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

No statements were made during the public participation period.

i)      Meeting of the Planning Committee held on 29 March 2023.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on Wednesday, 29 March 2023 be confirmed and signed as an accurate 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.

In relation to agenda item 6(a), planning application 145047, Land at Goods Farm, Meadow Lane Reepham, the Chairman, Councillor Ian Fleetwood, declared a non-pecuniary interest that he was the County Councillor that covered Reepham and had been lobbied on a number of occasions in connection with the proposal.  Accordingly, he would not vote or take part in the discussions, would vacate the Chair and hand over to the Vice Chairman, who would preside over the discussion on this particular item.  Councillor Fleetwood would leave the chamber whilst this item was being considered.

In relation to item 6(b), planning application number 145735, Land to the south of Wesley Road, Cherry Willingham, the Chairman, Councillor Ian Fleetwood, declared a non-pecuniary interest that he was a member of the Parish Council.  However, he had not discussed the application either within the Parish Council or with anyone within the local community and had not been the subject of any lobbying. He would remain in the Chair for the item.

In relation to agenda items 6(d) and 6(e), planning application 146082 and planning application 145353, both at Land off Deepdale Lane Nettleham, Councillor Angela White declared a non-pecuniary personal interest, that she had objected to these applications in the past and, having spoken on them, she would leave the Chamber whilst both items were discussed.

In relation to agenda items 6(a), planning application 145047, Land at Goods Farm, Meadow Lane, Reepham), and 6(b) planning application 145735 Land to the south of Wesley road, Cherry Willingham, Councillor Cherie Hill declared a non-pecuniary personal interest that she was the Ward Member for both sites, and that as she had not attended any of the original discussions or site visits she would be abstaining from the voting, although she would remain in the Chamber.

Also in connection with agenda items 6(a) and 6(b), referred to in the preceding paragraph, Councillor Judy Rainsforth indicated that she had not attended the site visits and would abstain from the voting on these items.

In relation to agenda item 6(a), planning application 145047, Land at Goods Farm, Meadow Lane, Reepham, Councillor Jeff Summers declared a non-pecuniary personal interest that though he had made a comment which possibly indicated his views whilst attending the site visit, he stated that his decision would be based on the information received this evening and during the site visit, and would remain a Member of the Committee and sit with an open mind.

In relation to agenda item 6(c), planning application 146151, Land adjacent to Sudbrooke Park, off West Drive, Sudbrooke, Councillor Bob Waller declared a non-pecuniary personal interest that he would be speaking on the item as Ward Member, and would leave the chamber whilst the item was discussed after his statement.

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 Committee was advised that the new Central Lincolnshire Local Plan (CLLP) had been formally adopted on 13 April 2023 and was with immediate effect the development plan against which all planning decisions, including those this evening, had to be considered.  Indeed, two applications considered at the previous meeting of the Committee and which were subject to further consideration this evening had been reviewed by the officers within the context of the new CLLP policies.

A schedule showing the position in relation to Neighbourhood Plans across the West Lindsey District was submitted and included the weighting that they currently held within the context of the new CLLP.  Details could be found at https://www.west-lindsey.gov.uk/my-services/planning-and-building/neighbourhood-planning/

Particular reference was made to the following Neighbourhood Plans:-

• The Keelby NP had been successful at examination and a referendum date was awaited.

• The Hemswell NP examination was nearing completion and the Examiner’s clarification note had been issued.

• The Scothern NP review had been submitted for consultation and examination.

• The Nettleham NP was subject to a second Regulation 14 Draft Plan Consultation following comments received during the previous consultation.  The second consultation would end on 13 June 2023.

Members welcomed the adoption of the new CLLP and the policies it contained, particularly mentioning the section on RAF Scampton.

Note:               Councillor I. Fleetwood left the Chamber, in advance of the next item, at 6.38 pm.

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.

The Chairman introduced the next application of the meeting, Item 6(b), application number 145735, relating to the construction of 20 affordable dwellings on land south of Wesley Road, Cherry Willingham.  This application had been deferred at the last meeting to enable a site visit to be undertaken.  The site visit had taken place on 20 April 2023.The proposal was a re-submission of application number 143260 which had been refused by the Committee on 4^th November 2021.

This application proposed the erection of 20 fully affordable dwellings in a semi detached and terraced format. This also included 4 bungalows in the south east corner of the site. The dwelling types were 4 one bed bungalows, 10 two bed houses and 6 three bed houses.

The Planning Officer presented the report, concerning which there were no updates.

