Agenda and minutes

Venue: Meeting will be held in accordance with provisions of SI 2020/392. Live Stream of meeting can be viewed via https://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/livemeetings

Contact: Emma Haward Email:  democraticservices@tendringdc.gov.uk or Telephone  01255686007

Items
No. Item

57.

Apologies for Absence and Substitutions

The Committee is asked to note any apologies for absence and substitutions received from Members.

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillor Casey for his late attendance.

58.

Minutes of the Last Meeting pdf icon PDF 58 KB

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of the Committee, held on Tuesday 6 October 2020.

Minutes:

It was moved by Councillor Bray and seconded by Councillor Harris and RESOLVED that the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on Tuesday, 6 October 2020 be approved as a correct record subject to the following amendments:

 

Councillor White referred to page 2, paragraph 2 of the Committee minutes whereby it mentioned ‘highways’. Reason for refusal was amended as below:

 

2) in light of the clear legal advice the Planning Committee confirms that it does not wish to continue defending ground 3 of the reasons for refusal (loss of privacy);

 

59.

Declarations of Interest

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Personal Interest, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

 

Minutes:

Councillors Scott and Wiggins both declared a personal interest in Planning Application 20/00239/FUL – Ground Floor 1 Lanswood Park, Broomfield Road, Elmstead, Colchester due to being the Ward Members.

 

Councillor Bush declared a personal interest in Planning Application 20/00194/FUL – Land North West of Redhouse Farm, Oakley Road, Wix Manningtree CO11 2SF due to being both the Parish Councillor and Ward Councillor.

 

Councillor G V Guglielmi declared a personal interest in Planning Application 20/00458/OUT Land East of Bromley Road, Lawford CO11 2HS due to being the Ward Member.

 

60.

Questions on Notice pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 38

Subject to providing two working days’ notice, a Member of the Committee may ask the Chairman of the Committee a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the Tendring District and which falls within the terms of reference of the Committee.

Minutes:

There were none on this occasion.

61.

A.1 - PLANNING APPLICATION - 19/01706/OUT - LAND SOUTH WEST OF HORSLEY CROSS ROUNDABOUT CLACTON ROAD HORSLEY CROSS CO11 2NZ pdf icon PDF 355 KB

As Members will recall, this application was reported to Planning Committee on 14 July 2020, wherein it was resolved to approve the application subject to a suite of planning conditions. Subsequent to this resolution the applicant and agent (in discussions with their legal advisors) have advised that they would like to enter into a Section 106 Agreement to address the issue of skylark plots on land outside of the application site (land under the same current land ownership but beyond the ‘red line’ application boundaries).

Minutes:

Members recalled that this application had been reported to the Planning Committee on 14 July 2020, when it had been resolved to approve the application subject to a suite of planning conditions. Subsequent to that meeting the applicant and agent (in discussions with their legal advisors) had advised that they would like to enter into a Section 106 Agreement to address the issue of skylark plots on land outside of the application site (land under the same current land ownership but beyond the ‘red line’ application boundaries).

 

The Committee was informed that whilst condition 33 of the previous permission was not specific to the requirement for the off-site skylark plots, by inference it was required as it formed part of the mitigation measures set out in the submitted Ecological Assessment referred to in that condition. The condition read as follows:

 

No development shall commence on site, until a scheme to minimise the potential impact of the development on wildlife present on site (including details of the timing of their implementation) has been submitted to and approved by the Local Planning Authority. The Scheme shall have regard to the Ecological Assessment prepared by MLM Consulting Engineers Limited (Revision C02 dated 4 October 2019) that form part of the planning application documents and shall include opportunities to enhance the wildlife value of the site. The scheme shall be fully implemented as so approved.

 

Reason: To ensure that the development incorporates proportionate mitigation measures to address the impact of the development and takes the opportunity to incorporate biodiversity enhancements in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework and local plan policies.

