Agenda

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2025.

To be advised of any additional items of business which the Chair decides by reason of special circumstances shall be taken as matters of urgency at this meeting. Items to be taken at the end of the agenda.

To hear any questions in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.

To report progress on any decisions delegated at the previous meeting.

Application for approval of reserved matters (access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale) of outline planning permission 21/01295/OUT for 225 dwellings (including 40% affordable housing) with public open space, landscaping and sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and a vehicular access point.

Late items received after preparation of main agenda:

Following publication of the report the applicant has submitted slightly revised plans that improve interface distances and has made submissions regarding garden sizes.

Further to paragraph 8.24 of the report, the applicant has confirmed that just four plots or 1.7% of the number of dwellings, fall short of the 21m and 14m interface distances. With regard to the standard 21m interface distance between habitable room windows, this is deficient in just one place where a distance of 19.7m is provided. There are two plots where the habitable room windows face a two storey gable at the distance of less than 14m with the greatest shortfall being 3.2 metres. Officers consider that on a development of this size, this very small degree of non-compliance with guidance is acceptable.

Further to paragraph 8.23 of the report, the applicant has confirmed that the shortfall in the garden sizes for 20 of the dwellings ranges between 6sq.m and 32.9sq.m. 21 dwellings meet the Good Design Guide guidance and 184 exceed it by up to 130.6sq.m. Taken together, the gardens exceed the standards, and it is pointed out that it is a benefit of the development that a variety of garden sizes is provided and that 184 of the dwellings have gardens that exceed the guidance.  Furthermore, the Council’s Good Design Guide does not require gardens to be provided for one-bedroom properties and in this instance all six one-bed properties are provided with their own small private gardens. Officers consider that on a development of this size, where the vast majority of dwellings are provided with gardens that in some cases are more than double the size required, the small number of dwellings that have gardens that do not meet guidance is, on balance, acceptable.

The applicant has confirmed that in their view further changes to the scheme to adjust garden sizes would be to the detriment of the scheme as a whole and that therefore, given that gardens sizes are the subject of guidance and not policy, no further changes to the scheme are reasonable or necessary. Officers consider that the scheme that is now before members, which has now been amended four times to improve the layout, represents a high quality scheme that is well-designed and provides a high level of open space and that taken as a whole, provides a sufficiently high level of amenity to future occupiers.

The applicant has confirmed that all plots will have solar panels.

Recommendation:-

Finally, with regard to the conditions, Condition 1 is updated to reflect the latest revised plans, Condition 2 should be reworded to clarify that a dwelling can be occupied once it’s parking and turning facilities have been provided. Condition 6 is the same as Condition  ...  view the full agenda text for item 7.

Outline application (all matters reserved) for extension of MIRA Technology Park to comprise employment use (class B2), associated office and service uses (class E g), storage (class B8), new spine road, car parking, landscaping and enabling works (cross boundary application with North Warwickshire Borough Council).

This item has been withdrawn from the agenda.

Application for reconfiguration and expansion of existing staff car park including new cycle and motorcycle stores and solar PV canopies.

Late items received after publication of main agenda:

Recommendation:-

Condition 3 is to be updated to:

3.      Prior to their installation full details of the solar canopies shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The solar canopies shall then be constructed in accordance with the approved details.

Reason:To ensure a satisfactory form of development in accordance with policies DM2, DM4 and DM10 of the adopted Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Development Plan Document  (2016) and policies H7 and ENV7 of the Desford Neighbourhood Plan (2021).

To report on progress relating to various appeals.