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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber Council Offices Market Street Newbury. View directions

Contact: Jenny Legge 

Note: This meeting will be streamed live here: https://www.westberks.gov.uk/westernareaplanninglive 

Media

Items
No. Item

23.

Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held on 13 October 2021 will be available for the next meeting of this Committee.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting held on 13 October 2021 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.

24.

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:

Councillors Adrian Abbs, Phil Barnett and Tony Vickers declared an interest in Agenda Item 4(1), but reported that, as their interest was a personal or an other registrable interest, but not a disclosable pecuniary interest, they determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matter.

Councillor Howard Woollaston declared an interest in Agenda Items 4(2) and 4(3), but reported that, as his interest was a personal or an other registrable interest, but not a disclosable pecuniary interest, he determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matter.

25.

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).

25.(1)

Application No. and Parish: 21/01911/FULD, Land Adjoining, 11 Pond Close, Newbury pdf icon PDF 333 KB

Proposal:

Removal of derelict garages and erection of 2 no houses and 2 no flats, together with associated landscaping and parking.

Location:

Land Adjoining, 11 Pond Close, Newbury.

Applicant:

A, D and E Property Ltd.

Recommendation:

To DELEGATE to the Service Director of Development and Regulation to GRANT PLANNING PERMISSION subject to the conditions set out in section 8 of this report.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(Councillors Phil Barnett and Tony Vickers declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 4(1) by virtue of the fact that they were Members of Newbury Town Council’s Planning and Highways Committee where Item 4(1) had been discussed.  As their interest was personal and not prejudicial or a disclosable pecuniary interest, they determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matter.)

(Councillor Adrian Abbs declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 4(1) by virtue of the fact that he was a Local Ward Member. As his interest was personal and not prejudicial or a disclosable pecuniary interest, he determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matter.)

(Councillors Carolyne Culver and Tony Vickers declared that they had been lobbied on Agenda Item 4(1))

1.     The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 4(1)) concerning Planning Application 21/01911/FULD in respect of the land adjoining, 11 Pond Close, Newbury.

2.     Ms Cheyanne Kirby, Planning Officer, introduced the report to Members, which took account of all the relevant policy considerations and other material planning considerations. In conclusion the report detailed that the proposal was acceptable in planning terms and officers recommended that the Service Director for Development and Regulation be authorised to grant planning permission subject to the conditions outlined in the main and update reports.

3.     The Chairman asked Mr Paul Goddard, (Team Leader, Highways Development Control), if he had any observations relating to the application. Mr Goddard stated that the proposal had been considered on three previous occasions, and only refused on highway grounds as a legal agreement needed to be submitted before roads could be widened. It was not refused for any other highway reasons. It should then also be noted that the current proposal was smaller than previous submissions. Seven spaces were required to comply with the Council’s car parking standards, and nine spaces were proposed. Cycle storage was provided along with it electric vehicle (EV) charging points. No new accesses were provided with this proposal.

4.     Mr Goddard noted that Pond Close was narrow, at just over four metres wide. To alleviate this concern, it was proposed to widen a section of 30m at the front of the site. Existing dwellings to the south had onsite car parking, however nos. 11 and 12 parked on the street. Therefore to allow for space for emergency vehicles, Highways Officers insisted that Pond Close be widened along this section to 4.8m, which was the standard width for all new estate roads. There was also to be a 1.5m wide footway for pedestrians of along the entirety of the frontage. He would expect a maximum of 20 vehicle movements a day for the site and suggested that this was not a significant impact and he reminded Members of paragraph 111 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), that stated that planning applications should only be refused on highway grounds if the impact was severe. In his view, he did not regard the impact as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.(1)

25.(2)

Application No. and Parish: 21/02022/CERTE, Land at Coldborough Hill, Eastbury, Hungerford, Lambourn pdf icon PDF 278 KB

Proposal:

Application for a Lawful Development Certificate for an Existing Use: retention of the use of part of an existing stable building as an independent dwelling.

Location:

Land at Coldborough Hill, Eastbury, Hungerford.

Applicant:

Miss Nicola Henton

Recommendation:

To DELEGATE to the Service Director of Development and Regulation to GRANT a Lawful Development Certificate for the retention of use of part of the existing stable building as an independent dwelling.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(Councillor Howard Woollaston declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 4(2) by virtue of the fact that he was a Member of Lambourn Parish Council. As his interest was personal and not prejudicial or a disclosable pecuniary interest, he determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matter. He also declared that he had been lobbied on Agenda Item 4(2).)

1.      The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 4(2)) concerning Planning Application 21/02022/CERTE in respect of land at Coldborough Hill, Eastbury, Hungerford, Lambourn.

