Agenda item

Demolition of existing buildings and erection of 7 new affordable dwellings, including access and parking arrangements and parking for No. 6 Queens Street

Land At 6 Queens Street Measham Swadlincote Derbys

Demolition of existing buildings and erection of 7 new affordable dwellings, including access and parking arrangements and parking for No. 6 Queens Street

Land At 6 Queens Street, Measham, Swadlincote, Derbys

The Senior Planning Officer presented the report to Members.

Councillor S Sheahan, Ward Member, addressed the Committee and listed the following concerns:

-   The inadequate proposed access to the site as raised by the Parish Council.

-   The boundary dispute at the northern part of the site.

-   The development would block the light of neighbouring properties, especially the fences of Plots one and two.

-   Possible flooding issues, in particular with the proposed soakaways.

-   The many different land levels of the development.

-   The recommended separation between the boundary of the development and the hedgerows had been ignored.

-   There was evidence that bats were on the site.

He added that he was unsure if the plans supplied were the most recent due to the dates printed on them and he felt that none of the issues had been addressed by the developer. He concluded by asking Members to consider deferring the application.

Ms P Wheatcroft, objector, addressed the Committee.  She felt that the development did not fit within the proposed site and there were multiple boundary issues.  In particular, the protection strip recommended by the ecologists had been ignored which would lead to damage to the hedgerows, therefore she felt that the advice of the officers was flawed.  She believed that plot three needed to be moved a further three metres from the boundary as it would lead to overshadowing, a loss of privacy and a loss of light.  Ms P Wheatcroft concluded that she had been living in her property for 20 years and the damaging effects of the proposed development would be for the rest of her life.  She urged Members to refuse the application.

Councillor T Neilson stated that he still believed that the access was a major issue and it had not been addressed by the developer within the application.  He also felt that the concerns regarding overlooking, boundary disputes and soakaways needed to be addressed, and therefore moved that the application be deferred.  It was seconded by Councillor R Adams.

RESOLVED THAT:

The application be deferred to allow further discussions with the applicant to address issues regarding the access to the site, overlooking, boundaries, impact on boundary hedge and soakaways.

Before moving onto the next application, the Head of Regeneration and Planning stated the following:

‘Members are aware that they will be considering three major housing applications in Appleby Magna and as such it is useful to provide a brief overview on the issues of sustainability and scale of development considered appropriate for the village before looking at the merits of each individual application.

Firstly, in terms of the sustainability credentials of Appleby Magna, the village has a good range of day to day facilities, including a primary school, shop and post office, church, church hall, two public houses, GP surgery, play area and recreation ground and some small-scale employment sites.  However, Members are advised that public consultation was undertaken at the end of 2012 to close the GP surgery so patients would have to attend the surgery in Measham (3.05km away) and it is understood that the surgery will close in May 2014.   

There is also a limited public transport service; the No. 7 service currently provides a service Monday to Saturday (approximately every 1.5-2 hours) from 8.10am to 5.48pm which serves Measham, Ashby de la Zouch, Atherstone and Nuneaton with a total of 11 buses running per day.

Therefore, it is considered that Appleby Magna is a sustainable settlement that is capable of accommodating some new housing growth.

In terms of the scale of new development that might be considered appropriate for Appleby Magna, Members are advised that no formal policy decision has been made as to the amount of development in percentage terms that might be appropriate in individual villages. However, what Officers have sought to do when looking at these applications is to look at the scale of growth in comparison with what was anticipated for the District in the now withdrawn Core Strategy so as to provide members of the Planning Committee with some local context.

In terms of likely future needs the GL Hearn Leicester and Leicestershire Housing Requirements Study which was used to inform the housing requirement in the now withdrawn Core Strategy includes information regarding future natural change across the District.  This Study projected a 23.4% increase in housing was required across the District from 2006-2031, which was reflected in the now withdrawn Core Strategy.

It is estimated that there are 433 properties in the village of Appleby Magna within its main built up area and 485 properties in the Parish of Appleby Magna.  When considered cumulatively, the four major housing proposals for the village currently under consideration, with the other Top Street (Bloor) application likely to be reported to Committee in May, would result in a maximum of 153 dwellings. This would equate to a 35.33% increase in new dwellings within the village and a 31.55% increase across the whole Parish, which would represent a higher level of growth for the village and Parish than proposed across the District in the GL Hearn Study.

When taking into account new dwellings built since 2006 and existing commitments this growth increases to 41.57 % and 37.11% respectively.  This level of cumulative development is considered to be inappropriate for Appleby Magna given its relatively poor public transport connectivity, its level of services/facilities and the village's rural location. However, cumulatively the 68 additional dwellings recommended for approval on this Planning Committee agenda (from the Measham Road and Top Street sites) would equate to a 15.7% increase within the village which is less than the level of growth previously forecast for the District.  Alongside existing commitments and new housing, this would represent a 22% increase in total, which although only just below the predicted District wide level of growth up until 2031, does take into account development and commitments since 2006. 

This level of growth, ie 22%, is considered to be appropriate for Appleby Magna given the sustainability credentials of the village and the need to contribute to the Councils requirement to provide a five year housing land supply. It should also be noted that the level of housing proposed across these two sites recommended for approval would be built over a number of years and works would not start immediately.

Therefore, while it can be concluded that, on balance, the level of growth for Appleby Magna as indicated, is appropriate, each application has also been considered on its own merits and these have been assessed in the detailed reports on the Agenda taking into account all other material planning considerations, and these will now be presented briefly in turn.’

The Planning and Development Team Manager read out the following letter from Andrew Bridgen MP regarding item A2, application number 13/00799/FULM, item A3, application number 13/00697/OUTM and item A3, application number 13/00797/FULM:

‘I have received a number of objections to the various planning applications from residents of the village which raise questions about the sustainability of the schemes.  I would ask that your Committee consider all of these local objections to the applications and whether this scale of house building is appropriate in the village.’