 

In addition, paragraph 6.38 of the earlier Committee Report (repeated below), stated the following and included reference to the skylark plots:

 

“The planning application submission has included an Ecological Assessment which confirms that an extended phase 1 habitat survey of the site was carried out in late 2018 alongside dedicated protected species surveys (i.e. reptiles, wintering and breeding birds, bats, water vole and otter) that were carried out in 2019. Whilst the report confirms that the current proposals are unlikely to affect bats as boundary trees are to be retained, the proposal will affect habitat suitable for reptiles, birds and water vole. A triangular parcel of land north of the site consisting of improved grassland provides a potential receptor site for reptiles found on site whilst the creation of an attenuation basin and surrounding grassland is taking place. The creation of the basin and grassland will improve the on-site habitat for reptiles, as will the creation of a landscape bund along the northern boundary of the site. It will be possible to mitigate for one skylark territory on site with mitigation for the remaining four territories being provided through eight skylark plots create in off-site arable fields. A mitigation licence will be required from Natural England to allow for the installation of a headwall into the bank of the adjacent ‘Holland Brook’ (on the western boundary of the site) to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

62.

A.2 - PLANNING APPLICATION - 20/00194/FUL - LAND NORTH WEST OF REDHOUSE FARM OAKLEY ROAD WIX MANNINGTREE CO11 2SF pdf icon PDF 251 KB

This application has been referred to Planning Committee at the request of Councillor Bush due to concerns relating to: the nature of the proposal being a substantial industrial process, rather than a typical agricultural facility; failure to satisfy Policy EN1 in that the design and size of the development would create an adverse visual impact on the surrounding countryside and rural landscape; highway access is unsuitable; the substantial quantities of chicken waste and odour together with a risk to water pollution would adversely impact on public amenity; minimal contribution to the local economy; lack of social  benefits; number of traffic movements from a significant distance would generate substantial carbon emissions in relation to an environmental role; and, dis-benefits with economic, social and environmental roles lead to the development not being sustainable development.

Minutes:

Councillor Bush had earlier in the meeting declared a personal interest in Planning Application 20/00194/FUL – Land North West of Redhouse Farm, Oakley Road, Wix Manningtree CO11 2SF due to being both the Parish and Ward Councillor.

 

Members were informed that this application had been referred to the Planning Committee at the request of Councillor Bush due to his concerns relating to: the nature of the proposal being a substantial industrial process, rather than a typical agricultural facility; failure to satisfy Policy EN1 in that the design and size of the development would create an adverse visual impact on the surrounding countryside and rural landscape; highway access was unsuitable; the substantial quantities of chicken waste and odour together with a risk to water pollution would adversely impact on public amenity; minimal contribution to the local economy; lack of social  benefits; number of traffic movements from a significant distance would generate substantial carbon emissions in relation to an environmental role; and, dis-benefits with economic, social and environmental roles lead to the development not being sustainable development.

 

It was reported that the application was for two buildings to raise broiler chickens. A new vehicular access would be created to the buildings and there would be associated structures including silos, plant room outbuilding, water tank structures, gas tanks and a gate house outbuilding. The main buildings would be to an identical design and have a typical agricultural building appearance; being of a steel portal construction covered by olive green coloured polyester coated profiled sheeting except for the plinth to the walls, some 0.5m in height, of pre-formed concrete.

 

Though the site was in a rural locality, between the settlements of Wix and Great Oakley, within the parish of Wix and set within open countryside, the site was at a position which was not prominent in the landscape and the proposals included landscaping works. The proposal was in planning terms therefore considered by Officers to be an agricultural use within an agricultural area.

 

The Committee had before it the published Officer report containing the key planning issues, relevant planning policies, planning history, any response from consultees, written representations received and a recommendation of approval.

 

At the meeting, an oral presentation was made by the Council’s Planning Officer (TF) in respect of the application.

