·       Any requirement for a licence from Natural England;

·       Details of mitigation, including buffer zones, timing of works, lighting, landscaping, boundary treatments etc.

           

Any approved mitigation shall be provided in full prior to the first occupation of the development and be maintained thereafter.

 

8.     Site clearance shall be undertaken in a manner by which to safeguard common amphibians, reptiles and hedgehogs.  All rubble piles, dense vegetation and other general debris that could be used for shelter shall be carefully cleared by hand to a location such as a skip, other container or raised pallets.  This shall be undertaken prior to machinery entering site and avoiding the core hibernation period (November-February). Where wildlife is encountered during clearance, it shall either be allowed to move away of its own volition or it shall be moved carefully and immediately with gloved hands and clean container to an area of shelter, such as adjacent woodland or scrub.  A short statement of compliance shall be submitted to the Local Planning Authority for approval in writing upon completion of clearance works to discharge this condition, including records of any wildlife encountered.

 

9.     Prior to the installation of any external lighting fixtures, a detailed lighting strategy must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority to avoid lightspill to active badger setts and the offsite northern woodland.  This will provide details of the chosen luminaires, their locations and any mitigating features such as dimmers, PIR sensors and timers.  The approved external lighting scheme shall then be implemented in full and then maintained thereafter.

 

10. Prior to building works commencing above foundation level, a Species Enhancement Plan shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.  Approved measures shall be implemented in full and maintained thereafter.  The Plan shall 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 in 3No. dwellings;

·       insect bricks in 3No. dwellings and / or towers in public open space;

·       habitat piles or hibernacula, where appropriate for the site layout.

 

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

 

11. Prior to the commencement of the development a Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan (HMMP) shall be submitted to, and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.  If the standard HMMP template is not used, the HMMP checklist shall be consulted to ensure all appropriate information is included.  The HMMP shall identify the habitats to be retained, created and / or enhanced on the site over the mandatory 30-year period and specify the appropriate management prescriptions to secure the predicted condition targets, as per the approved biodiversity metric for the application.  The HMMP shall also set out a monitoring schedule to ensure targets are met and remedial actions to take if not.

 

12. 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.

 

13. 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.

 

14. No dwelling hereby approved shall be occupied until:

 

a.     The approved remediation works required by 13 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 1b to 2 above and satisfy 3a above;

c.     Upon completion of the remediation works required by 13 and 14a above 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.

 

 

Councillor John Ritchie returned to the meeting and having declared an interest in the following item, Councillor Janet Tait left the meeting at 10:12 hours.

 

Councillor John Ritchie in the Chair