Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
Democratic Services

Mobile menu icon

Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: King Edmund Chamber, Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich. View directions

Contact: Committee Services 

Items
No. Item

73.

SUBSTITUTES AND APOLOGIES

Any Member attending as an approved substitute to report giving his/her name and the name of the Member being substituted.

 

To receive apologies for absence.

 

Minutes:

Apologies of absence were received from Councillors Sue Ayres, Zac Norman and John Hinton.

 

Councillor Margaret Maybury was substituting for Councillor Sue Ayres.

 

 

74.

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

Members to declare any interests as appropriate in respect of items to be considered at this meeting.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Adrian Osborne declared a non-pecuniary interest in application DC/19/03614 on account of his wife being the Babergh Cabinet Member for Housing.

 

The Legal Advisor advised that this did not prevent Councillor Osborne in taking part in the questioning, debate, discussion and voting on the application.

 

75.

PL/19/18 TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 6 NOVEMBER 2019 pdf icon PDF 263 KB

To follow.

Minutes:

It was resolved that the Minutes of the meeting held on the 6 November 2019 be confirmed and signed as a true record.

 

76.

TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATION OF PETITIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE COUNCIL'S PETITION SCHEME

Minutes:

None received.

 

77.

SITE INSPECTIONS

In addition to any site inspections which the Committee may consider to be necessary, the Acting Chief Planning Officer will report on any other applications which require site inspections.

 

The provisional date for any site inspections is Wednesday 27 November 2019.

 

Minutes:

77.1         None requested.

 

78.

PL/19/19 PLANNING APPLICATIONS FOR DETERMINATION BY THE COMMITTEE pdf icon PDF 57 KB

An Addendum to Paper PL/19/19 will be circulated to Members prior to the commencement of the meeting summarising additional correspondence received since the publication of the agenda but before 12 noon on the working day before the meeting, together with any errata.

 

Minutes:

In accordance with the Council’s arrangements for Public Speaking at Planning Committee, representations were made as detailed below relating to the items in Paper PL/18/ and the speakers responded to questions put to them as provided for under those arrangements.

 

Application Number

Representations from

DC/19/04105

Cllr Alastair McCraw (Ward Member)

DC/19/03185

Chris Smith (Agent)

DC/19/03577

None

 

It was RESOLVED

 

That subject to the imposition of conditions or reasons for refusal (whether additional or otherwise) in accordance with delegated powers under Council Minute No. 48(a) (dated 19 October 2004) decisions on the items referred to in Paper PL/18/ be made as follows:-

 

 

79.

DC/19/04105 LAND WEST OF BRANTHAM HILL, BRANTHAM, CO11 1ST pdf icon PDF 942 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Item A

 

Application      DC/19/04105              

Proposal                Planning Application Outline Planning Application (some matters reserved – site access to be considered) - Erection of up to 150 dwellings, use of land for community facilities, public open space, landscaping, a sustainable drainage system (SuDS), and vehicular access point from Brantham Hill (following demolition of existing bungalow and outbuildings).

Site Location          Brantham – Land West of Brantham Hill, CO11 1ST

Applicant                 Gladman Developments Ltd.

 

79.1         The Area Planning Manager updated Members on receipt of a letter from Place Services included in the tabled papers.

 

79.2         The Case officer presented the application to the Committee outlining the proposal before Members, the layout of the site, and the officer recommendation of refusal as detailed in the report.

 

79.3         Members considered the representation from Councillor Alastair McCraw, the Ward Member of Brantham.

 

79.4         Members debated the application on the issues including the number of objections to the application, the lack of regard for planning policy and conflict with development plan CS3, boundary lines between the site and the AONB, the change of the landscape if the site was Developed, the Five-year Housing Land Supply in relation to the application and the requirement of the application to demonstrate a need for the development of the site.

 

79.5         Members continued to discuss the Five-Year Housing Land Supply and the weight it carried for the application. The Planning Lawyer advised that this had to be approached with caution and that the Committee should follow the NPPF.

 

79.6         Councillor Adrian Osborne proposed that the application be refused as detailed in the officer’s recommendation and Councillor Stephen Plumb seconded the motion.

 

79.7         RESOLVED

 

That the planning application be REFUSED planning permission for the following reasons:

 

1.          The circumstances of the application and the proposed development are not exceptional and are without a proven justifiable need, contrary to policy CS2. The application fails to adequately demonstrate how the proposal responds to a locally identified housing need, contrary to policy CS11 and paragraph 77 of the NPPF, which requires development in rural areas to be responsive to local circumstances and reflect local needs.

 

2.          The proposed development, by virtue of its scale, siting and location, would cause significant harm to the open countryside (considered to be a valued landscape) and the way that it is experienced within the immediate setting of an area of outstanding natural beauty and would fail to respect the local context and character, and the rural setting, of Brantham and its well-defined spatial grain, contrary to policies CS11, CS14 and CS15 of the development plan and paragraphs 98, 127, and 170 of the NPPF.

 

3.          It is considered that insufficient information has been submitted to enable the local planning authority to confirm that the potential impacts of the proposed development on the local highway network would not be severe, in the terms set out at paragraph 109 of the NPPF, or the cumulative impacts satisfactory in accordance with policy CS11, and this includes identifying appropriate opportunities to promote sustainable transport  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

80.

