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

The Chairman made the following statement in connection with comments made by Mr Chris Thomas at the last meeting during the public participation period:-

“At the last Planning Committee held on 1 February 2023 during the Public Participation session, a speech was made by Mr Thomas in relation to the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan and specifically an allocation in the village of Welton, site reference WL/WELT/008A.  During the speech Mr Thomas made a number of claims, including that the Prosperous Communities Committee, in May 2022 had previously been misadvised in relation to phasing requirements set out in Policy S80, when considering WLDC’s formal response to the Regulation 19 consultation. 

It is correct that the phasing requirements of the site were highlighted as incorrect during this meeting, however this was on the basis that the phasing requirements were incomplete and as well as being phased back by WL/WELT/001 and 007, the site also needed to be phased back from WL/WELT/003 which is the adjacent site. 

In Mr Thomas’s statement, he had interpreted this as West Lindsey being against the phasing of sites in Welton, a position which is claimed to be without evidence.  In fact, the requirement for site 008A to be phased back from the adjacent site was as a result of the assessment of a premature planning application and was to prevent the two-sites coming forward in isolation of one another.

A meeting has since taken place between Mr Thomas and two other members of the Ryland Residents Group and Sally Grindrod-Smith, Rachael Hughes & Russell Clarkson where Mr Thomas has acknowledged that his statement was incorrect and that the Committee had not been misled during the meeting held on 3 May 2022.

As such, for the purposes of the public record, it is confirmed that on 3 May 2022, the Prosperous Communities’ Committee was not misled and that the resolution to submit comments to the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan consultation was appropriate and based on sound evidence. The written response to Mr Thomas will also be shared with Committee Members”.

There were no new statements, and no further public participation at this point in the meeting.

The Chairman made the following statement:-

“Members will see that we have two sets of minutes for approval this evening. It was brought to our attention that the minutes for the 30 November 2022 Planning Committee meeting contained an error in relation to the planning application 145314, Land South of The Ridings.

This was regarding the additional condition that related to drainage, and the S106 agreement. Since the Committee had already approved the minutes of the meeting on 30 November 2022 at the subsequent meeting on 4 January 2023, the Committee needed to reconsider and approve the accuracy of the minutes in order to correct this omission”.

RESOLVED that:-

a)    Having regard to the above statement by the Chairman, the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 30 November 2022 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record.

b)    The minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 1 February 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.

At this point in the meeting, the Chairman and several Committee Members took this opportunity to extend their best wishes to Councillor David Cotton who was recovering from surgery and thanked him for his past contribution to the work of the Planning Committee.

There were no declarations made at this stage in the meeting.  Members were reminded that they could at any time make a declaration in relation to any item should they feel it necessary to do so.

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 good progress was being made towards the adoption of the new Central Lincolnshire Local Plan.  The Modifications consultation had closed on 24 February; approximately 40 responses had been received.  The Joint Strategic Planning Committee was currently finalising a response to these before sending all of them to the Local Plan Inspectors.  A full schedule of consultation responses would be available to view on the Central Lincolnshire Local Plans website, under the examination pages.  

It was anticipated that following receipt and consideration of the consultation responses the Inspectors would be in a position to issue their final report on the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan.  It was still anticipated that the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan would go before the Joint Strategic Planning Committee on 13 April for adoption. 

In terms of decision making, the further the Plan progressed towards adoption, the greater the weight that could be attributed to it. However it was only after adoption that the Plan would carry full weight in determining planning applications.

In response to the Government’s consultation on the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy, following the Member Workshop held on 22 February, West Lindsey District Council’s response had now been finalised and submitted.

The final response had been circulated to Members via Email.  There was as yet no indication when the Government would publish its response to the consultation, however relevant information would be shared with Members through the usual channels.

The Government had issued its response to the consultation on biodiversity, net gain regulations and implementation. The key points to note were that the introduction of biodiversity net gain on small sites would be delayed until April 2024. The Government proposed to exempt small self-build and custom-build housing sites householder applications, biodiversity gain sites and development which would impact the habitat of an area smaller than 25 square metres. Local authorities would be provided with additional funding for and further guidance on preparing the introduction of biodiversity net gain. The price of statutory biodiversity credits would be set in May and off-site gains would be added to a new national register.

There remained one day left in which to submit a response, with the consultation closing on 2 March at 11:45pm. As such, Members were encouraged to take a look, particularly at areas of the consultation that impacted on Communities and also to encourage any Parish Council’s or Neighbourhood Planning Groups to consider the consultation content too.  The consultation documents could be viewed via the following link:-

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/levelling-up-and-regeneration-bill-reforms-to-national-planning-policy/levelling-up-and-regeneration-bill-reforms-to-national-planning-policy#chapter-3--providing-certainty-through-local-and-neighbourhood-plans

With regard to local issues, the Hemswell and Harpswell Joint Neighbourhood Plan referendum would take place on 2 March. A successful result would be reported to full Council on 6 March.