 

An update sheet had been circulated to the Committee prior to the meeting with details of:

 

A combined letter signed by 5 households on Oakley Road, which included the following reasons for objection:

 

·         “This proposed development neither improves the efficiency of land use, nor reduces the loss or greenfield / open space.  It will result in increased traffic through Wix and Great Oakley and specifically on Oakley Road.  The applicant, who does not live locally, will have to make daily car journeys to from the site as will the two individuals who will be working part-time at the site;

·         The location of the proposed development is outside the Settlement Development Boundaries of both Wix and Great Oakley villages.  Given the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

63.

A.3 - PLANNING APPLICATION - 20/00239/FUL - GROUND FLOOR 1 LANSWOOD PARK BROOMFIELD ROAD ELMSTEAD COLCHESTER pdf icon PDF 447 KB

This application was removed from the agenda before Planning Committee on 22nd September to enable comments to be received from the Gardens Trust following the recent addition of Beth Chattos Gardens to Historic England’s Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. The gardens are listed at Grade II. Comments have now been received from the Gardens Trust and amendments to the original report are in italics.

 

This application is referred to Planning Committee as it represents a departure from the adopted Tendring District Local Plan, proposing housing outside of any settlement development boundary in both the saved and emerging Local Plans.

 

This is a hybrid application which seeks outline planning permission (access included with appearance, landscaping, layout and scale reserved for later consideration) for up to 10,000 square metres of employment floor space within use classes B1 (business), B2 (general industrial) and B8 (storage and distribution); and 14 houses. Full planning permission is sought for 71 houses.

Minutes:

Councillors Scott and Wiggins had earlier in the meeting each declared a personal interest in Planning Application 20/00239/FUL – Ground Floor 1 Lanswood Park, Broomfield Road, Elmstead, Colchester due to being the Ward Members.

 

Members were informed that this application had been referred to the Planning Committee as it represented a departure from the adopted Tendring District Local Plan, proposing housing outside of any settlement development boundary in both the saved and emerging Local Plans.

 

It was reported that this was a hybrid application which sought outline planning permission (access included with appearance, landscaping, layout and scale reserved for later consideration) for up to 10,000 square metres of employment floor space within use classes B1 (business), B2 (general industrial) and B8 (storage and distribution); and 14 houses. Full planning permission was sought for 71 houses.

 

The Committee was informed that this application had originally been submitted for a total of 72 dwellings and had been increased to a total of 85 dwellings in late July, though the proposed employment floor space remained unchanged. This change had been subject to re-consultation with necessary consultees and neighbours which had now expired. The number of dwellings had been increased in order to provide £430,000 to fund a 3G artificial grass pitch on Charity Field. The Supplementary Planning Document supporting saved Policy COM6 confirmed the open space contribution in this case amounted to £205,024.00.  In addition to this the applicant was offering an additional contribution of £224,976.00 which combined with the above open space contribution would provide the full cost of providing the 3G artificial grass pitch. This was a departure from saved Policy COM6 and was offered by the applicant in acknowledgement of the scale of the proposed development and its impact upon the Parish of Elmstead.

 

Members were made aware that the proposal sought to use the 71 dwellings seeking full planning permission in order to “enable” the expansion of the existing Lanswood Business Park due to the infrastructure servicing the site reaching its capacity as acknowledged in the supporting text to Draft Policy SAE3 (Lanswood Park). The viability of the proposal had been independently assessed and confirmed that the proposal could not provide the £955,835.20 requested by Essex County Council Education or the 26 affordable dwellings. In terms of S106 contributions the applicant had offered £430,000 to fund a 3G artificial grass pitch on Charity Field (£205,024 open space contribution and additional contribution of £224,976.00); the required RAMS contribution of £10,674.30 (£125.58 per dwelling); and £50,000 towards the upgrade of the traffic signals and introduction of MOVA (movement sensor traffic light signals) for the A133 Clacton Road junction with Bromley Road.

 

Officers considered that this was a sustainable location for development and the significant economic benefits of the proposal in providing up to 10,000 square metres of employment floor space, estimated to provide around 600 jobs, were considered to outweigh the modest landscape harm in this context of mixed residential and commercial development.  The proposal did not provide the required contributions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

64.

