Agenda item

Application for residential development of up to 55 dwellings (Outline - access only).

Late items:

Consultations:-

Four additional letters of objections have been received raising the following additional matters:-

    1)        Disjointed in regards the broader picture of development needs and opportunity within Stoke Golding, and allowing this moves away from the collaborative approach of the villagers in respect to the Neighbourhood Planning

    2)        Stoke Golding Neighbourhood Plan is clear that a brownfield development site in the village is the most appropriate

    3)        Residents made it clear that any new development should be away from green spaces and aligned with amenities

    4)        Villages resources will be stretched

    5)        A traffic accident happened opposite Willow Farm, police and ambulance in attendance with vehicle and driver stuck in the ditch

    6)        The site has been previously considered by HBBC during the SHELAA, the area was omitted from consideration due to poor accessibility for the level of housing required and the impact on the surrounding area. The difference was numbers of dwellings, with the developer seeking to build 150-160 homes

    7)        A previous application to convert Willow barn into a cottage was refused due to impact upon, the rural character, surrounding landscape, amenity of neighbouring properties, highway safety and biodiversity

    8)        How will trees be preserved and visibility provided

    9)        The developer has revised their initial interpretation of their traffic survey, recognising the substantial impact on Wykin Lane vehicle users the development will have, both in the construction phase and occupancy.  The construction traffic will not be able to use Wykin Lane and so will need to travel past the severely congested St. Martins school location (at peak times) and through the heart of the village

 10)        The developer in a need to alleviate the inevitable increased traffic volume & congestion concerns the development would cause has proposed additional "passing places" to satisfy the issue, however these spots are already utilised to pass and will therefore have little benefit towards easing the traffic flow

 11)        The Ecological value of AS537 Land off Wykin Lane is moderate to high.

 12)        The most significant planning decision is 17/00484/FUL which identifies within the officer report that there is no overriding need for housing in Stoke Golding

 13)        Conditions relating to highways and the passing places have not been included

 14)        There would be impact upon ecology through the development of passing places within Wykin Lane

 15)        It is unfair to hold a meeting when the virus is still a threat, making a decision should be delayed until when a committee meeting can be held and attended by public 

Dr Luke Evans MP has raised the following matters:-

    1)        High house prices in local communities are an issue which especially impacts upon young, and a more diverse housing stock may be needed to account for ever changing housing demand. These factors are why Neighbourhood Plans are supported. As a vital tool which enable communities to shape futures

    2)        It is recognised that communities which produce a Neighbourhood Plan provide accommodation for an average of 10% more homes than they are required to do. This has been demonstrated locally with Market Bosworth NP

    3)        Authorities should give as much weight as permissible under the current legislation to each Neighbourhood Plan with regard to any speculative application which are submitted

    4)        This application goes against the Stoke Golding neighbourhood plan and the communities' vision

Updated consultation responses to be received from:- 

LCC (Archaeology)

LCC (Ecology)

Appraisal:-

Ecology

An initial survey has been carried out in respect of Great Crested Newts and its findings are as follows:-

·                    Pond 3: 21 great crested newts (4 male, 17 female)

·                    Pond 5: No great crested newts recorded / trapped. The pond has nearly dried out (max water depth approximately 10-15cm). Expect that this will be completely dry shortly.

·                    Pond 10a: No great crested newts recorded / trapped. We are aware that this pond has or occasionally supports great crested newts. However, due to the very small size and limited aquatic vegetation, it would be surprising if it ever supports above a low population of newts (10+ individuals) and it would almost certainly not be able to support above a medium population (100+) newts.

The on-site ditch was also inspected (previously confirmed as supporting great crested newts) but is currently dry. This initial survey has been considered by Leicestershire County Council (Ecology) and indicates that the centre of the GCN population is to the west of Stoke Golding Lane, and no GCN were found in the garden pond, although the presence of GCN eDNA last year indicates that this pond is used by GCN, however it is unlikely to be a large number of newts due to its limited size. Given this additional information it is considered that there is sufficient information to determine that it is unlikely that any additional survey information would change the required mitigation on site, and based on this would not require the submission of further GCN information in support of the reserved matters application.

The works to the highway, fall outside the application site, and this work would be contained within the highway boundary, and can carried out within the confines of the existing highway boundary by Leicestershire County Council (Highways). Having regard to Wykin Lane, there are a two species rich hedgerows and the extent of the proposed works proposed would be contained within the highway boundary, which does not require planning permission or prior consent by the Local Planning Authority. 

Archaeology

During the course of the application trial trenching has been carried out on site, which were subject to inspection by Leicestershire County Council (Archaeology). The work confirmed a pattern of plough furrows across the site, which were originally located by preliminary geophysical survey, and identified as the remains of a medieval ridge and furrow agricultural system. The work also revealed the remains of four shallow linear gullies and a small pit. These features were excavated in accordance with the Written Scheme of Investigation, and although they were confirmed as archaeological in origin, they produced no finds with which to date them. Given the lack of pottery, or structural evidence, it is likely that they represent a low density of archaeological remains relating to agricultural field systems rather than intensive settlement or other occupation. The trial trenching is therefore considered sufficient to mitigate the archaeological impacts of the proposed development, and warrants no further archaeological action. The scheme is therefore in accordance with Policy DM13 of the SADMP and Section 16 of the NPPF, paragraph 189-190.

Impact upon Highways

Comments have been raised in respect to conditions relating to the off site highway works, as the works are contained within the highway and outside of the control of the applicant, they are to be secured by legal obligation within the S106 for the applicant to enter into a Section 278 agreement to deliver works within the highway boundary.

Recommendation:-

The recommendation remains unchanged from as set out on the agenda.

Replace condition 21 with the following condition:-

21.       Prior to commencement of development an updated Great Crested Newt Surveys and updated mitigation strategy shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall be implemented and carried out in strict in accordance with the approved mitigation strategy.

Reason: In order to keep a protected species from harm according with Policy DM6 Site Allocations and Development Management Policies DPD

Application for residential development of up to 55 dwellings (outline – access only)

During discussion on this item, it was identified that the livestream of the meeting had ceased, thereby restricting public access to the meeting. In accordance with the procedure rules for remote meetings, the meeting was adjourned due to it no longer being open to the public and application 19/01324/OUT was deferred to the next meeting.