Issue - meetings

UTT/20/2009/FUL

Meeting: 17/02/2021 - Planning Committee (Item 102)

102 UTT/20/2009/FUL - Land to the West of Radwinter Road, ASHDON pdf icon PDF 517 KB

To consider application UTT/20/2009/FUL.

Minutes:

The Planning Officer presented the application for the erection of 5 dwellings, with access from Radwinter Road. The application was deferred by the Planning committee in January 2021 to allow for the submission of further information in regards to drainage, site levels and layout of the development.

 

The application was recommended for approval with conditions

 

The Development Manager advised that planning permission and agreement to discharge into a water course were not linked and neither gave the other automatic consent. He explained that the logical order was to get planning permission first because an application to discharge water would be rejected if there was no reason to do it without planning permission being in place. Members questioned why the applicant had not already approached the relevant water authority, given that planning permission was initially granted in 2018.

 

During discussion, officers also clarified the following:

·         There were no grounds for making a decision based on an emerging neighbourhood plan as it currently holds no weight. 

·         Members cannot disregard the outline planning permission for 4 dwellings as this is a material planning consideration.

·         The site has an existing electricity transformer and there is no proposed substation. 

 

Members indicated that they were minded to refuse the application due to concerns regarding the scale and bulk of the development and the impact on the setting of the surrounding area, the risk of flooding and the sustainability of the drainage solutions.

 

Councillor Bagnall proposed that the application be refused on the following grounds:

·         The proposed development by reasons of its scale, height, position within the site and proposed ground levels would result in a harmful, overbearing impact to the residential and visual amenity of neighbouring occupiers.

·         The application does not include sufficient information that the proposal would not increase the risk of flooding through surface water runoff

·         The scale and siting of the dwellings within the site would result in a harmful impact to the setting of the surrounding and nearby listed buildings and heritage assets.

 

This was seconded by Councillor Coote.

 

RESOLVED to refuse the application

 

Speakers: Councillor J De Vries, Councillor M Elsey (Chair of Ashdon PC), P Horrigan, M Horrigan, S Patrick (Ashdon Flood Group), Dr J Padfield and J Grey (Ashdon Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group) spoke against the application and J Smith spoke on behalf of the applicant in support of the application.