Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutions.

No apologies as all committee members were present.

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

Resolved that the minutes of the Planning Committee - North held on 12 December 2023 be confirmed as a correct record subject to a small change correction of a name on Page 19 (Hendry not Henry) .

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 )

Councillors Alan Bradford, Hilary Bruce, Bob Filmer and Alistair Hendry declared an  Other Registrable Interest as they were members of an Internal Drainage Board but took no part in any discussions on these applications.

Councillor Bob Filmer declared a pre-determined interest in Application 07/23/00026 as he had made comment on the proposal as the Division Member and asked for the application to be referred to the committee.

Councillor Tony Grimes declared a Non-Registrable interest in application 07/23/00026 as he was the Division Member but had taken no part in any discussions on the proposal.

Councillors Kathy Pearce, Gill Slocombe and Brian Smedley all declared an Other Registrable Interest as they were members of Bridgwater Town Council but took no part in any discussions on application 08/21/00030.

The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.

For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker.

Requests to speak at the meeting at Public Question Time must be made to the Monitoring Officer in writing or by email to democraticservicesteam@somerset.gov.uk  by 5pm on Wednesday 10 January 2024.

Details of public speaking are captured under the minutes of the appropriate application.

To consider an application for the erection of 90no. dwellings, provision of a Local Area of Play, formation of vehicular connections, engineering works (including ground modelling and demolition), car parking and all associated infrastructure (including cycle and pedestrian connections and services provisions).

That the application 09/21/00030  Land Off A38, Bristol Road And A39, Bath Road And Bounded By M5 Motorway And Railway Line, Bristol Road, Bridgwater, Somerset be approved subject to a S106 agreement to provide Affordable Housing, management and maintenance of a LAP, planting and the acoustic bund/fence, Travel Plan (with the deletion of the condition previously stated) and subject to any NHS contributions requested after consultation on the application. Also to the conditions detailed within the report subject to the amendments as agreed.

The planning officer introduced the application to the committee with the aid of a power point presentation, He highlighted the following points to the members:

The application had been amended and the number of properties had been reduced to 90 dwellings.

The site had been approved for a mix of residential and employment land, however it had confirmed that the employment land was not needed as there was a good supply of alternative sites and it was also considered that the land would not be suitable due to the number of residential sites within the area.

It was confirmed that the farm buildings would be cleared from the site, a play area would be erected and that there would still be some open land in and around the Willow Man.

Highways in the surrounding estates were not yet adopted, however this was being dealt with and therefore there would be no impact on this new application site

A great deal of work had been undertaken in regard to an acoustic bund and fences plus the fabric of the buildings will be conditioned.

It was considered that the design of the properties was seen within the context of North East Bridgwater.

The planning officer also updated the committee as Condition 14 would need to be amended to ensure that acoustic measures work. Other conditions covered Ecology and Drainage issues. The planning officer also stated that there were minor drafting changes needed to conditions which would be agreed by the Chair and Vice-Chair of the committee.

The committee were addressed by a local resident who considered that there had been a great deal of development in the area to the detriment of the road network, with the roads in poor condition, parking issues and volume of traffic, the public transport was also poor.

The agent then spoke on the application stating that this was the final piece of the whole site with the infrastructure in place for the highways, drainage and that the number of dwellings had been reduced and that there would be 27 Affordable Homes. He also confirmed that they were happy with the Heads of Terms and that the amendments to the conditions were minor drafting issues.

In response to questions from Members, the planning officer advised:

That the area was already approved for development, traffic acceptable for the number of houses, they admitted that parking could be an issue but that was due to local residents, there was a bus service on Kings Drive, accepted that the state of the roads were an issue due to the building works on-going and that the roads were not yet adopted, however this could be resolved through the S38.

That the landscaping was conditioned.

Other conditions to be amended for minor changes included:

Conditions 4, 7, 12 and 16: grammatical changes

Condition 19: guidance note to be clarified

Condition 23: occupation and layout of the Local Area of Play

Members also asked for clarification with Condition 13 relating to noise levels  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

To consider an application for the erection of 14no. affordable dwellings (revised scheme).

