Issue - meetings

20/00511/FUL - Land off Beech Drive, Thornton

Meeting: 20/07/2021 - Planning Committee (Item 74)

74 20/00511/FUL - Land off Beech Drive, Thornton pdf icon PDF 351 KB

Application for residential development of 49 dwellings with associated infrastructure, access and areas of open space.

 

Late items received after preparation of agenda:

 

Introduction:-

Following the agenda the agent has submitted amended plans, following the comments from LCC Highways in regards to the adoptability of the proposed roads within the site. Additionally a soft landscaping plan has been submitted demonstrating the indicative landscaping for the site.

 

Consultations:-

Leicestershire County Council (Highways) have provided further comments on the application:

1)        The amendments have overcome the main concerns and any amendments needed at a S38 process would not be significant to require a change to the planning permission and therefore the Local Highway Authority would consider the layout for adoption should planning permission be granted.

Appraisal:-

Neighbourhood Plan

Bagworth, Thornton & Stanton under Bardon Neighbourhood Plan is currently at regulation 14 stage. The pre-submission consultation ended in May 2021 and preparation for submission is currently underway. The plan does not identify this site as an allocation for housing or any other designations and does not seek to include the site within the settlement boundary. Due to the stage the Neighbourhood Plan is within the process, limited weight can be afforded to this Neighbourhood Plan in the determination of this application to it in line with paragraph 48 of the NPPF.

Highways

The Council have sought independent Highways advice in regards to the impact of the proposal. A summary of their response is,:

‘In technical terms there is a finely balanced argument to be taken in relation to substandard visibility. The achievable visibility is a reduction of 42% in the required visibility, which is a significant shortfall, and a shortfall that could be regarded as a significant safety hazard to justify refusal of planning permission. The increase in traffic/dwellings served by this junction of some 78% would increase the number of opportunities for collisions to occur. However, to counter this argument, it is an existing junction that serves 63 dwellings and there is no history of accidents from its daily use. Furthermore, design guidance contained in Manual for Streets 1 and 2 suggests that reduced visibility can lead to drivers taking more care and that a reduction will not necessarily lead to a significant problem. Overall, there is a valid case to support both sides of the argument and the Council will need to balance this in their decision making.

The applicant has acknowledged the potential difficulties for them in terms of visibility at the junction by offering two traffic calming schemes through the application process. The first scheme was seen as not comprehensive enough by LCC and following the submission of the second scheme LCC appear to have withdrawn their request for traffic calming altogether. In my view, the offer of traffic calming, if designed correctly, would be a significant benefit to highway safety. This is particularly the case in view of the close proximity of the primary school on Main Street, which adds further weight to the importance of highway safety.  ...  view the full agenda text for item 74

Minutes:

Application for residential development of 49 dwellings with associated infrastructure, access and areas of open space.

 

An objector, the agent, the county councillor and the ward councillor spoke on this application.

 

Notwithstanding the officer’s recommendation that permission be granted, it was moved by Councillor Bray and seconded by Councillor Boothby that permission be refused as the significant and demonstrable impact on the countryside would not be outweighed by the benefit of providing housing and would therefore be contrary to policy DM4 of the Site Allocations and Development Management Policies DPD and the substandard visibility of the junction of Hawthorn Drive and Main Street would have an unacceptable impact on highway safety contrary to policy DM17 of the Site Allocations and Development Management Policies DPDand paragraph 109 of the NPPF.

 

Upon being put to the vote, the motion was CARRIED and it was unanimously

 

RESOLVED – permission be refused for the following reasons:

 

(i)            The development, due to its incursion into the countryside to the south west of the village of Thornton would have a significant and demonstrable impact on the intrinsic value, beauty and open character of the countryside. This is not outweighed by the benefit of providing housing. The development is therefore contrary to policy DM4 of the Site Allocations and Development Management Policies DPD;

 

(ii)          The substandard visibility of the junction of Hawthorn Drive and Main Street would lead to an unacceptable impact on highway safety contrary to policy DM17 of the Site Allocations and Development Management Policies DPD and paragraph 109 of the National Planning Policy Framework.

 

At this juncture, Councillor Boothby declared a personal interest in the following application due to the applicant being a member of his political group.