Agenda item

Note:   At this point in proceedings, Councillor Ian Fleetwood stepped down from the committee to speak as Ward Member for the item and Councillor Owen Bierley sat as Chairman.

 

The Principal Development Management Officer gave the following update to committee:

 

·         The minerals and waste team from Lincolnshire County Council have lifted their safeguarding objection to the proposal;

 

The first public speaker was Councillor Robert Webb, from Bardney Group Parish Council.  He raised the following points from the viewpoint of the Parish Council:

 

·         There was currently no spare capacity in the drainage system.  Several properties had been flooded with effluent; at times of heavy rainfall; surface water was a known problem in Bardney;

 

·         Anglian Water had assessed the area and concluded it was acting above its previously stated capacity; they had also said that this development would lead to an unacceptable risk of flooding downstream;

 

·         In recent times heavy rainfall had caused flooding to take place; the last occurrence was 8 October;

 

·         A water study in 2010 stated that the drainage infrastructure in Bardney could only cope with an additional 333 dwellings; since that date, 400 homes had been approved or built.  No further applications should be approved on public health grounds until the health matter was resolved;

 

·         The true measurement of the road is 4.8 metres; this was not a straight road and had a 90 degree angle;

 

·         The Highways department at Lincolnshire County Council in October this year said there had been no consultation between the risk management team and the regional team covering Bardney; therefore the response to the consultation had been inaccurate and should not be accepted;

 

·         Parking on Lea Grove was difficult as not all houses had driveways;

 

·         The nearest bus stop was half a mile from the site, with only five buses a day.  Most residents have to use private vehicles;

 

·         The development made no provision for employment or retail within the village;

 

·         It was disputed whether the site was brownfield; it had historically been greenfield and used for grazing;

 

·         A letter had been received from the local school outlining that the cost of an additional classroom would be approximately £300,000, not £45,000.

 

Note:   Councillor David Cotton declared a personal interest as he was acquainted with Mr Michael Braithwaite, the next speaker, as Mr Braithwaite had worked alongside him on the Joint Strategic Local Plan.  He had not had any dealings with Mr Braithwaite on this application.

 

            Councillor Owen Bierley added that Members of the Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee had met Mr Braithwaite in his former role on the Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee.

 

The next speaker was Mr Michael Braithwaite, planning consultant, acting for the applicant.  He raised the following points:

 

·         The planning application was prepared and submitted following positive pre-application advice with officers at West Lindsey District Council;

 

·         The brownfield site was within the developed footprint of Bardney;

 

·         This site met the intensification and renewal criteria within the Central Lincolnshire Plan for a large village;

 

·         There was contact with Highways at Lincolnshire County Council to explore capacity on the site.  This was supported; Highways had had comments drawn to their attention and considered that the site met their standards;

 

·         Discussions had been held with Children’s Services at Lincolnshire County Council about the needs of the local primary school;

 

·         The Parish Council had been approached; it was understood that the area was not developing a Neighbourhood Plan;

 

·         Discussions with the local planning authority and the applicants had led to some changes; most notable was the reduction in the number of proposed houses on the site, and a change to the redline boundary that cuts through the existing bowls pavilion;

 

·         Lincolnshire County Council had now withdrawn its objection to the application as it would not be able to extract gravel from underneath the site;

 

·         There had been no response to highways safety as this had been covered by the relevant consultees and conditions;

 

·         The granting of planning permission would enable the redevelopment of a derelict site within West Lindsey;

 

The third speaker was Mr Rowlett, a local resident opposing the application.  The following points were raised:

 

·         His home on the corner of Lea Grove had been flooded a number of times as drainage could not cope.  People across the road had had effluent in their gardens;

 

·         People were parking on the grass verge in the estate, which was in a terrible state;

 

·         The street would struggle to cope with construction traffic; refuse lorries have been scratching cars on Lea Grove;

 

·         A number of elderly people live on the street, as well as children;

 

·         There were two to three cars for every house; as a result, there was parking on the street, and it was difficult to see to come out of your driveway;

 

·         The main concerns were safety, drainage, and heavy vehicles on the road.

 

The final speaker was Councillor Ian Fleetwood, Ward Member for Bardney.  He raised the following points:

 

·         This application had come back for all matters reserved; matters are made more difficult as Bardney did not have a Neighbourhood Plan;

 

·         The access to Lea Grove was 4.8-4.9 metres wide in some places;

 

·         Councillor Fleetwood had met local residents and discussed the issue; if the location was viewed on a Saturday morning, there would be cars parked on the corner of Lea Grove.  Some houses do not have any parking space at all.  It would be virtually impossible on a normal evening or weekend to see to exit Lea Grove;

 

·         Sewage was coming into residents’ gardens.  There were issues with heating oil coming out of the ground and into drains;

 

·         Emails to the clerk at Bardney Group Parish Council from Anglian Water about the capacity for drainage on the site had been received;

 

·         A site visit would be recommended; this would allow information from Anglian Water to come forward.  Members would be invited to park on Lea Grove and see for themselves what the site was like;

 

·         Access to the site used to be from the elbow bend on Wragby Road;

 

·         If committee were not minded to vote for a site visit, they were encouraged to refuse the application.

 

Officers then responded to points raised during the speakers’ section of the meeting.  These were as follows:

 

·         When looking at infrastructure requirements, there would be dialogue with the Estates department at Lincolnshire County Council (as Local Education Authority) rather than contacting the school direct – this was standard practice;

 

·         Flooding – the site fell within Flood Zone 1.  There were no objections to this proposal on the grounds of flooding from Anglian Water or the lead local flood authority;

 

·         There were conditions proposed, as requested by Anglian Water, for a foul water drainage strategy to be agreed;

 

·         Highways Lincolnshire had been contacted twice about this application because of the large number of objections on the grounds of parking on Lea Grove; this was not currently an issue as far as Highways were concerned;

 

·         If there were to be a Highways issue in the future, it would be within their gift to put double yellow lines onto the road;

 

 

[Due to technical issues with the webcast, the meeting was adjourned at 2030.

 

The meeting reconvened at 2034.

 

Note:   Councillor Ian Fleetwood left the Chamber on the advice of the legal representative so as not to provide undue influence over the committee. This happened during the adjournment, and he did not return upon the resumption of the meeting.  All other Members were present at the resumption.]

 

The Principal Development Management Officer finished his response by saying that the bar set by the National Planning Policy Framework on highways grounds had been set high in terms of a refusal on highway safety; if Members were minded to go against the advice of Highways they would need evidence to support a contrary view.

 

Members were then asked to provide comments on the application.  Further information was provided:

 

·         Access from Wragby Road was not precluded on this application;

 

·         The statutory consultee on flooding was Lincolnshire County Council as Lead Local Flood Authority, not the Environment Agency;

 

·         There was a duty, given concerns raised by the public, to investigate instances of effluent entering homes;

 

·         The response from Anglian Water on foul water stated ‘the foul drainage from this development was in the catchment of the Bardney water recycling centre that would have available capacity for these flows’.

 

There were no further questions or comments and it was therefore moved, seconded and voted upon that the decision to grant planning permission be AGREED, subject to conditions, and would 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:-

 

• An affordable housing contribution of 5 dwellings on site
• A contribution of £45,105 towards an additional classroom at Bardney Primary School or land adjacent Bardney Primary School as an in-kind payment of this contribution

 

In addition to the S106 as the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is in force – the development is expected to be liable.

 

In the event of the s106 not being completed and signed by all parties within 6 months from the date of this Committee, then the application will be reported back to the next available Committee meeting following the expiration of the 9 months.