Agenda item

Application Proposal: Reserved Matters application for the erection of up to 200 dwellings including access, layout, scale and appearance, landscaping and associated ancillary works

Having declared a personal and prejudicial interest, Cllr Jenny Kenton left the room prior to consideration of the application.

The item was chaired by Cllr. Paul Maxwell.

Members were reminded that the application had been 2-starred and that if the Committee were minded to refuse the application, whilst it would be able to debate the issues and indicate grounds for refusal, the final determination would be made by the Regulation Committee.

The Development Management Specialist presented the application which was seeking approval for reserved matters following the grant of outline consent in 2017 including approval of two vehicular access points.  With the aid of a powerpoint presentation he outlined the application site and the surrounding area.  He explained that an area of open space providing a green corridor would be established throughout the centre of the site and a landscape buffer would be retained around the site. A range of house types including bungalows were being proposed within the scheme.  The Development Management Specialist outlined the key considerations and explained that the application site was included in the Chard Regeneration Plan, the overall highway impact and the width of the road was considered acceptable by the Highway Authority and that a new play area would be provided at the south of the site.

In response to member questions, the Development Management Specilaist informed members of the following:

·         Outlined linkages at the southern end of the site;

·         Bus companies generally did not support diverting bus routes through sites of this size particularly when there were adequate bus stops within walking distance;

·         There were no plans to improve the pavement nearby;

·         There would be footpaths and cycle paths running through the site;

·         Sockets for charging electric vehicles would be located throughout the site;

·         He could approach the Highway Authority with regard to possible upgrades to pavements in the local area as part of improving linkages;

·         The garage sizes would meet the minimum statutory legal requirement;

·         The main junction cross lines would be a different material;

·         With regard to enforcing Condition 4, the Council had powers to go into properties to investigate enforcement complaints;

·         The possibility of providing a proportion of car ports throughout the site would have to be discussed with the applicant.  The applicant was only proposing garages;

·         The buffer around the site including the trees and hedgerows within the site would be maintained by a management company;

·         The overall traffic impact was considered acceptable therefore phasing restrictions were not appropriate.  The applicant had confirmed that work on the access would start on Forton Road due to site constraints;

·         It was the intention for the roads to be fully adopted.

The Committee was addressed by two members of the public in objection to the application.  Points raised related to the following:

·         The need for bungalows and not houses on the boundary closest to Wessex Close;

·         Lack of facilities in the town centre;

·         Concerns over the increase in traffic;

·         Lack of pavements;

·         No allowance for people crossing the road to get to the bus stop on the other side of the road;

·         Bus stop in need of refurbishment.

Ward Member, Cllr. Jason Baker raised concerns over the layout of the road and commented that it would be used to get from one side of the town to the over to avoid the junctions at the Church which were already over capacity and not suitable for large vehicles coming around the sharp bend.  He understood that the estate road was not meant to provide the main link road and was part of a wider development and the Chard Regeneration Plan but traffic would use this road to cut across to Forton Road and would also use other estate roads to cut across to the other side of the town which would be made worse by this development. He felt that the proposed play area would be better placed by the existing play area and raised concerns over safety in relation to on-street parking and the school and medical centre being over capacity.  

During the discussion, members made a number of comments in relation to the following:  

·         The development would create another rat run;

·         Increase in traffic would make existing rat runs worse;

·         It would be better to enhance the existing play area;

·         The need for provision of bus shelters;

·         A358 would be the preferred route for starting construction;

·         The need to improve existing walkways for pedestrians;

·         Concerns over increase in traffic and impact on Forton Road;

·         Concerns over the density of housing along the boundary;

·         Support for conditioning the size of garages.

The Development Management Specialist reminded members that the highway impact including the volume of traffic had been assessed at the outline application stage.

During the discussion, the Leader of the Council agreed to write to the Highway Authority expressing members concerns over lack of attendance at the meeting and a request for further information on the road system. 

At the conclusion of the debate, it was proposed and seconded to defer the application to seek negotiations between the Applicant and the Planning Officer (to also include the Chard area and Tatworth and Forton Ward Members), with particular scrutiny of matters relating to:

1.    Layout (location of play area and density of housing and relationship of houses in the vicinity of Wessex Close)

2.    The phasing of the development – Members expressed an interest starting at the Tatworth Road end of the site

3.    Potential for rat-running through the estate

4.    Pavements in the vicinity of the site (width, conditions and connectivity)

5.    The provision of bus stops and shelters in the vicinity

6.    The provision of garages and the probability of them being used for parking, resulting in problematic on-street parking

On being put to the vote, the proposal to defer the application was unanimously agreed.