The Chairman welcomed Mr James Collins, agent for the applicants, who addressed the Committee along the following lines:-

“My name is James Collins and I am the agent acting on behalf of Cherry Tree Homes, the applicants, which is a small local family business. I would like to thank the Committee for taking the time to visit the site last week.

During that visit, the Committee raised some questions about the adjacent development land. I would just like to point out that this land is not owned by Cherry Tree Homes, and we have no intention of developing that land in the future.

This application is a re-submission of a previously rejected scheme considered by the Committee in November 2021 which had a recommendation for approval from the Planning Officer, Highways Authority and the Parish Council.

We have revised the scheme in light of the Committee's previous comments, reducing the density from 21 units to 20 units. The revised scheme also has a recommendation for approval from the Planning Officer, Highways Authority and the Parish Council.

The roads on the site will be built to adoptable standards and we have submitted a swept path analysis which demonstrates the roads are adequate for bin wagons and emergency vehicles and delivery vehicles. The site has access and egress from both Hawthorn Road and Wesley Road via Hawthorn Avenue. There are two link roads between our site and the adjacent Cherry Paddock site, which is not owned by Cherry Tree Homes and was not developed by Cherry Tree Homes.

The Parish Council has wanted to provide a footpath link from Little Cherry to Green Lane for many years to improve pedestrian access to the village. This scheme would deliver that link and whilst this would not be a tarmac footpath or have street lighting, it would offer an additional link to the village which would be of benefit to the community.

The connecting road to the adjacent undeveloped land has been provided to ensure continuity for future development, providing a cohesive design which considers pedestrian and vehicular movements through the applicant’s site and the adjacent Cherry paddock site. As previously stated, Cherry Tree Homes do not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 126.

The Chairman introduced the next application, item 6(c), application number 146151 seeking permission to vary condition 13 (for the developer to accordwith the proposed scheme to prevent vehicles from accessing the private drive that connected in a southerly direction with the A158) of planning permission 133284 (granted on appeal for the erection of up to 130 dwellings and a new building to provide up to 25 apartments for retirement living, associated hard and soft landscaping,  together with the change of use of land to provide a new area of open space, including the provision of new footpaths and sustainable drainage infrastructure, and to provide new community allotment facilities.

The Chairman invited the Planning Officer to present the report.  The Planning Officer indicated that he had been copied into correspondence sent to the Highways Authority by the applicants’ agents in relation to a potential revised scheme.  However, this had no bearing on the current application concerning which a decision could be made.  The report detailed the background to the site.

The Chairman welcomed Parish Councillor Andrew Cottam from Sudbrooke Parish Council who addressed the Committee along the following lines:-

“Sudbrooke Parish Council wish to object to planning application 146151 on the grounds that the proposal completely negates the intention of condition 13 of the appeal decision.

Main Drive is a narrow private road maintained by the residents, who have a right of way written into the deeds of their properties. It has footpath 160 running along its length at its junction with the A158. It has an entrance bordered by Grade II listed gateways comprising two former estate houses and ornate iron gates. It also has a listed grade II stone parapet bridge spanning the back to the north of the gates.

Since the initial application to build a parkland estate was made Sudbrooke Parish Council has expressed written concern over access through the main drive for vehicular traffic. We have held many discussions with representatives of the developers to seek a solution. Ideas put forward have ranged from lifting barriers, lockable gates and rising bollards but none have been adopted by the developers. Indeed, we have been told by the developer on multiple occasions that such a restriction would be illegal because of footpath 160.  However, the Parish Council find it difficult to believe that Her Majesty's Inspector would place a condition on appeal that would be illegal.

Currently, there are signs at either end of Main Drive stating that it is a private road and that construction traffic are not to use it but these signs are ineffective. Google Maps shows main drive as an accessible road and is the most direct route to the Parklands development from the A158. As such, it is an easy route for delivery drivers from the supermarkets and online firms. It is also now being used as a “rat run” by current village residents to circumvent traffic problems at the junction of Scothern Lane and the A158.

Sudbrooke Parish Council believes that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 127.

The Chairman introduced the next application, item 6(d), planning application number 146082, for the erection of 30 affordable homes and associated infrastructure on land off Deepdale Lane, Nettleham).  The report set out the history of the site and the issues surrounding

The Chairman invited the Planning Officer to present the report and in doing so reference was made in particular to the following:-

The Committee was advised that the purple hashed area shown on the presentational plans was third party land owned by the LACE development already built. The original access in the appeal decision involved this land but the applicant could not come to a legal agreement with LACE to provide this access. This purple hashed area is shown on the original layout as a green hash to show the inability to build this access with third party land.

