Decision details

The Planning Officer presented the application and highlighted the key considerations.  He advised the recommendation was to approve the application for 3 glamping pods to be sited on grassland in the car park of the public house and subject to the noise management plan submitted, temporary permission was recommended to allow officers to assess any noise issues over the 3 year period.   He concluded that the application was compliant with the adopted Local Plan.

Two local residents addressed the committee in objection to the application.  Some of their comments included:

·       They were not aware of any site visit conducted.

·       The opening hours would be longer which could impact on crime statistics and the value of neighbouring properties.

·       The access road was narrow and regularly used by tractors and school buses.

·       There was only one entrance in and out of the car park and there could be an increased fire risk with wooden building containing cooking facilities.

·       The presentation photographs did not show the differing heights on the site.

·       The Environment Agency had recommended elevating the pods by 0.6m to avoid any flooding issues but this created overlooking issues for neighbours regardless of the use of opaque glass.

·       Hedgehogs were present in the area.

·       Not convinced that the proposal for a phone number to be provided to local residents and manned 24 hours a day to receive complaints would be effective at controlling noise.

In response to a question, the Legal Advisor confirmed that a 28 day occupancy clause was usual for holiday accommodation. The site owners should keep a record of who stayed in the pods and when they stayed which could be requested by enforcement officers. The potential traffic and noise from different occupiers of the holiday accommodation was discussed together with whether it would be likely to be used by workers from Hinkley Point. It was noted that fire safety would be considered through the Building Regulations.

It was then proposed by the Chair and seconded by Councillor Caroline Ellis to approve the application as per the officer’s recommendation. On being put to the vote this was carried unanimously.

RESOLVED:

That application 3/32/22/010 be approved subject to the conditions listed at Appendix 1 to the agenda report for the following reason:

The proposed development is considered to be compliant in principle with the adopted development plan when taken as a whole. The design, scale and materials of the glamping pods are considered to be acceptable and the impact on the landscape from the whole scheme is not considered to be materially harmful. The impact on neighbouring residential is considered to be mitigated through measuressecured throughplanning conditionsand asdiscussed inthe mainbody of the report. The impact on highway safety and flood risk are not considered to be reasons for refusing the application nor would the impact on ecology be materially harmful, subject to the attachment of conditions as detailed in the agenda report.

(voting: unanimous)