Members also heard the Keelby Neighbourhood Plan examination was nearing completion and the Hemswell neighbourhood Plan examination had started.

The Chairman acknowledged that there was quite a lot of information to digest and expressed the hope that in order to keep everyone up to date, a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 105.

The Chairman introduced the first application of the meeting, application number 145791, for the erection of 5 dwellings and alterations to the existing bungalow to form a new access on land to the rear of Kirton Road, Blyton. The application was presented to the Committee following third party representations on relevant and balanced planning matters.

The Planning Officer took Members through the detail of the application concerning which there were no updates.  Particular reference was made to the highways situation having regard to the objections received.

The Chairman welcomed Mr Martin Furnish, Agent for the applicants, who made a statement along the following lines:-

“Good evening Members of the Planning Committee.  I am speaking in support of the proposed development. The site is considered suitable and compatible in scale with the existing settlement and its surroundings.  This is borne out by the fact that the site already benefits from outline approval for six dwellings and one replacement dwelling under planning reference 141335.  Therefore the principles of the development have already been agreed.

The outline application had considered access issues and it had been thought that due to the number of plots being proposed an existing dwelling, a bungalow, would have to be removed. A reserved matters application had been submitted in conjunction with the outline approval but retaining the on-site bungalow rather than replacing it.  In relation to the access, we were asked by the planners to change the application to a full submission.

It is my understanding that the application has been brought before the Committee only on the matter of retaining the existing bungalow.  It should be noted that the scheme before you today is for five new units.  Because of the reduction in plot numbers, the requirements for the new driveway access are not so onerous.  The outline approval would have resulted in the need for an access road to be constructed in full accordance with current highway standards regardless of it being a private road. For a small scale scheme like this the infrastructure costs and highway contributions would make the development unviable.

With driveway unit numbers being reduced to five the access can be kept to a private drive standard, meaning less space is required and this is why retention of the existing building has been considered.  Therefore access can now adequately be achieved without knocking down the existing bungalow.  The alternative access design proposed is fully supported by the highway authority.

The point of access onto the highway is in exactly the same position as the outline approval.  The driveway has been designed to meet all emergency vehicle access requirements.  The existing dwelling has its own driveway and therefore does not impact on the new access, so reducing the number of vehicle movements on the new drive.  There is already a significant gap to the side of the existing bungalow which is currently used to gain access onto the grassed paddock at the back which forms the bulk of the development site.

We simply  ...  view the full minutes text for item 106.

The Chairman introduced the next application of the meeting, application number 145953, seeking permission for the development of a dry leisure centre, together with external sports pitch, this being a variation of conditions 6 and 15 of planning permission 139552 granted on 14 November 2019 – amendments to drawings for drainage and landscaping.  The application had been brought before the Committee as West Lindsey District Council was the applicant in this case.

Note:            The Chairman made the non-pecuniary declaration that the applicant was West Lindsey District Council. This declaration likely applied to all Members of the Committee.

The Planning Officer gave an overview of the proposal indicating that there were no updates to the published report.

The Chairman advised that there were no speakers on this application and invited comments from Members of the Committee.

Members welcomed the fact that the issues referred to in the report had been identified and that arrangements had been made to address them.

Having been proposed and seconded, the Chairman put the application to the vote and it was agreed unanimously that planning permission should be GRANTED subject to the following conditions:-

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

1. Void

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

None

Conditions which apply or are to be observed during the course of the development:

2. The development shall be carried out in full accordance with the Construction Phase Health and Safety Plan (CPHSP) – (PEP Part 2) Rev A dated 7^th March 2019 and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) – PEP Part 3 Rev A dated 15^th April 2019.

Reason: In the interest of the amenity in accordance with policy LP26 of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan.

3. The tree protection measures shall be carried out in strict accordance with details within Tree protection Root Barrier Plan and Specification Rev 00 dated 28^th January 2019.

Reason:To ensure that adequate measures are taken to preserve trees and their root systems whilst construction work is progressing on site in accordance with policy LP17 of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan.

4. With the exception of the detail matters referred by the conditions of this consent, the development hereby approved shall be carried out in accordance with the following drawings:

MRLC1-CPM-01-00-DR-A-X-2001 revision C02 dated 12.09.2018

MRLC1-CPM-01-01-DR-A-X-2002 revision C02 dated 12.09.2018

MRLC1-CPM-01-ZZ-DR-A-X-2010 revision C02 dated 12.09.2018

2001 Rev C04 dated 30.11.18

The works shall be in accordance with the details shown on the approved plans and in any other documents forming part of the application.

Reason: To ensure the development proceeds in accordance with the approved plans.

5. Void

6. The detailed arrangements for the foul and surface water drainage shall be completed in accordance plan 9601 Rev C04 Drainage Plan. The scheme shall be retained and maintained in full in accordance with this strategy.

Reason: To ensure the site is adequately drained in accordance with policy LP14 of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan.

7.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 107.

The determination of appeals was NOTED.