The applicants had a contractual obligation with the landowner to provide an access road that was built to adoptable standards, but unfortunately, the road could not be widened due to residential units already there. These two factors put together meant that the access could not go there, and that another alternative point needed to be looked at.

The applicants were contractually obliged to provide an access that could be used by any agricultural vehicle, so could not specify what type of vehicle exactly.  However, they had stated that it was unlikely that this access would be used frequently, as the current tenant farmer, who had a longstanding agreement with the landowner, currently used a different access.

Two objections had been received since publication of the report from 41 High Street, Nettleham and 15 Shaw Way, Nettleham stating that the proposal did not accord with the Nettleham Neighbourhood Plan and also referring to the impacts on local services. These further representations did not however change the recommendation of the report.

It was reported that the unilateral agreement was yet to be finalised which secured the NHS contribution and the affordable housing. Therefore, for this reason it was being recommended that the application be granted (subject to conditions) and delegated back to officers to finalise this agreement.

The Chairman stated that there was one registered speaker to application, and welcomed Hannah Guy who addressed the Committee along the following lines:-

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening. My name is Hannah Guy and I am the Planning Manager at Alison Holmes. I am speaking to you today in support of both planning applications for this site (see item 128 below).  I fully endorse the Officers' reports and recommendations for approval for both the 30 unit scheme and the 8 units scheme (next item).

These two applications have been summarised in the Committee reports before you.  As the Committee reports highlight, the principle of developing the site has already been deemed acceptable and this was by way of the appeal last year. There is approval for up to a potential of 40 units.

The submitted changes,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 128.

The Chairman moved on to the last application of the meeting, item 6(e), planning application number 145353, for the erection of 8 affordable homes, on land at Deepdale Lane, Nettleham. The application had been called in for Committee consideration due to objections received from Nettleham Parish Council and in order for it to be considered alongside application number 146082.

The Planning Officer introduced the item indicating that an additional letter of objection had been received from 7 Parkway Nettleham.

It had been stated in the letter of objection that the new location of a farm track ran down Kevin Road in the middle of a 30 home housing estate. The road was narrow and could not provide access for farm vehicles. It could easily cause damage to vehicles. Silage for fields could drop from farm vehicles, causing serious health hazards to all concerned, especially children. The farm track had been ill-thought-out by the applicant.  Having 8 affordable houses which were in fact homes up for rent in the middle of a private housing estate was considered inappropriate.  The objector would much prefer to see homes for first-time buyers.

Members sought clarification around the access width, but otherwise supported this application.

Accordingly, it was proposed, seconded and unanimously agreed that planning permission should be GRANTED subject to the signing of a Unilateral Undertaking to secure the dwellings as affordable and to the following conditions:-

Conditions stating the time by which the development must be commenced:

1.The development hereby permitted shall be begun before the expiration of three years from the date of this permission.

Reason: To conform with Section 91 (1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended).

Conditions which apply or require matters to be agreed before the development commenced:

2. No development shall take place until a Construction Management Plan and Method Statement has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority which shall indicate measures to mitigate against traffic generation and drainage of the site during the construction stage of the proposed development. The Construction Management Plan and Method Statement shall include;

• phasing of the development to include access construction;

• the parking of vehicles of site operatives and visitors;

• loading and unloading of plant and materials;

• storage of plant and materials used in constructing the development;

• wheel washing facilities;

• the routes of construction traffic to and from the site including any off site routes for the disposal of excavated material and;

• strategy stating how surface water run off on and from the development will be managed during construction and protection measures for any sustainable drainage features. This should include drawing(s) showing how the drainage systems (permanent or temporary) connect to an outfall (temporary or permanent) during construction. The Construction Management Plan and Method Statement shall be strictly adhered to throughout the construction period.

Reason: To ensure that the permitted development is adequately drained without creating or increasing flood risk to land or property adjacent  ...  view the full minutes text for item 129.

The determination of appeals was NOTED.

The Chairman concluded the meeting by giving a holistic summary of the past four years of the Committee and thanked all those that had served on the Committee. He thanked the Legal Advisor and the legal team, the Democratic and Civic Officer and past democratic officers, and the Planners for all their support and hard work to the Committee.

Following the thanks to the Planning team, the Chairman stated that the team handled most of the applications, and the Committee only saw about 1% of the applications, being about 100 applications a year.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their efforts and wished a happy retirement for those not re-standing.