Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 15^th March 2023.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 15 March 2023 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman subject to the inclusion of the following amendments:

·         Page 2, paragraph 3, should state that Gary Miles was a resident, not a representative of the Parish Council.

·         Page 5, bullet point 2: ‘Councillor Macro agreed with the Parish Council’s concerns regarding the height of buildings and density of the site, which he did not feel was in keeping with the character of the village.

Page 5, bullet point 4 should note that one side of the bypass was monitored and the comment was in regards to the other sections.

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.

Councillor Geoff Mayes declared an interest in Agenda Item 4(1) 23/00072/RESMAJ, as his son worked for the applicant and reported that, as his interest was a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other registrable interest, he would be leaving the meeting during the course of consideration of the matter.

(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).

Item starts at 6 minutes and 27 seconds into the recording.

Councillor Geoff Mayes left the meeting at 6.36pm.

1.    The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 4(1)) concerning Planning Application 23/00072/RESMAJ in respect of the approval of reserved matters following Outline Permission 19/00981/OUTMAJ [Section 73: Variation of condition 6-approved plans of approved application 17/03004/OUTMAJ: This outline application comprises two parts: Part a) The erection of 110 dwellings including affordable housing, public open space and associated landscaping with all matters reserved other than access and layout; Part b) The erection of a 3FE Infant School and 900sq m GP surgery (Use Class D1) with shared parking area with all matters reserved other than access.] Matters seeking consent: Landscaping. Site located at land south of Tower Gardens, Mortimer.

2.    Mr Michael Butler 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 Director of Development and Regulation be authorised to grant conditionalapproval subject to a 106 agreement being completed.

3.     In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Ms Danusia Morsley (Parish Council representative), Ms Katherine Miles (applicant/agent), and Councillor Graham Bridgman (Ward Member) addressed the Committee on this application.

Parish Council Representation

4.     Ms Danusia Morsley in addressing the Committee raised the following points:

·         That the open space behind the development would become obscured by the wall, which would ruin the aesthetic of the area.

·         The plans had changed significantly since the initial acceptance in 2019.

·         The proposed wall was not part of the original agreed-upon plans.

·         The open space was originally meant to be 3.35 hectares, which was integral to the awarding of the site for development to T.A. Fisher. They had now shrunk this open space to three hectares.

·         There was no publically accessible route into the open space.

·         There were concerns over safety where children could fall off the wall whilst climbing.

Member Questions to the Parish Council

5.    Members asked questions of the Parish representative and were given the following responses:

·         That the Parish Council believed that houses would be built at gradual increments down the slope, which would eventually stop at the open space. This had morphed in phases 2A and 2B due to a change in the sustainable drainage systems (SuDs).

·         The Parish Council had not appreciated that moving the SuDs to under the roads would have such an impact.

Applicant/Agent Representation

6.    Ms Katherine Miles in addressing the Committee raised the following points:

·         If West Berkshire Council (The Council) was to refuse planning permission, the construction would have to be delayed and contractors would be made redundant. 

·         Construction on houses 51-58 were underway, so if the Council was to impose conditions retrospectively, it would cause further issues.

·         That T. A. Fisher had engaged with Councillors and officers previously, where officers had stated that the socio-economic benefit outweighed the negatives.

·         In 2015 the community voted that they were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.(1)