Agenda item

Money Hill Site North Of Nottingham Road And South Of A511 Ashby De La Zouch Leicestershire

Having declared a pecuniary interest in this item, Councillors R Adams, D Everitt, J Geary and J Legrys left the meeting during consideration of this item and took no part in the discussion or voting thereon.

The Principal Planning Officer presented the report to members.

Councillor G A Allman, ward member, addressed the committee.  He stated that one could measure the strong feelings about what wicked developments were being planned for the town which would irreversibly change it for our children.  He highlighted that the impact of such a development would result in the junction with the A42 at Flagstaff island being oversaturated, and any such development should only take place once this had been mitigated.  He asked what infrastructure plans there were for in place for this, and stated that the application was rendered undeliverable if there were none.  He respectfully reminded members that planning applications had to be sensible, and he pleaded passionately with the committee to listen to the residents of Money Hill and Ashby de la Zouch as a whole.  He quoted from the Local Plan which stated that the purpose of planning was to help achieve sustainable development, which meant ensuring that providing for the needs of the current generation did not make life worse for future generations, and this proposal most certainly would.

Mr M Ball, representing the Town Council, addressed the committee.  He reiterated his concerns about the perils of Nottingham Road and the opposition to building an access onto it from the Money Hill development.  He added that when the planning inspector approved the development, he concluded that the proposed development would not compromise highway safety or result in any significant increase in congestion because the entire access was from the bypass; however this application was very different and would result in up to 450 extra vehicles using Nottingham Road every morning and evening.  He expressed concerns regarding the additional traffic and stated that in reality the road was already saturated and dangerous for residents.  He commented that millions was spent bypassing Ashby de la Zouch to reduce this misery and this would tip it over the edge.  He made reference to the endorsement of the Local Plan which meant it now carried weight.  He urged members to utilise policy H3 and highways safety as firm ground to refuse an application which placed developer profits over public safety. 

Ms L Titley, objector, addressed the meeting.  She stated that residents risked life and limb to exit their driveways onto Nottingham Road and Wood Street every day, as the road was blighted by tailbacks, congestion and speeding cars.  She commented that two bypasses had been built, but congestion was now at pre-bypass levels.  She added that residents had been witness to accidents.  She expressed concerns regarding the safety of children, residents and road users.  She commented that the traffic flow data was out of date and the proposed access was 6 metres wide against guidelines.  She commented that Ashby was a historic town and that this road and junction belonged in the past and she urged members not to risk the safety of residents by accepting it. 

Mr J Bompass, agent, addressed the meeting.  He stated that this outline application was very similar to that approved by the Secretary of State and differed only in the provision of vehicular access onto Nottingham Road and a new car park, which had been identified by the Town Council as being needed to support the vitality of the town centre.  He added that since the approval of the previous application, this development had been fully incorporated into the wider fabric of planning policy by its inclusion in the draft neighbourhood plan and the Local Plan.  He commented that where the application differs from the existing consent, this had been discussed in detail with the Highways Authority and the Town Council.  He explained that the proposed access was entirely subservient to the main access, and the Nottingham Road access would serve a limited number of dwellings, and would be utilised primarily for buses and to allow access to the new primary school and car park.  He added that the impact on the A511 had been fully tested through the appeal and the Highways Authority had confirmed that the proposed access would result in no significant increase in congestion. In addition he stated that the proposed car park has been enlarged to address the shortage of parking.

Councillor D J Stevenson commented that he was bitterly disappointed that the access was not solely off the bypass.

It was moved by Councillor D J Stevenson, seconded by Councillor J G Coxon and

RESOLVED THAT:

The application be deferred to allow further consideration of site access arrangements, with the preference remaining for this to be from the bypass only.