Erection of four detached dwellings.

Earlier on in the meeting, as detailed under Minute 85 above, it had been recorded that Councillor Bray had declared that he was pre-determined on this application.

It was reported that this application had been put before the Committee for its determination as it was a departure from the Local Plan.

Members were informed that, in the opinion of the Officers, this proposal for four single?storey dwellings was considered sustainable and acceptable in principle, and subject to conditions, it would result in no significant harm to residential amenity, highway safety or ecology.

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 Senior Planning Officer (MP) in respect of the application.

An Officer Update Sheet had been circulated to Members prior to the meeting which informed the Committee of an additional paragraph for the Officer report in relation to the Strategic Green Gap assessment, as set out below, and which also added Local Plan Policy PPL6 to Section 3 (Planning Policy) of the Officer report.

“Part of the application site is located within the Strategic Green Gap. Policy PPL6 of the Tendring Local Plan seeks to protect and retain the separate identity and prevent coalescence of settlements. Any development permitted must be consistent with other policies in the plan and must not lead to the coalescence of settlements.

The site is bounded to the north and west by existing development, with residential properties along Holland Road and farm buildings associated with Swallow Farm extending beyond the site to the northeast and southeast. As such, the proposed development would be viewed against a backdrop of established built form. The site does not exhibit a strong rural character and is better described as transitional in nature. Given its context and relationship with the surrounding development, the proposal would not result in the coalescence of settlements or cause harmful erosion of the green gap.

Moreover, the Inspector for a previous appeal (APP/ P1560/W/19/3238814) for 8 dwellings in this location explained that the scale of the appeal proposal is such that it would only have a marginal effect on the gap between the settlements. As the number of dwellings has been reduced for the current scheme, the development is not considered to cause any significant impact upon, or overriding harm to, the overarching aim of the Strategic Green Gap.

It is worth noting that this is also the view the Council adopted for extant planning permission 23/01691/OUT.”

Bill Marshall, member of the public, spoke in support of the application.

It was moved by Councillor Goldman, seconded by Councillor Alexanderand unanimously:-

RESOLVEDthat:-

(a)     the Head of Planning and Building Control be authorised to grant planning permission subject to the conditions as stated at paragraph 9.2 of the Officer report (A.3), or varied as is necessary to ensure the wording is enforceable, precise, and reasonable in all other respects, including appropriate updates, so long as the principle of the conditions as referenced is retained; and

(b)     informative notes be sent to the applicant, as may be deemed necessary, by the Head of Planning and Building Control.