Agenda item

Land Rear Of Hall Lane Whitwick

The Principal Planning Officer presented the report to Members.

Councillor T Gillard, adjacent Ward Member and Parish Councillor addressed the Committee. He thanked Councillor R Adams, Ward Member for the opportunity to speak. He highlighted to Members that since previous applications for the wider site had been refused nothing had changed and that none of the residents wanted the development. He urged the Committee to support the recommendations.

Ms S Colledge, on behalf of Whitwick Parish Council addressed the Committee. She advised the Members that both the Parish Council and the Whitwick Action Group had strongly objected to any application to build on the Green Wedge as they would be contrary to policy E20 of the Local Plan and the site had been identified as part of an Area of Separation under policy En5 of the draft Local Plan. She informed the Committee that the development would not be sustainable and that the additional traffic would have a severe impact on already congested roads and the air quality. Ms S Colledge drew Members attention to the report that stated that both the Secretary of State and the High Court had dismissed previous appeals on the site and that nothing had changed since these decisions.

County Councillor L Spence, objector, addressed the Committee. He stated that the Green Wedge was precious to the residents of Whitwick and that it was historically protected. He advised that the application before them was not the first and certainly would not be the last, but no one including residents, the Parish Council or the District Council wanted development on the site. He highlighted that the land was valuable agricultural land and an irreplaceable amenity adding that should the application be permitted a precedent would be set for many more applications. He urged Members to support the officer’s recommendation to refuse the application.

Mr T Evans, agent, addressed the Committee. He advised Members that the authority was not able to demonstrate a five year housing land supply and as such all relevant policies were out of date. He advised Members that the development would have a modest impact on the area as there would still be a significant area of separation and that the proposed highway works would address the congestion and air quality impacts. He reminded the Committee that the NPPF compared the impacts against the benefits and in relation to this development the high quality designs, forest planting, economic and social benefits would outweigh the modest impact on the Green Wedge.

The officer’s recommendation to refuse the application and that reason for refusal 3 be deleted as outlined within the update sheet was moved by Councillor R Adams and seconded by Councillor M Specht.

Councillor G Jones expressed concerns that the impact was not a modest one as described by the agent, but a significant one as it would be development on the Green Wedge.

Councillor M Specht stated that the proposed site was an area of separation in the emerging Local Plan, that this gave strength to its defence, and that the Council needed to stop the coalescence of the area. He added that he fully supported the officer’s recommendation.

Councillor J Bridges stated that he had fundamental concerns as it was an area of separation and therefore this gave weight to the development not being sustainable and therefore he could not vote in favour of the application.

RESOLVED THAT:

The application be refused in accordance with the recommendation of the Head of Planning and Regeneration and reason for refusal 3 be deleted as outlined within the update sheet.

Councillor M B Wyatt returned to the meeting.