Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Jo Boucher, Case Officer - 01935 462011  Email: jo.boucher@southsomerset.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

106.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Jason Baker who was substituted by Councillor Pauline Lock, Councillor Adam Dance who was substituted by Councillor Nicola Clark, Councillor Henry Hobhouse who was substituted by Councillor Sarah Dyke, Councillor Crispin Raikes who was substituted by Councillor Tim Kerley and Councillor David Recardo who was substituted by Councillor Karl Gill.

 

107.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

Councillor Neil Bloomfield sought clarification regarding the Councillor substitutions at today’s meeting.  It was his understanding that all members who sat on this committee should be specifically trained for this purpose.

 

In response, the Senior Planning Lawyer advised members of the training programme and that certain parts are considered to be compulsory.  Any breach of the training requirements are for the group leaders of the parties to decide whether that member can sit on the committee or not.  She said it is an aspiration of the Council that all members undertake the training identified as compulsory within this programme but is not a legal requirement, and, there is nothing within the Constitution that states if this training is not completed they cannot sit on the Regulation Committee.  

 

She said the constitution states that for substitutions there are no additional training requirements, although it is advisable in relation to the Regulation Committee that more experienced members are chosen, where appropriate, with good working knowledge.  She noted that all members were members of an Area Committee.

 

In response, Councillor Neil Bloomfield said his understanding was that this training requirement was mandatory.  He said four of the substitutes were in fact only elected in May this year and therefore felt they had little experience.

 

Councillor Neil Bloomfield declared a personal interest in Agenda Items 4 and 5, Planning Applications 19/02646/OUT and 19/02656/FUL as he is a County Council member and District member for Martock. He is also the Chairman of Martock Parish Council and Chairman of the Martock Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group.

 

Councillor Pauline Lock declared a personal interest in Agenda Items 4 and 5, Planning Applications 19/02646/OUT and 19/02656/FUL as she is the co-owner of the piece of land in Martock but is located at the other end of the village and therefore distant from the application site. 

 

108.

Public Question Time

Minutes:

There were no questions from members of the public.

109.

Planning Application 19/02646/OUT - Land OS 0002 South Of Coat Road Martock pdf icon PDF 763 KB

Minutes:

Proposal: Outline application for the erection of 120 dwellings together with associated infrastructure

 

The Agency Planner introduced the report and explained for information that there were two applications to consider.  The first being the outline with principal of development, access and indicative layout plan with detailed plans considered at reserve matters stage.  The second is a full application with all matters to be considered.

 

He then provided members with an update, which included:

 

·         An online petition had been submitted which was a continuation of the previous online petition, key points raised were the lack of infrastructure and no areas left for development in the village.

·         Ash Parish Council have objected on the grounds of overdevelopment, lack of local infrastructure and local services unable to cope.

·         Martock Parish Council had commissioned a highways consultant (SLR) to review the transport assessment and continued to read the comments made. This included the sustainability of the site to be unacceptable due to lack of footpaths, limited pedestrian links to local amenities, car parking concerns and internal layout of the roads.  It raised highway safety concerns along the B3165, and inability to confirm the operation of the junction.

·         The highways consultant for the applicant had provided a response to the review, stating they cannot identify any fundamental concerns on why the current proposal should be refused and the comments made are inaccurate or immaterial on transport grounds.  It was also noted the Highway authority did not wish to make any further representation on this matter.

 

He then proceeded to give a detailed presentation, with the aid of slides explained the site and proposed plans in detail, covering:-

 

·         Parking provision increase from previous approved scheme.

·         Reserved matters application was approved in May 2015 – lapsed May 2018.

·         Emerging Local Plan identifies further growth for Martock up to 2036.

·         This site is identified as being suitable in the Councils’ forthcoming consultation.

·         Scheme will immediately contribute towards the Council’s 5 year Housing Land Supply.

·         Developer will contribute towards a provision of extra classroom in the local primary school.

·         Developer will deliver 35% affordable housing.

