Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been submitted from Councillor Roger Patterson and Councillor Matthew Boles.

Up to 15 minutes are allowed for public participation.  Participants are restricted to 3 minutes each.

There was no public participation.

Meeting of the Planning Committee of 29 June 2016, previously circulated.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 29 June 2016, be confirmed and signed as a correct record

Members may make any declarations of interest at this point but may also make them at any time during the course of the meeting.

It was noted that all members of the Committee had a personal interest in: Item 2 (134492 – Cherry Willingham); Item 3 (134599 - Fenton); and Item 4 (134287 - Glentham) the applicants being fellow West Lindsey District Councillors.

Councillor Ian Fleetwood declared a personal interest in Item 1 (134103 – Cherry Willingham) in that he was the County Councillor for the Cherry Willingham Ward and also knew the applicants.

Councillor Stuart Curtis declared a personal interest in Item 1 (134103 – Cherry Willingham) in that he knew the applicants, and also that his daughter in law was a teacher at Cherry Willingham School which was included in the proposed s106 agreement.

Councillor Curtis also noted that several Members of the Planning Committee had been lobbied by email regarding Item 1 (134103 – Cherry Willingham).

There were no new updates to report, the most recent one being the submission of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan to the Inspector for examination, at the last meeting.  No date had yet been communicated.

(Summary attached at Appendix A)

RESOLVED that the applications detailed in report PL.04 16/17 be dealt with as follows:-

PROPOSAL: Outline application for up to 300 dwellings, ancillary public open space, landscaping, drainage reserved, with vehicular accesses from Hawthorn Road and pedestrian-cycle access from Green Lane with all matters reserved on land off Hawthorn Road, Cherry Willingham.

RECOMMENDED DECISION: That the decision to grant planning permission, subject to conditions and the resolution of any outstanding archaeology issues, be delegated to the Chief Operating Officer, to enable the completion and signing of an agreement under section 106 of the Planning Act 1990 (as amended) pertaining to:-

-       Capital contribution towards Primary School facilities (£665,309) in lieu of on-site provision;

-       Capital contribution (£425 per dwelling) towards Health care provision (Total £127,500)

-       Details of the provision , management and maintenance of open space comprising not less than 10% of the total site area,

-       Provision of affordable housing on site (type and tenure to be agreed).

And, in the event of the s106 not being completed and signed by all parties within 6 months from the date of this Committee, or, in the event of no resolution of the archaeological issues, then the application be reported back to the next available Committee meeting following the expiration of the 6 months.

Outline application for up to 300 dwellings, ancillary public open space, landscaping, drainage reserved, with vehicular accesses from Hawthorn Road and pedestrian-cycle access from Green Lane with all matters reserved on land off Hawthorn Road, Cherry Willingham.

The Principal Development Management Officer read out a number of updates, the first of which necessitated amendments to the recommendations:

·         Capital contribution of £1,050,000 to the construction of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass, or in the event that the LEB is not delivered this contribution (or part of) is to be used to deliver alternative traffic mitigation works as determined by the Highway Authority.

·         Provision of no less than 25% of the total approved units as affordable housing on site (type and tenure to be agreed).

It was then moved, seconded and voted upon that the additional and amended recommendations be AGREED.

The Principal Development Management Officer then continued with further updates.

The final comments from LCC Highways had been received and the Development Management Officer read out the statement in full.

“Detailed comments have been made in response to Cherry Willingham Parish Council’s submission on the Transport Assessments which in summary do not alter the conclusions reached by LCC Highways:

Conclusion: An important consideration is paragraph 32 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and whether this development will have a severe impact upon the local highway network. Recent planning appeals suggest that the definition of severe in the planning context is set at a substantially higher threshold than what the Highways Authority or objectors would wish. Also it appears that the definition of sustainable as used by the Secretary of State, is a development that on balance has more positive benefits than negative taken all factors into account. Although there is no doubt this development will have an impact on the surrounding highway network the increases in delay and journey times (particularly with the proposed construction of a £100 million bypass) cannot be considered as so severe as to warrant a refusal on highway capacity grounds.

