Issue - meetings

Members considered a planning application for residential development of 135no dwellings, comprising one and two storey dwellings and 2no.four storey apartment buildings, with associated amenity spaces and car parking at land off Bowling Green Road, Gainsborough.

There was an officer update attached to this item:

·         There had been further correspondence from the Environment Agency (EA) on 23 December. They advised that they maintained their objection, due to the way flood heights had been calculated in the breach modelling.  They advise setting a site specific model, or setting floor levels at 6.71 metres.

Any decking should not encroach onto the five metre easement so that it did not impede any future improvement works. 

The applicant had already taken steps to address these measures having revised the finished floor levels to meet the 6.71 metre requirement, as well as making sure the decking would not encroach onto the five metre easement.  

Written confirmation was still awaited from the EA on whether they wished to withdraw their objection on the aforementioned grounds.  Under planning law, there was a requirement to notify the Secretary of State if WLDC were minded to grant permission and the objection remained in place.

The officer advised that if committee was minded to follow the recommendation to approve the development, the application be delegated back to officers to ensure written confirmation that the Environment Agency’s objection has been resolved prior to issuing the decision and also add any conditions they suggest to the decision notice.

A plans condition would also need to be amended to reflect the information received with regards to the finished floor levels and easement.

The first speaker to this item was Greg Bacon, the Chief Executive of ACIS Group, the applicant.  He raised the following points:

·         ACIS operated across 19 local authority areas, with their head office being based in Gainsborough.  Half of ACIS’s stock was in the Gainsborough and wider West Lindsey area;

·         60 homes had recently been completed in Saxilby for over 55s;

·         There was a planned regeneration of North Parade Road in Gainsborough;

·         The proposal in this application was regeneration of the area along the riverside adjacent to Wilson Street and Japan Road; the site had stood derelict for some time.  The proposal was 135 properties comprising two blocks, one of which could lend itself to supported housing; a small 8 bedroomed property for high dependent housing; 36 1-4 bedroomed houses for affordable rent; 12 2-3 bedroomed houses for shared low cost ownership, and 26 2-3 bedroomed properties for outright sales;

·         Sales values in the area appeared to be unbeneficial for private developers; therefore this was a ‘place making’ opportunity for Gainsborough.  The development was heavily contingent on Homes England grant funding and grant support from the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (GLLEP);

·         The total cost of the development was expected to be in excess of £20 million over a 4 to 5 year timescale;

·         This development was to be seen as a cornerstone for ACIS to develop better quality housing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54