Issue - meetings

The first application before the Committee was planning application 145047, relating to the proposed erection of 8 dwellings on land at Good’s Farm, Meadow Lane, Reepham.  The application had been deferred at the previous meeting to enable a site visit to take place.

As referred to in the Declarations of Interest, the Chairman had vacated the Chair and handed over to the Vice-Chairman, in the Chair, who presided over the consideration of this item. 

The Planning Officer presented the report advising the Committee that several late representations had been received which had been placed on the Council’s website.  These representations did not however raise anything that had not already been included in the report.  The Planning Officer clarified the position in relation to the grass verge which had been raised at the last meeting.

Having received the Planning Officer’s presentation, the Vice-Chairman welcomed the agent for the applicant, Mr Ollie Clawson, who addressed the Committee along the following lines:-

“Thank you Members for your time on site last week. I am conscious that I spoke at last month's meeting, and so I simply want to reaffirm several key points for you this evening.

Firstly, the appeal decision confirms that the site is physically part of the village. The scheme is therefore compliant with Policy S2 of the new CLLP with regards to the principle of development.  The applicant has worked at length with Highways Officers and this included pre-application discussions and a recognition that the existing access arrangement is less than ideal.

To address this, the application proposes to take a minimal amount of land from the south of the existing carriageway to realign the highway and achieve adequate visibility. The Highways Authority owns the entirety of that verge and has confirmed that the proposals are deliverable without the need to utilise any third party land.

The works would not therefore impact on any right to private vehicle parking, and residents of existing properties would simply have to park their vehicles within their plots rather than across Highways owned land as they may currently do.

The verge taken from the south, will be replaced at the northern side of the highway, as shown in green on the proposed site access drawing in order to maintain the character and feel of the Conservation Area.

Each of the proposed dwellings has been designed to be as energy efficient as they possibly can be, and your officer's report confirms that it would be unreasonable to ask for any further information in this respect.

All Council Officers, including the Conservation and Case Officers, are satisfied that the proposed development is consistent with the policies of the Local Plan. It is therefore respectfully suggested that you vote in accordance with the Officers' recommendation. In doing so, you would enable the applicant to move their current operations to more appropriate sites away from the village core.  Thank you.”

The Vice-Chairman, in the Chair, thanked Mr. Clawson for his contribution.

The Democratic Services Officer was then invited  ...  view the full minutes text for item 125