That the application 54/22/00005 Land to the south of Lavers Close, Woolavington, Bridgwater be approved subject to a S106 agreement for the provision of 100% Affordable Housing (subject to a Local Lettings Agreement with consultation of the Parish Council) and the provision of a Local Area of Play and the conditions as detailed within the report.

The Planning Officer introduced the application to the committee with the aid of a power point presentation. He confirmed that this was an Affordable Housing led scheme and that there was also another scheme with consent. However, Woolavington was a Tier 2 settlement, which meant that within Policy 2b affordable housing included in this application, the dwellings would also counted towards the District Wide need and not just locally it was also confirmed that within the Housing Needs Assessment undertaken in March 2023, showed that there was a need for 20 rented units, this application are all rented and so meets part of the need and bed size requirements.

Other areas brought to the attention of the committee were that there was a Local Area of Play, the design would be similar to the adjoining development and had a acceptable layout. There were no issues with highways, parking, Ecology and Landscape were conditioned and that trees proposed to be removed will be replaced and that drainage would through soakaways and the existing network.

The committee were addressed by a representative of the parish council who stated that they accepted the need for development, however they felt that the proposal was not needed as there was another scheme agreed which met the need, they also were concerned as there had been no discussions with the applicant.

A representative from the Housing Association who were the applicant explained that this application would link to their adjacent site and that the Housing Needs Assessment confirmed that rented properties were needed for families. It was also noted that there would be a range of homes and that if this application was granted, they could apply for Homes England funding, The applicant was happy to work with the parish council on a Local Letting Scheme.

In response to questions from Members, it was confirmed that the applicant could apply for exemption from CIL as the proposal was for affordable housing, however, if the Education department requested contributions, then the CIL pot would be used.

It was requested that the S106 agreement be amended to include consultation with the parish council in regard to the local lettings policy.

Resolved:

That the application 54/22/00005 Land to the south of Lavers Close, Woolavington, Bridgwater be approved subject to a S106 agreement for the provision of 100% Affordable Housing (subject to a Local Lettings Agreement with consultation of the Parish Council) and the provision of a Local Area of Play and the conditions as detailed within the report.

(Unanimous)

To consider an application for the erection of extension to North East and North West elevations, Erection of detached garage, conversion of double garage, change of access to rear garden.

That application 07/23/00026 at Sunnycot, Church Lane, Brent Knoll, Highbridge, Somerset, TA9 4EG be approved subject to conditions to be agreed with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the committee and to include conditions relating to Landscaping and Ecology.

Councillor Filmer left the committee before consideration of this application as he declared that he was pre-determined as he had supported the proposal as the Division Member.

The planning officer presented the application to the committee with the aid of a power point presentation, explaining that the issue with the proposal was considered to be the visual impact due to the extensions proposed as it was considered not appropriate to the dwelling or the locality.

The committee were addressed by the Division Member for the application. Their comments included that the application would meet a need for the applicant, it had been designed top reduce impact on the neighbours and the local area as it was kept as a single storey.

The applicant also addressed the committee, confirming that the extension was needed for his family and the design had been to reduce any impact on the neighbours, there would also be additional landscaping to reduce any further impact.

Councillor Slocombe agreed that the proposal was respectful of the neighbours and that there would be no impact on the neighbourhood, the design also met the needs of the applicant, this proposal was seconded by Councillor Grimes.

Resolved:

That application 07/23/00026 at Sunnycot, Church Lane, Brent Knoll, Highbridge, Somerset, TA9 4EG be approved subject to appropriate conditions (including conditions relating to Landscaping and Ecology) to be delegated to the Service Director to be agreed in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the committee.

(Unanimous)

To receive the following Information Sheets for note:

Ø  Planning Appeals Received

Ø  Planning Appeals Decided

Ø  S106 Agreements

Ø  Certificate of Lawfulness – Existing

Ø  Certificate of Lawfulness – Proposed.

To note the Information Sheets provided on the agenda.

To note the Information Sheets provided on the agenda.