·         On-site play area and off-site contributions towards recreational facilities.

·         No objection from the Highway Authority, Environment Agency or other technical consultees.

·         CIL contribution towards local infrastructure and Parish Council.

·         The applicant offered to reduce the time in which to commence the development to 1 year as way of a commitment to deliver the proposal in a timely manner and that the standard time commencement condition should be amended accordingly.

·         An additional condition was suggested to commit the applicant to the reduction in carbon emissions produced by the development to be in accordance with the sustainability statement produced by Environmental Economics dated 12 Dec 2019.

·         The Environmental Economics report commits the developer to a 19% carbon

·         Proposed flooding drainage scheme and its future management and maintenance.

·         Future financial contributions towards the provision of local and strategic facilities. 

·         Condition 14 regarding landscaping was amended to include a linked reference to Informative 08 regarding consultation to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 109.

110.

Planning Application 19/02656/FUL - Land OS 0002 South Of Coat Road Martock pdf icon PDF 770 KB

Minutes:

Proposal: The erection of 120 dwellings together with associated infrastructure including access/highway improvements, drainage and attenuation, play area, open space and landscaping (Re-Submission)

 

The Agency Planner introduced the report and provided members with an update, which included:

 

·         Ash Parish Council have objected on the grounds of overdevelopment, lack of local infrastructure and local services unable to cope.

·         Martock Parish Council had commissioned a highways consultant (SLR) to review the transport assessment, which concludes the sustainability of the site  is not considered to be optimised.  Concerns also raised regarding car parking, the site is not within walking distance to the village amenities, inaccurate accident data and the assessment has discounted against the previous application.

·         The highways consultant for the applicant had provided a response to the review, believing the SLR consultants were trying to ‘muddy’ the waters.

·         Noted the key consideration that Highway Authority had not raised any objections to the proposal.

 

He then proceeded to give a detailed presentation, with the aid of slides explained the site and proposed plans in detail, covering:-

 

·         The key considerations being detailed planning application, principle of development, visual amenity/local character, residential amenity, highway safety and drainage issues.

·         Landscape and boundary of the site.

·         Layout of the site including the two proposed attenuation basins.

·         Pedestrian and cycle links from the site including the agreement from the applicant to upgrade Hills Lane surface.

·         The increase in the provision of car parking spaces by 41 bringing a total of 311 spaces, therefore fully policy compliant.

·         Proposed layout plan which omits any 5 bed houses and the reduction in 4 bed units to 2-3 bed units.

·         Proposed access plans of the site and tracking of refuse vehicles. The Highway Authority consider these acceptable.

·         An additional condition was suggested to commit the applicant to the reduction in carbon emissions produced by the development to be in accordance with the sustainability statement produced by Environmental Economics dated 12 Dec 2019.

·         Noted site was in flood zone 1 and LPFA and Wessex Water have not raised any objections to the surface water mitigation.

·         Inclusion of Section 106 agreement will secure the contributions toward the provision of sports/play and strategic facilities, off site public open space, education and affordable housing.

·         Design and layout of proposed dwellings.

·         Proposed landscaping scheme including retaining mature boundary hedging and significant amount of new tree planting.

·         The applicant offered to reduce the time in which to commence the development to 1 year as way of a commitment to deliver the proposal in a timely manner and that the standard time commencement condition should be amended accordingly.

 

He therefore concluded that after considering all of the responses and advice, as outlined in the agenda report, his proposal was to approve the application as set out in the agenda report.

 

In response to questions from Members, the Agency Planner and Lead Specialist - Planning advised:

 

·         Do not consider the increase of 6% in housing from one site would be detrimental to Martock.

·         Appreciate the comments made by the Crime  ...  view the full minutes text for item 110.

111.

Date of Next Meeting

The next scheduled meeting of the Regulation Committee will be held on Tuesday 21st January 2020 at 10.00am. However this meeting will only take place if there is business to conduct.

 

 

 

Minutes:

Members noted the date of the next meeting.