DC/19/03185 LAND SOUTH OF HOWLETT OF LAVENHAM, MELFORD ROAD, LAVENHAM, SUFFOLK, CO10 9SG pdf icon PDF 413 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Item B

 

Application           DC/19/03185              

Proposal              Planning Application - Submission of Reserved Matters details for outline planning permission DC/17/03100 (Appearance, Scale, Layout and Landscaping) and details for Conditions 5, 6, 9, 10, 13 and 14 for 25 dwellings

Site Location        LAVENHAM – Land South of Howlettt of Lavenham, Melford Road, Suffolk, CO10 9SG

Applicant              Hopkins and Moore (Developments) Limited

 

79.1         The Case Officer updated Members on correspondence received from Lavenham Parish Council included in the tabled papers.

 

79.2         The Case officer then presented the application to the Committee outlining the proposal before Members, the layout of the site, and the officer recommendation of approval as detailed in the report.

 

79.3         The Case officer informed Members that advice had been received from Strategic Housing and that clusters of affordable houses could include up to 15 houses before ‘pepper pot’ distribution was required.

 

79.4         Members considered the representation from Chris Smith who spoke as the Agent.

 

79.5         The Agent responded to Members’ questions on issues including consultation with Lavenham Parish Council, the clustering of the affordable houses, the noise levels from the adjacent garage and the implementation of noise reduction measure between the site and the garage.

 

79.6         The Chief officer advised the Committee that the distribution of the affordable houses had been acceptable by officers, compliant with the Strategic Housing Team’s advice and with Lavenham’s H3 Housing Policy.

 

79.7         The Agent continued to respond to Members’ questions including noise issues in relation to Sudbury Road, refuse bin storage allocation, materials used throughout development, management of the green areas for the affordable houses and permeable surface area which would not be managed by Suffolk County Council.

 

79.8         The Acting Area Manager clarified that Environmental Health had assessed the noise issues under the consultees’ reports and that the recommendations in the report was included in the conditions.

 

79.9         Members continued to debate the application on the issues including the cluster of the affordable houses, the materials used for this part of the development and the conditions included in the report.

 

79.10      The Acting Area Manager advised that a third condition be include with regards to materials.

 

79.11      The Acting Area Manager informed the Committee that the Applicant had complied with a list of conditions approved for the outlined planning application DC/17/03100.

 

79.12      Councillor Melanie Barrett proposed that the application be approved as detailed in the officer recommendation. Councillor Lee Parker seconded the motion.

 

79.13      RESOLVED

 

That the application for reserved matters subject to conditions be APPROVED

 

(1)           That the Corporate Manager- Planning for Growth be authorised to approve reserved matters of appearance, layout, scale and landscaping subject to conditions:

 

1.    Withdrawal PD rights

2.      Noise attenuation

Materials

81.

DC/19/03614 THE FIRS, WALDINGFIELD ROAD, SUDBURY, SUFFOLK, CO10 2PY pdf icon PDF 357 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Item C

Application           DC/19/03614              

Proposal              Planning Application - change of use and conversion of common room facility and warden’s living accommodation to a homeless persons’ accommodation with eight bedsits (Sui Generis)

Site Location        SUDBURY – The Firs Waldingfield Road, Suffolk CO10 2PY

Applicant              Babergh District Council

 

Note: The meeting was adjourned between 11:03am and 11:15am.

 

79.1          The Case officer presented the application to the Committee outlining the proposal before Members, the layout of the site, and the officer recommendation of refusal as detailed in the report.

 

79.2          The Chair introduced the Corporate Manager for Housing Solutions, who was present to respond to questions for the application.

 

79.3          The Acting Area Manager provided clarification of the consultation letters sent to the neighbours as part of the planning process.

 

79.4          A point of order was called for by Councillor Adrian Osborn for the Corporate Manager for Housing Solution to provide an outline of the proposed change of use of the property to temporary accommodation for homeless people.

 

79.5         Members debated the application and asked for further clarification from the Corporate Manager for Housing Solutions on issues relating to the circumstance of the Council’s duty of care for homelessness and the statutory provision required for accommodations for homeless people.

 

79.6         The Acting Area Manager informed the Committee that planning permission was required for change of use and conversion for accommodation for more than six persons.

 

79.7         Members continued to debate the application on issues including maintenance of the garden, parking provision, compliance with housing and fire regulations.

 

79.8         In response to Members questions the Corporate Manager for Housing Solutions stated that conversion of the property was scheduled to be completed in June 2020.

 

79.9         Councillor Melanie Barrett proposed the application be approved as detailed in the officer recommendations, Councillor Adrian Osborne seconded the motion.

 

79.10      RESOLVED

 

That the application be GRANTED planning permission and includes the following conditions: -

 

1.    ACTION REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH A SPECIFIC TIMETABLE: COMMENCEMENT TIME LIMIT 

The development hereby permitted shall be begun not later than the expiration of three years from the date of this permission. 

Reason - To comply with the requirements of Section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as amended by Section 51 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004

 

2.    APPROVED PLANS & DOCUMENTS

The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the drawings/documents listed under Section A above and/or such other drawings/documents as may be approved by the Local Planning Authority in writing pursuant to other conditions of this permission or such drawings/documents as may subsequently be approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority as a non-material amendment following an application in that regard.

Reason - For the avoidance of doubt and in the interests of proper planning of the development.

 

3.    CYCLE PARKING PROVISION

To be provided prior to occupation and to be retained at all times.