2.      Ms Cheyanne Kirby, Planning Officer, introduced the report to Members, which took account of all the relevant policy considerations and other material planning considerations. In conclusion the report detailed that the proposal was acceptable in planning terms and officers recommended that the Service Director for Development and Regulation be authorised to grant planning permission, subject to the conditions outlined in the main and update reports.

3.      In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Councillor Howard Woollaston, Lambourn Parish Council, addressed the Committee on this application.

4.      The Chairman asked Mr Paul Goddard, Team Leader (Highways Development Control), if he had any observations relating to the application. Mr Goddard noted that the Highways Service had not been consulted, however they had no objection as there was plenty of space on the site for parking and any changes to traffic would be minimal.

Parish/Town Council Representation

5.      Councillor Howard Woollaston in addressing the Committee raised the following points on behalf of Lambourn Parish Council:

·       At the site visit the applicant had satisfied the officers that they had been living at the location for more than four years, had registered on the electoral roll at the address, and had utility bills at the address for more than four years.

·       There had been multiple complaints about unlawful building on the location prior to the previous four year period, however no enforcement notice had been served, and the issue had been resolved through officer discussions.

·       Therefore, the Parish Council wished to question the electoral roll registration, the previous complaints to Planning Enforcement and the councils own Core Strategy Development Plan.

·       With regard to establishing residency for the last four years, getting utility bills at a horse year was not uncommon, even recreation areas can have water and electricity, but that was all this land was supposed to be used for.

·       To be able to get on the electoral role for a location which was designated a recreational horse yard would require utilising a non-standard route. We ask the Committee to refer this matter to Electoral Services for investigation. Until this has been resolved the Parish Council would maintain that it would be illegal to certify it as an independent dwelling.

·       To address the previous complaints to Planning Enforcement, whilst the current planning officers might only consider the application before them, the Committee could look at the broader picture.

·       There were insufficient Enforcement Officers at West Berkshire Council and an unachievable backlog of cases. Therefore, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.(2)

25.(3)

Application No. and Parish: 20/02922/FUL, 39 Newbury Street, Lambourn pdf icon PDF 407 KB

Proposal:

Demolish existing bungalow and redevelopment to provide 4 No. 3 bedroom dwelling houses with associated parking and amenity areas.

Location:

39 Newbury Street, Lambourn, Hungerford, RG17 8PB.

Applicant:

Mr S Church

Recommendation:

To DELEGATE to the Service Director of Development and Regulation to GRANT PLANNING PERMISSION subject to the conditions set out in section 8 of this report.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(Councillor Howard Woollaston declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 4(3) by virtue of the fact that he was a Member of Lambourn Parish. As his interest was personal and not prejudicial or a disclosable pecuniary interest, he determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matter.)

1.      The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 4(3)) concerning Planning Application 20/02922/FUL in respect of 39 Newbury Street, Lambourn, Hungerford.

Continuation of Meeting

2.      In accordance with the Council’s Constitution point 7.13.5, the Committee supported the Chairman’s motion that the remaining business could be concluded by 10.30pm, and therefore continued with Agenda Item 4(3).

3.      Mr Simon Till, Team Leader (Western Area Planning), introduced the report to Members, which took account of all the relevant policy considerations and other material planning considerations. In conclusion the report detailed that the proposal was acceptable in planning terms and officers recommended that the Service Director for Development and Regulation be authorised to grant planning permission, subject to the conditions outlined in the main and update reports.

4.      The Chairman asked Mr Paul Goddard, Team Leader (Highways Development Control), if he had any observations relating to the application. Mr Goddard stated that the proposal complied with Policy P1, with the standard of 2.5 spaces per three bedroom house for this part of the district. The proposed access was of sufficient width, and the sightlines onto the public highway were in accordance with standards. Considering the existing bungalow he would consider an increase of 18 vehicle movements a day in total, and did not consider that the development would lead to any detrimental impact.

5.      In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Ms Louise Wilkin, objector, addressed the Committee on this application.

Objector Representation

6.      Ms Wilkin in addressing the Committee raised the following points:

·       There was a previous application for the site and Members would be deciding on which design to approve.

·       She wanted to present the case for local knowledge. Thames Water had said that there was no problem with waste water and sewage. This was only partially true. In reality, whilst the pipes are able to take the sewage, they can not take the extra load when it rains. Ground water and rain water seep into the pipes and it cause flooding. This had been going on for 20 years and Thames Water had only recently begun to address the issue properly by lining the drains. The project was not yet completed and the temporary fix was to bring mobile pumps which collected the water and the sewage, filter it and then feed it into the river Lambourn.

·       The residents had had enough of the filthy streets, noisy pumps and dirty river. However Thames Water frames it the fact was that the Lambourn drains were not fit for purpose. They were not able to deal with the village as it was and she was asking the Committee to stop allowing more new homes to be built until Thames Water  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.(3)