Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 27 November 2013.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 27 November 2013 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.

There were no declarations of interest received.

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 4(1)) concerning Planning Application 13/01934/FULD in respect of a proposal for a terrace of three by three bedroom and one by two bedroom houses, external works, car parking and access road. Replacement car parking would be located off-site.

Following Samantha Kremzer’s introduction to the report, Councillor Pamela Bale sought clarity on the number of parking spaces proposed as part of the application. Samantha Kremzer confirmed that the proposal included eight parking spaces (two per property). In addition, it was proposed that seven parking spaces would be provided which would serve to replace the garages which were in use/rented by residents. Gareth Dowding added that the seven replacement spaces were identified from a survey of garage use, but the arrangement for reserving/allocating the spaces needed to be confirmed.

Councillor Bale then queried the detail of the proposed S106 Contributions. Samantha Kremzer referred to section 6.8 of the report which confirmed that the applicants had indicated that they were willing to enter into a legal agreement to mitigate the impact of the development on local infrastructure and services. In terms of the actual contributions proposed, Samantha Kremzer apologised that these were omitted from the report, but agreed that this information would be added to the minutes as a post meeting note.

(Post meeting note: the proposed S106 Contributions were as follows:

·                     Highway                     £12,100

·                     Education                  £20,739.20

·                     Open Space              £4,474

·                     Libraries                     £1,169

·                     Adult Social Care     £2,778

·                     Waste                         £224.80)

Councillor Alan Macro queried the fencing proposed to the northern boundary. Samantha Kremzer confirmed that a 1.8 metre fence would be erected, there would then be a passage to enable access to the rear of the proposed properties between the fence and the existing retaining wall. Councillor Macro then highlighted a safety concern for Royal Avenue residents who would lose the barrier to the retaining wall provided to them by the garages if they were demolished. It was agreed that this would be addressed with the applicant.

Councillor Richard Crumly queried the policy changes which had been introduced since the previous application for the site was approved in 2010. Samantha Kremzer advised that the Core Strategy and National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) had been introduced, however the general drivers for the determination of planning applications were largely unchanged.

Councillor Bale queried whether maintenance of the rear access to the bungalows could be made a condition of approval. Gareth Dowding confirmed that, should the application be approved, the S278 Agreement would involve checks in this area such as whether the access met necessary standards, i.e. disabled access.

Samantha Kremzer confirmed that the location of the waste compound was a condition of approval. Councillor Brian Bedwell was concerned that the storage space for the four proposed properties was inadequate, but Samantha Kremzer responded that this had been assessed by the Council’s Waste Officers who raised no objections to what was proposed.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Mr Dominic Rys, objector, and Mr Adrian Best, applicant, addressed the Committee on this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.(1)

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

Concern was raised by Members in relation to the issues highlighted by Planning Inspectors in forming their decisions. In particular, the decision in relation to the land adjacent to the Olde Forge House, Bath Road, Beenham. Councillor Quentin Webb requested an update/guidance from Officers at the next meeting.

A date of 12 February 2014 at 9.30am was agreed for site visits if necessary. This was in advance of the next Eastern Area Planning Committee scheduled for 19 February 2014.