A.4 - PLANNING APPLICATION - 20/00458/OUT - LAND EAST OF BROMLEY ROAD LAWFORD CO11 2HS pdf icon PDF 302 KB

Outline planning permission (all matters apart from access - reserved) was granted on 13th April 2017 for a mixed development of 360 houses and community facilities/open space on 22.76ha of land to the south of Lawford, under 15/00876/OUT. The current submission relates the variation of Condition 9 of the original planning approval. This deals with the provision and timeframe for the access from the site onto Long Road.

 

In accordance with Members’ request, the current submission has been brought to Planning Committee seeking consent with regard to the delaying the provision of access onto Long Road from the 201st occupation on site (56% of the total dwellings on site) to the 261st occupation on site (73% of the total dwellings on site).

Minutes:

Councillor G V Guglielmi had earlier in the meeting declared a personal interest in Planning Application 20/00458/OUT Land East of Bromley Road, Lawford CO11 2HS due to being the Ward Member. He was not pre-determined.

 

The Committee recalled that outline planning permission (all matters apart from access - reserved) had been granted on 13th April 2017 for a mixed development of 360 houses and community facilities/open space on 22.76ha of land to the south of Lawford, under 15/00876/OUT. The current submission related to the variation of Condition 9 of the original planning approval. This dealt with the provision and timeframe for the access from the site onto Long Road.

 

In accordance with Members’ previous request, the current submission had been brought to the Committee which sought its consent with regard to delaying the provision of access onto Long Road from the 201st occupation on site (56% of the total dwellings on site) to the 261st occupation on site (73% of the total dwellings on site).

 

Members were reminded that the site lay outside the defined settlement boundary of the saved Local Plan but within the settlement boundary of the emerging Local Plan. The principle of residential development had been accepted by the granting of outline planning permission, which had also established the position of the access.

 

The detailed plans complied with the outline requirements and were considered by officers to be acceptable with no material harm to visual or residential amenity, or highway safety.

 

The Committee was advised that a legal agreement, ‘Deed of Variation’ was required for this application in order to ensure the new outline approval linked into the original Section 106 Agreement.

 

The Committee had before it the published Officer report containing the key planning issues, relevant planning policies, planning history, any response from consultees, written representations received and a recommendation of approval.

 

At the meeting, an oral presentation was made by the Council’s Planning Officer (ML) in respect of the application.

 

Will Vote, acting on behalf of the applicant, spoke in support of the application.

 

Following discussion by the Committee, it was moved by Councillor Bray, seconded by Councillor Fowler and unanimously RESOLVED, that the Assistant Director (Planning) (or equivalent authorised officer) be authorised to grant planning permission for the development, subject to:

 

Conditions and Reasons:

 

  1. All applications for approved reserve matters shall be in accordance with the approved master plan and phasing plan / program agreed under application 18/00304/DISCON unless otherwise previously agreed in writing with the Local Planning Authority.

 

Reason - The application is in outline and is for a large development likely to be delivered in phases for which the detail will need to accord broadly with the parameters established at outline stage.

 

  1. Approval of the details of the siting, design and external appearance of the dwellings, the means of access thereto and the landscaping of the site (hereinafter called “the Reserved Matters”) shall be obtained for each agreed phase of the development before any development on such phase is commenced.

 

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

65.

A.5 - PLANNING APPLICATION - 20/00537/FUL - CLACTON LEISURE CENTRE, VISTA ROAD, CLACTON ON SEA, CO15 6DB pdf icon PDF 352 KB

This application is before the Planning Committee due to Tendring District Council’s ownership of the application site. 

 

The proposals relate to the replacement and refurbishment of the Artificial Grass Pitch (AGP) facility at Clacton            Leisure Centre and would deliver an enhanced playing facility, with better qualities, in a suitable location. It would give rise to a considerable benefit to the wider community through the provision of an enhanced playing facility and the continued opportunity for usage throughout the year. Moreover, the proposed AGP would make a significant contribution towards addressing the unmet demand for modern football facilities in the District.

