Agenda item

To consider application UTT/23/0062/DFO.

The Principal Planning Officer presented an application which sought approval of details following the granting of outline planning under reference UTT/19/0394/OP for a 66-bed care home. The details for consideration were appearance, landscaping, layout and scale.

He recommended that the application be approved subject to those items set out in section 17 of the report.

In response to questions from Members, Officers clarified the following:

·       The care home would have approximately 46 full time and 20 part time members of staff who would provide 24-hour care.

·       The proposed car parking provisions were deemed sufficient and in line with both UDC and ECC’s Parking Standards.

·       The Adopted Council Parking Standards recommended that a maximum of 1 space per full time staff and 1 visitor space for every 3 bedrooms for a residential care home.

·       When calculating the parking provisions, the applicant had taken into consideration 2011 Census data to determine means of local population travel modes to and from their places of employment. This confirmed that on average 80% of the population in Takeley travelled to work by car whilst the remaining 20% was by other means of transport such as walking, cycling or public transport.

·       Based on the presumption that the maximum number of staff on site would be 26 at any one time, the Applicant included 20 off street parking spaces to meet the peak demand for staff parking.

·       There was no provision for mobility scooter parking or charging.

·       The Inspector has applied various conditions to the outline permission which the applicant would be required to discharge.

·       The proposed layout of the site generally complied with the approved indicative masterplan that was granted permission under the outline application.

Members discussed:

·       There was some dissatisfaction with the overall scale and layout of the proposal as it felt both too high and cramped for the application site.

·       A S106 agreement had been agreed at the Outline Planning stage, however it had not included any financial contributions towards improvements of the footways, highways or local bus services.

·       It would be the responsibility of the Care Home’s Management company to manage the car parking provisions and explore options for preventing airport fly-parking.

·       There was concern around the allocation of 9 spaces for visitors. It was noted that visiting hours were spread across the week, thus the allocation was deemed acceptable as residents wouldn’t all expect visitors at the same time.

·       The number of staff parking spaces may cause issues during shift changeovers times.

·       The car park layout had been designed to accommodate refuse and emergency vehicles and allow manageable reversing and turning manoeuvres.

·       The Parking Standards prescribed a maximum number of car parking as an oversized car park would encourage various issues including airport fly-parking and more cars on the road.

·       The Applicant’s proposed travel plan would encourage a modal shift from cars.

Councillor Emanuel proposed that the application be approved subject to those items set out in section 17 of the report.

This was seconded by Councillor Coote.

RESOLVED: that the Director of Planning be authorised to grant permission for the development subject to those items set out in section 17 of the report.

A written statement from J Deane (Takeley PC) was read out neither in support nor against the application.

A written statement from Councillor G Bagnall was read out against the application.

D Jenkins (Applicant) spoke in support of the application.