LCC Highways do not wish to restrict the grant of planning permission subject to the imposition of suggested conditions and a contribution of £1,050,000.00towards theLincoln Eastern Bypass (LEB). This is in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by WLDC and adopted at Prosperous Communities Committee on 2 September 2014, which has a principle requirement for strategic growth applications such as this to make contributions to the LEB.

Given the advanced proposals for the LEB and that it is committed development; the traffic modelling work undertaken for the revised Transport Assessment submitted with this application included the bypass, which is normal practice. This mitigates the impact of the development to a level Highway Authority are content with.

As with the NEQ application, recently approved by the planning committee, LCC have stated that they are prepared to withstand any other highways issues in the short term, given the imminence of the LEB, predicated on the understanding that contributions are secured from this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26a

PROPOSAL:  Planning application for conservatory to rear at 10 Lime Grove, Cherry Willingham.

RECOMMENDED DECISION: Grant permission subject to conditions  

Planning application for conservatory to rear at 10 Lime Grove, Cherry Willingham.

It was verified that had the applicant not been a fellow Councillor the application would likely have been granted under delegated powers.

It was therefore agreed that PERMISSION BE GRANTED subject to conditions.

PROPOSAL:  Planning application to vary condition 4 of planning permission 133055granted 30 July 2015 - revised plans with amended appearance, size, scale and position of plot 4, 40 Lincoln Road, Fenton.

RECOMMENDED DECISION:  Grant with conditions.

Planning application to vary condition 4 of planning permission 133055granted 30 July 2015 - revised plans with amended appearance, size, scale and position of plot 4, 40 Lincoln Road, Fenton.

The Principal Development Management Officer affirmed that no objections had been received from the Archaeology department.

It was verified that had the applicant not been a fellow Councillor the application would likely have been granted under delegated powers.

It was therefore agreed that PERMISSION BE GRANTED subject to conditions.

PROPOSAL:  Planning application for the creation of a lagoon for the storage ofAD digestate on Land at Highfield Cliff Farm, Shadows Lane, Glentham.

RECOMMENDED DECISION:  Grant Permission

Planning application for the creation of a lagoon for the storage ofAD digestate on Land at Highfield Cliff Farm, Shadows Lane, Glentham.

The Principal Development Management Officer read out an email from a neighbouring resident which had raised a number of concerns, and requesting that construction and maintenance traffic access be only via the A631, as traffic close to the house would be disruptive to the residents.  A further letter from Sir Edward Leigh MP gave support to the concerns of the neighbour.  A further amendment to condition 5 was requested to ensure the floating cover to the lagoon was used from the commencement of operation of the proposal and to be used as such thereafter. 

Councillor Adam Duguid, the applicant, addressed the Committee and affirmed that he was happy to agree to conditions to assuage the concerns of the neighbouring resident, and that it was proposed that the lagoon was intended to blend into the landscape and whilst there would be some disruption during construction, this would be shortlived.

Note: Councillor Jessie Milne declared that she was employed by Sir Edward Leigh MP but had not been involved in any discussions on the application.

It was verified for the Committee that the nearest residence was more than 400m away.  It was also questioned whether two lagoons would have been approved at the time that the original application was submitted for the existing one approximately one year ago, and the likelihood of further lagoons being requested.  It was verified that any future lagoons would still need Committee approval, and that evidence would have to be provided regarding any problems, to warrant a refusal.

It was verified that had the applicant not been a fellow Councillor the application would likely have been granted under delegated powers.

It was therefore agreed that PERMISSION BE GRANTED subject to conditions.

A number of appeals were set out on the agenda for information.

Councillor Curtis noted, as Ward Member for Sudbrooke, site of the first appeal decision, noted that the Inspector had not given weight to the presence of an historic park, ancient woodland and wildlife habitat, and that there was no need felt for 25 apartments.

RESOLVED that the determination of appeals be noted.