Minutes:

Members were informed that this application was before the Planning Committee due to Tendring District Council’s ownership of the application site. 

 

It was reported that the proposals related to the replacement and refurbishment of the Artificial Grass Pitch (AGP) facility at Clacton Leisure Centre and would deliver an enhanced playing facility, with better qualities, in a suitable location. It would give rise to a considerable benefit to the wider community through the provision of an enhanced playing facility and the continued opportunity for usage throughout the year. Moreover, the proposed AGP would make a significant contribution towards addressing the unmet demand for modern football facilities in the District.

 

Officers considered that the AGP would not result in an unacceptable impact upon the character, appearance or visual amenity of the surrounding area and would not result in an unacceptable impact to residential amenity or have a detrimental impact upon the private amenity of local residents in respect of noise and lighting impacts. Furthermore, the proposal would utilise the existing parking provision and would not result in any harm to the safety of the surrounding public highway network.

 

The Committee was made aware that the proposal satisfied Sport England’s E5 exception policy as the proposed development was for an indoor or outdoor facility for sport, the provision of which would be of sufficient benefit to the development of sport. Sport England did not object to the application subject to a condition securing a Hockey Mitigation Scheme to offset the displacement of hockey use at the site.

 

Officers believed that the planning application was in compliance with national and local planning policies and would not result in any adverse harm to the character or appearance of the area or highway safety. In the absence of any objections from Sport England and other statutory consultees the proposal was considered to be acceptable subject to the mitigation measures being secured via the proposed conditions.

 

The Committee had before it the published Officer report containing the key planning issues, relevant planning policies, planning history, any response from consultees, written representations received and a recommendation of approval.

 

At the meeting, an oral presentation was made by the Council’s Planning Officer (ML) in respect of the application.

 

Following discussion by the Committee, it was moved by Councillor Harris, seconded by Councillor Placey and RESOLVED, that the Assistant Director (Planning) (or equivalent authorised officer) be authorised to grant planning permission for the development, subject to:

 

-           Approval as per recommendation subject to revision to Condition 5 (Landscaping) to include wording to secure replacement Ash Tree planting.

 

Conditions and Reasons:

 

  1. The development hereby permitted shall be begun before 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 the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

 

  1. No development shall commence until a hockey mitigation scheme to ensure the continuity of provision for the existing hockey use on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

66.

Exemption from Press and Public

The Committee is asked to consider the following resolution:

 

“That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Agenda Item 11 on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A, as amended, of the Act.”

Minutes:

It was moved by Councillor Bray, seconded by Councillor Harris and:-

 

RESOLVED that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Agenda Item 11 on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A, as amended, of the Act.

 

67.

Approval of Exempt Minutes of the Committee held on Tuesday 22 September and Tuesday 6 October 2020

LAND TO THE NORTH OF ST JOHNS ROAD CLACTON ON SEA PUBLIC INQUIRY - LEGAL ADVICE UPDATE

 

This matter was brought before the Planning Committee on Tuesday 22 September 2020, as an urgent item, in order to meet the Planning Appeal timetable relating to the current Public Inquiry pertaining to the refusal of application 18/01779/FUL - Land to the North of St Johns Road, Clacton on Sea (St Johns Road Nursery).

 

This matter was also brought before the Planning Committee on Tuesday 6 October 2020, as an urgent item, in order to meet the Planning Appeal timetable relating to the current Public Inquiry pertaining to the refusal of application 18/0177/FUL St Johns Road, Clacton on Sea (St Johns Road Nursery).

 

 

 

Minutes:

It was moved by Councillor Bray and seconded by Councillor Harris and RESOLVED that the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on Tuesday, 22 September and Tuesday, 6 October 2020 be approved as a correct record subject to the following amendments:

 

Councillor White referred to page 2, paragraph 2 whereby it mentioned highways. Reason for refusal was amended as below:

 

2) in light of the clear legal advice the Planning Committee confirms that it does not wish to continue defending ground 3 of the reasons for refusal (loss of privacy);