Agenda item

Committee considered a report in relation to the above applications presented by the Development Management and Land Charges Manager, who gave details of the applications and highlighted the locations and features of the site and key issues.  The first application sought approval for the proposed means of access to facilitate the erection of residential development on adjoining land that was in the administrative area of North East Derbyshire District Council.  The second application was a consultation received  from North East Derbyshire District Council for the erection of residential dwellings with associated means of access, landscaping and associated works.

The supplementary document detailed site visit attendance and subsequent updates made to 2 recommended conditions.

Questions were raised on the proposed approach to affordable housing siting and future monitoring of the conditions.

5 in favour

2 in abstention

Moved by Councillor John Ritchie and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED that application no. 24/00257/FUL and the related application no. 24/00278/NCO be APPROVED subject to the following conditions, which are provided below in draft form, allowing the final wording to be agreed by the Development Management and Land Charges Manager and/or Development Management Principal Planners:

Conditions

1.     The development shall be begun before the expiration of three years from the date of this permission.

2.     Unless otherwise required and / or approved under other conditions of this consent, the development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved drawings and documents:-

·       Planning Layout plan ref. 2412.01 REV P

·       Tree Protection Plan ref. 1613-002 REV F

3.     Prior to the commencement of the development, including site clearance and preparatory works which may affect great crested newts and/or their habitat, a copy of the Natural England District Level Licence shall be submitted to the Local Planning Authority. All works shall then proceed in accordance with the requirements of the license.

4.     Prior to the commencement of development, an invasive non-native species protocol shall be submitted to and approved by the Local Planning Authority, detailing the containment, control and removal (as appropriate) of Japanese Knotweed on site. The measures shall be carried out strictly in accordance with the approved scheme.

5.     Prior to the commencement of the development (including demolition, ground works, vegetation clearance and movement of plant, machinery and materials) a Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP: Biodiversity) shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority. The CEMP: Biodiversity shall be produced by an ecologist and shall include the mitigation measures detailed in the Ecological Appraisal & Biodiversity Net Gain Assessment V2 (Envance, June 2024). It shall include the following sections:

a)    Risk assessment of potentially damaging construction activities.

b)    Identification of "biodiversity protection zones", including retained vegetation.

c)     Practical measures (both physical measures and sensitive working practices) to avoid or reduce impacts during construction to nesting birds, reptiles, badgers and hedgehogs. Reasonable Avoidance Measures for reptiles shall also be applied to GCN, as individual GCN can be legally moved away from harm under a District level Licensing approach.

d)    The location and timing of sensitive works to avoid harm to biodiversity features.

e)    The times during construction when specialist ecologists need to be present on site to oversee works.

f)      Responsible persons and lines of communication.

g)    The role and responsibilities on site of an ecological clerk of works (ECoW) or similarly competent person.

h)    Use of protective fences, exclusion barriers and warning signs.

The approved CEMP shall be adhered to and implemented throughout the construction period strictly in accordance with the approved details, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the local planning authority.

6.     Prior to the installation of lighting fixtures, a detailed lighting strategy shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the LPA to safeguard bats and other nocturnal wildlife. This should provide details of the chosen luminaires, their locations and any mitigating features such as dimmers, PIR sensors and timers. Dependent on the scale of proposed lighting, a lux contour plan may be required to demonstrate acceptable levels of lightspill to any sensitive ecological zones/features. The Strategy should refer to Guidance Note 08/23 - Bats and Artificial Lighting at Night (BCT and ILP, 2023) and explain how proposals have been designed in compliance with this document. Such approved measures will be implemented in full.

7.     Before any equipment, machinery or materials are brought onto the site, protective fencing must have been erected in accordance with the details included on the revised Tree Protection Plan ref. 1613-002 rev. F, submitted on the 15^th May 2026.  The fencing must then be maintained at all times in accordance with the details on that plan during the period of construction of both the proposed highway and the adjoining and associated housing development in the administrative area of North East Derbyshire District Council (planning permission ref. no. 24/00473/MFL).

8.     Prior to commencement of the development hereby permitted, details of a construction management plan must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The approved plan must be adhered to throughout the demolition/construction period. The plan/statement shall include but not be restricted to:

·       Parking of vehicle of site operatives and visitors (including measures taken to ensure satisfactory access and movement for existing occupiers of neighbouring properties during construction);

·       Advisory routes for construction traffic;

·       Any temporary access to the site;

·       Locations for loading/unloading and storage of plant, waste and construction materials;

·       Method of preventing mud and dust being carried onto the highway;

·       Arrangements for turning vehicles;

·       Arrangements to receive abnormal loads or unusually large vehicles;

·       Highway Condition survey;

·       Methods of communicating the Construction Management Plan to staff, visitors and neighbouring residents and businesses.

9.     No development shall take place until a detailed design and associated management and maintenance plan of the surface water drainage for the site, in accordance with the principles outlined within:

a.     The Drainage Assessment, Issue 3, Document Ref: 48293-ECE-XX-XX-RP-C-0005, Dated: 10 May 2024, prepared by Eastwood Consulting Engineers and Flood Risk Assessment, Issue number 3, Document Ref: 48293-ECE-XX-XX-RP-C-00O4, Dated: 10 May 2024, prepared by Eastwood Consulting Engineers, “including any subsequent amendments or updates to those documents as approved by the Flood Risk  Management Team”.

b.     And DEFRA’s National standards for sustainable drainage systems (2025), have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

10. Prior to commencement of the development, the applicant shall submit for approval to the LPA details indicating how additional surface water run-off from the site will be avoided during the construction phase. The applicant may be required to provide collection, balancing and/or settlement systems for these flows. The approved system shall be operating to the satisfaction of the LPA, before the commencement of any works, which would lead to increased surface water run-off from site during the construction phase.

Statement of Decision Process for application 24/00257/FUL

Whilst noting a minor conflict with Bolsover District Council’s countryside protection policies, this is considered to result in very limited harm that is outweighed by the need for additional affordable housing, in line with National Planning Policies that are seeking to boost the delivery of housing generally.

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.