Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutions.

Apologies were received from Councillors Alan Bradford (substituted by Councillor Peter Clayton) and Brian Smedley.

Apologies were received from Councillors Alan Bradford (Cllr Peter Clayton substituted) and Brian Smedley.

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 B Filmer, P Clayton and A Hendry declared an Other Registrable Interest as they were members of the Drainage Boards.

Councillor Matt Martin confirmed that he had taken part in the referral process in respect of Application 50/20/00054 , but that he retained an open mind and would listen to the merits of the application and had taken part in no discussions on the application.

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 day, date, year – usually Weds before.

No members of the Public had registered to speak for this item.

To consider the Habitats Regulation Assessment for Planning Application 50/20/00054

To agree the Habitats Regulation Assessment originally dated 11 September 2020 and updated 7 June 2023.

The planning officer introduced the Habitats Regulation Assessment for this site, explaining that the conclusion of the County Ecologist considered that there may be an impact on Horseshoe Bats therefore requested off-site mitigation measures to replace lost land and this had been secured at Rughill and also a condition to be included on any permission relating to lighting design. Natural England raised no objection subject to mitigation as identified in the assessment.

(For 10, Against 1)

RESOLVED:

To agree the Habitats Regulation Assessment originally dated 11 September 2020 and updated 7 June 2023.

To consider an application for a full application for the erection of  26 No. dwellings and formation of access, associated open space, landscaping and parking. Outline application with some matters reserved for 4 No. self build plots.

To Defer the application to undertake a Site Visit to assess the impact on the street scene, highways access and footpath.

The planning officer introduced the application to the Committee with the assistance of a power point presentation.  provided the following updates to their written 

·         Condition 15 wording amended to clarify land use and any possible impacts

·        Additional condition relating to noise to be added

·        S106 Agreement to be amended in relation to obligations to add “lifetime of development or in perpetuity”

The Committee were addressed by 4 residents in opposition to the application and the Parish Council.  Their comments  

Ø  Additional 250 extra homes and no additional infrastructure benefits and would have an adverse impact on the area.

Ø  The Neighbourhood Plan had proposed a number of possible sites for Affordable Housing, however this site was not one of them, although the Neighbourhood Plan proposed more Affordable Housing than the Local Plan.

Ø  It was considered that the Affordable Housing Assessment was not correct, with the process flawed and the results dubious as no evidence provided.

Ø  The site did not meet Policy T2b and the application was speculative.

The agent addressed the committee and their comments included:

Ø  It was considered that there was a need for the Affordable Housing, of which there would be 12 rental properties,

Ø  The design of the dwellings reflected the local area and would be of sustainable construction including climate change benefits

Ø  Objections had been taken into account raised during consultation and amendments made to the application

Ø  The new footpath proposed would connect to the current Public Rights of Way and into the town.

In response to questions from Members, the Planning Officer advised that the Affordable Housing Needs Assessment had been provided by the Developer and the results stated that 14 households had confirmed that there was a housing need and the Affordable Housing Manager had agreed that these results were justified. The design and materials proposed for the properties were not considered to be adverse to the surrounding area, however there was some concern raised by the members that the transition property and the green roof.

Councillor Hendry proposed that a site visit be undertaken due to the complexity of the application and the impacts this application may have on the surrounding area.  This proposal was seconded by Cllr Filmer.

(For 9, against 2)

RESOLVED:

To Defer the application to undertake a Site Visit to assess the impact on the street scene, highways access and footpath.

To consider an application for the erection a dwelling with a car port

To Grant Permission

The committee were addressed by a neighbour objecting to the application and their comments included 3 main concerns:

Loss of amenity and privacy due to the property`s change of position and so is now 7 metres nearer to their property which would also lead to over shadowing and loss of light especially on lower floor. It was also considered that the design was not in scale.

The planning officer advised that this application was a slightly different scheme, roof lights are high level and the glazing within the west elevation would have obscured glazing. He also confirmed that the dwelling would be approximately 5 metres to the boundary plus there would be space to the neighbour`s actual dwelling and therefore it was considered that there would not be overlooking or additional over shadowing.

At the conclusion of the debate, it was proposed by Councillor A Hendry and seconded by Councillor T Grimes that the application be approved subject to the conditions in the Planning Officer’s recommendation outlined in the report (with the additional wording on Conditions 3 and 9). On being put to the vote the proposal was carried by 9 votes in favour, 2 votes against. 

RESOLVED:

To Grant Permission subject to the following conditions and to the amendments to Conditions 3 and 9 to show that they were pre-commencement conditions.

To consider an application for the erection of a single storey extension & dormer extension to the North elevation.

To Grant Permission subject to additional conditions.

The planning officer introduced the application to the Committee with the assistance of a power point presentation.  She provided the following updates to their writtenreport:- 

That the Parish Council had provided comments stating that they agreed with the objectors and considered that the application would create overlooking and loss of privacy to the neighbours.

That an additional condition would be needed to cover biodiversity issues.

The committee were addressed by 2 residents in opposition to the application. Their comments included concerns on loss of privacy due to the extensions as considered it would overlook their garden and rear of the property and would be visually harmful as out of keeping in the area.

In response to questions and comments from Members, the planning officer advised that no concerns on the single storey extension and there would be a distance of 20 metres to other property and that there were dormers on other properties within the area.

RESOLVED:

That planning application 53/23/00008 was APPROVED with conditions as detailed below and an additional condition relating to biodiversity.

Schedule A

Location Plan Drg No. 00817131-C7A6F2

Block Plan Drg No. 00817133-929BD6

Existing & Proposed Floor Plans & Elevations Drg No. VPH-Bartholomew-01 Rev. 001

Existing & Proposed Roof Plans Drg No. VPH-Bartholomew-02 Rev. 001