Issue - meetings

To consider application UTT/18/1827/FUL.

Councillor Storah returned to the room

The Planning Officer presented the application for planning permission to demolish the existing buildings on the site and erect 20 dwellings, 8 of which would be affordable homes. The existing access off London Road would be remodelled.

The application was recommended for conditional approval subject to S106 legal obligation.

In response to a Member question the Legal Officer said that site visits were not mandatory and that a Committee member failing to go on a site visit or a site not being visited would not preclude anyone from the decision making.

The Committee discussed the volume of new developments that Newport had accepted.  The Committee said that the original application for 11 dwellings hadn’t been started and that was an approved application. It was felt that whilst the new application would provide more affordable housing for the district it was not what Newport needed. It was felt that the new application was too dense despite the benefits.

Councillor Gerard proposed the motion to refuse the application. Councillor Fairhurst seconded the motion.

RESOLVED to refuse the application for the following reasons:

1.   The proposed development would, by virtue of its incompatible scale and density compared with surrounding development, conflict with Policy GEN2 of the Uttlesford Local Plan (adopted 2005), the emerging Uttlesford Local Plan, the emerging Newport Quendon and Rickling Neighbourhood Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework.

Cllr N Hargreaves, J Emanuel and P Stocking spoke on the application.