Agenda item

The Planning Officer presented the report as detailed in full in the agenda.  She provided members with 2 updates: a letter from a member of the public referring to the proposed garage. (Amended plans now indicated that the proposed garage had been removed from the application) and correspondence that stated that as the road was private the advice given by Highways was irrelevant. 

Several photos of the locality were shown as part of the power point presentation, the officer confirmed that her recommendation was to approve the application as per the reasons as detailed in full in the agenda report.

Mr D Rogan spoke in objection to the application; he was concerned about the impact the proposal would have on the site within the listed walls, he also made reference to the private through road and the local covenants regarding parking. 

Mr G Adlem the agent spoke on behalf of his clients, Mr & Mrs Smith, who in his opinion were putting more into the proposal than would be taken out. The Conservation Officer was now happy with the design of the wall and the proposed materials.  Mr Adlem explained that the listed wall covered 44 square meters in total and less than 6 square meters would be removed as part of this proposal and would tidy up the whole area. He read from a letter written by the applicants Mr & Mrs Smith, regarding some of the negative comments made by neighbours.

Ward Member Cllr Colin Winder felt let down because there was not an SSDC Legal Officer in attendance at this meeting. He raised the civil matter of previously agreed parking issues and access road.  If this application was approved he felt that it would be unfair as those concerns would have to be dealt with via legal channels at a cost to residents themselves.  Cllr Winder explained that there were two relevant listed buildings in the vicinity not just the one that had been purported to, he also queried the number of policies referred to in the recommendation.

In response, the Development Manager confirmed that it was general practice to list all planning policies that may be relevant to an application, he also explained that parking arrangements had not been part of any S106 obligation, and in his opinion there was adequate parking provided and planning permission was not required to park in part of a garden.

Ward Member Cllr Nick Colbert concurred with Cllr Winder’s comments, although he was unhappy that the application had to be considered by AEC at all because Wincanton Town Councillors and Ward Members, who knew the town well,, had unanimously voted to refuse the application and Cllr Colbert felt that should mean that the application should have been refused at that stage.

In response to a misstatement Mr Adlem confirmed that the applicants have a legal right to park 2 cars outside their property.

Denise Ballance a Director of Lansdowne Property Management addressed members and gave an explanation of the current parking rights used by residents of the estate.

During discussion some members felt that by approving the application an important piece of historical asset would be lost, and did not support the proposed natural stone wall. The views of both Ward Members who knew the locality well should be taken into account, however if the application was refused reasonable reasons should to be used.

A proposal was then made and seconded to refuse the application contrary to the officer’s recommendation as the proposed works would have an adverse impact upon both the fabric and setting of designated heritage assets.

On being put to the vote the motion was carried by 6 votes in favour: 1 against and 3 abstentions.

RESOLVED:

That Planning Application 15/01314/FUL be refused contrary to the officers recommendation for the following reason:

The proposed works will have an adverse impact upon both the fabric and setting of designated heritage assets and as such will be contrary to Policies EQ2 and EQ3 of South Somerset Local Plan March 2015 and advice contained within the National Planning Policy Framework.

(Voting: 6 in favour: 1 against; 3 abstentions)