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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Calcot Centre, Highview (off Royal Avenue), Calcot, RG31 4XD

Contact: Stephen Chard / Jessica Bailiss 

Items
No. Item

33.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 530 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 9th December 2020.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting held on 9th December 2021 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.

34.

Declarations of Interest

To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any personal, disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interests in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest received.

35.

Schedule of Planning Applications

(Note: The Chairman, with the consent of the Committee, reserves the right to alter the order of business on this agenda based on public interest and participation in individual applications.)

35.(1)

Application No. & Parish: 20/02500/HOUSE - 19 Paradise Way, Chapel Row, Reading pdf icon PDF 196 KB

Proposal:

Demolition of existing one storey side extension and erection of two storey side extension and associated works.

Location:

19 Paradise Way, Chapel Row, Reading, RG7 6PA

Applicant:

Mr and Mrs James

Recommendation:

Delegate to the Head of Development and Planning to grant planning permission subject to conditions.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(Due to a technical issue Agenda Item 4(2) was considered by the Committee prior to 4(1))

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 4(2)) concerning Planning Application 20/02500 in respect of the demolition of existing one storey side extension and erection of two storey side extension and associated works.

Mr Bob Dray introduced the report and highlighted the key points. There were no objections to the proposal and Officers were recommending that planning permission be approved.

Removal of Speaking Rights

As resolved at the Extraordinary Council meeting held on 29 April 2020, public speaking rights were removed for virtual Council meetings. This right was replaced with the ability to make written submissions. This decision was made in accordance with The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panels Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020.

The above changes to speaking rights were subsequently amended at the Council meeting on 10 September 2020. It was agreed that parties making written submissions in relation to a planning application would be invited to attend the Remote Meeting of the Planning Committee to answer any questions that Members of the Committee might wish to ask in order to seek clarification on any part of their statement.

There were no written submissions received for the application.

Councillor Graham Pask as Ward Member addressed the Committee on the application.

Ward Member Representation

Councillor Graham Pask in addressing the Committee raised the following points:

·         The proposal was not contentious in anyway. It was before the Committee because the applicant was a member of staff from West Berkshire Council’s Planning Service. In Councillor Pask’s view it had been very sensitively designed.

·         Councillor Pask commended the photo generated view of the application site, which had been extremely helpful and he felt that other applications would benefit from such information. 

There were no Member questions for the Ward Member.

Member Questions to Officers

Councillor Royce Longton asked for clarification on what a bird nesting brick was. Mr Dray reported that this was a specially designed brick that had a hollowed out area for birds or bats.  This did not form part of a mitigation, but was a proposal to enhance the biodiversity.

There were no further questions for Officers. 

Debate:

Councillor Graham Pask felt that the proposal had been very sensitively designed and he had no hesitation in proposing Officer recommendation to approve the application with the conditions outlined within the report. This was seconded by Councillor Tony Linden. At the vote the motion was carried.

RESOLVED that the Head of Development and Planning be authorised to grant planning permission subject to the following conditions:

1.

Commencement of development

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

 

Reason:   To comply with Section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended by Section 51 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004).

 

2.

Approved drawings

The development hereby  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.(1)

35.(2)

Application No. & Parish: 20/02410/RESMAJ - Land north of Stretton Close, Bradfield Southend, Reading pdf icon PDF 222 KB

Proposal:

Approval of reserved matters following Outline Permission 17/03411/OUTMAJ: Outline application for the proposed erection of 11 no. new dwellings; layout, means of access and scale to be considered. Matters seeking consent appearance and landscaping.

Location:

Land north of Stretton Close, Bradfield Southend, Reading

Applicant:

Westbuild Homes

Recommendation:

Delegated to the Head of Development and Planning to grant the reserved matters approval subject to conditions.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 4(1)) concerning Planning Application 20/02410/RESMAJ in respect of approval of reserved matters following Outline Permission 17/03411/OUTMAJ: Outline application for the proposed erection of 11 no. new dwellings; layout, means of access and scale to be considered. Matters seeking consent appearance and landscaping.

Mr Michael Butler introduced the report and highlighted the key points:

·         The application was a reserved matters application. The Officer’s recommendation was to approve the application. The site was an allocation in the Local Plan. In 2018 the outline application had been considered at Committee and refused, but subsequently allowed at appeal.

·         The site was greenfield, it was within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and within the identified settlement boundary of Bradfield South End. The proposal consisted of a low density design at around 10 dwellings per hectare.

·         It was confirmed, as detailed on page 30 of the agenda, under procedural matters that the proposal would be CIL liable if approved.

·         The Parish Council had objected to the application. Other statutory and non statutory consultation responses were detailed under section four of the report. The Highways Authority had advised that conditional permission should be given. No objections had been raised by the Tree or Housing Officer to the application. Over 10 letters of objection had been received from members of the public.

·         Elevation drawings showed that the proposal included half pitched roofs, which were in keeping with other dwellings in the close surrounding area and were therefore deemed by Officers to be acceptable.  

·        The scale and location of the dwellings had already been approved at the outline stage. Access had also been approved at outline stage.

·        Regarding other matters raised in public consultations. Michael Butler stressed that it was a reserved matters application and outline planning permission had already been given for the development. The layout of the site had already been approved. Some objectors had raised concerns regarding drainage and flooding on the site and these matters had been addressed at the outline stage. Michael Butler stated that concern had also been raised that no utilities would be allowed to be laid underground leading into the site. This would depend on restricted covenants and was not a planning matter.

·         Concern had also been raised regarding there being no plans for electric vehicle charging points on the site and Officers shared this concern. The Appeal Inspector had however not suggested this condition and after taking senior advice on this matter, Officers were not advising that a condition on this be applied.

·         Michael Butler drew attention to the update sheet and stated that Application 20/02746/FUL had now been approved by the Council, which granted planning permission for site access. Concerns had been raised regarding plots four and five in terms of the relative height and Officers were able to confirm that the ridge height in the outline plans and reserved matters plans were no more than 8.5m from finished floor level.

·         On balance Officers recommended approval of the application  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.(2)

36.

Appeal Decisions relating to Eastern Area Planning pdf icon PDF 415 KB

Purpose: To inform Members of the results of recent appeal decisions relating to the Eastern Area Planning Committee.

Minutes:

Members noted the outcome of appeal decisions relating to the Eastern Area.