Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed all present to the meeting.

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

There was no public participation at this point of the meeting.

i)       To Approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Planning Committee held on 31 May 2017, previously circulated.

Meeting of the Planning Committee held on 31 May 2017.

A point of clarity was raised by the Planning Services Manager in relation to Minutes of the Previous Meeting item 10e. The following statement was read out:

“The Committee may recall at its previous meeting, under item 6e* (Dunholme) that Officers considered that an earlier outline planning permission on the site had recently expired. It has subsequently come to light that the applicant had in fact submitted an application for reserved matters late in the day, but nonetheless in time.

The consequence of this is that the site still benefits from (outline) planning permission and WLDC is now to determine an application for subsequent reserved matters. The Reserved Matters Application has been registered with reference no. 136225, and has now been publicised by WLDC. WLDC has a target date to determine the application by the 29^th August.

May we apologise for any confusion and misunderstanding that may have arisen”.

Officers confirmed to the committee that there were no implication for the decision made by the committee arising from this update.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 31 May 2017 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.

Councillor Smith referred to the meeting of the Planning Committee on the 5^th April 2017, declaring a personal interest in item 6a (135013 – Caistor Road). As per previous Minutes, Councillor Smith had made representations to the Planning Inspectorate on housing allocations within his ward, and requested Secretary of State intervention.  As Ward Member he had assisted the Parish Council with their response to the application and would remove himself from the Committee and speak as Ward Member on the application.

Councillor McNeill declared a non-pecuniary interest as an Agent of Sir Edward Leigh MP.

Note – the status of Neighbourhood Plans in the District may be found via this link

https://www.west-lindsey.gov.uk/my-services/planning-and-building/neighbourhood-planning/

The Planning Services Manager advised that there was no update on the planning policy per se but there was an update in relation to a staffing matter. Nev Brown, previously of Hull City Council, had started working full time in the role of Senior Neighbourhood Planning Officer at WLDC.

Officers advised that hard copies of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan (CLLP) were now available on request.

RESOLVED that the applications detailed in agenda item 6 (a) – (b) be dealt with as follows:-

Outline planning application for residential development of up to300no. dwellings, including areas of landscaping, public open space, sustainable urban drainage scheme and associated infrastructure-access to be considered and not reserved for subsequent applications for Land at Caistor Road, Middle Rasen.

Outline planning application for residential development of up to 300no. dwellings, including areas of landscaping, public open space, sustainable urban drainage scheme and associated infrastructure-access to be considered and not reserved for subsequent applications for Land at Caistor Road, Middle Rasen.

The Principal Development Management Officer provided an update on this application stating that this application was deferred at the 5 April 2017 Planning Committee meeting to address a number of concerns which had been raised. Since the earlier meeting, the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan (CLLP) had been formally adopted and now formed the Development Plan against which this application had to be determined. The application site was allocated for residential development in the Development Plan with an indicative capacity of up to 300 dwellings.

The Officer referred to the Report, highlighting responses from a number of authorities including the Environment Agency, Highways Authority, the Lead Local Flood Authority as well as responses in relation to the foul sewerage system. Following this process, the recommendation remained to approve the application subject to the signing of a s106 planning legal agreement.

The discussions relating to amenity space and play equipment had been concluded, and on top of the provisions noted within the report, the Developer also agreed to contribute £45,000 towards youth equipment which would be directed towards a skate park within Market Rasen.

Correspondence was received from Lincolnshire County Council’s (LCC’s)  rights of way department, in relation to the proposal to create a footpath to the site. The formal process to confirm the right of way started in 1987 and was now under way and interested parties and land owners were being contacted for views.

The final change was in relation to condition 8 - namely to ensure the footpath to the A46 extended to the full extent of the site not just to connect to the existing network.

There were five registered speakers present, each having up to five minutes to speak.

Note Councillor Smith stepped down from the Committee for consideration of the following application.

The first speaker, Mr John Matthews, the Chairman of the Market Rasen Town Council, addressed the Committee stating that the town council had no objection to Chestnut Homes as a developer, however, they objected to the development due to grave concerns in relation to a number of issues including the proposed density of development for the site, issues with recent flooding, drainage issues with so much porous land being covered, the lack of pavement which together with a busy road created a grave and dangerous situation. The development was also believed unsuitable due to the pressure it would put on the existing infrastructure with the schools, dentists and doctors being reportedly at full capacity. The boundary issue as to whether the site was in Middle or Market Rasen was also raised. It was felt that the infrastructure needed to be put in place first before such a development could go ahead and that this was too much in the wrong space.

Mr Neil  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17a

Planning application to erect ground floor extension to the rear ofthe dwelling at 1 Ulster Road, Gainsborough.

Planning application to erect ground floor extension to the rear of the dwelling at 1 Ulster Road Gainsborough.

There was no update for this application and no speakers. This application was only brought in front of the Committee as it related to a Council employee. Had this application not involved an officer, it would have been decided under the scheme of delegations.

The application was proposed, seconded and voted upon and approved unanimously.

It was therefore AGREED that the application be APPROVED.

Councillor Smith thanked Officers for their assistance leading the Gallamore Lane appeal. It was commented that there had been a flurry of applications recently.

The Planning Services manager added that the appeal results reflected how powerful the new local plan was in providing a robust framework for decisions, with numerous unsuitable developments being refused permission, whilst properly planned growth was being well supported.

RESOLVED that the determination of appeals be noted.