Outline application with all matters reserved for the erection of a single dwelling.

The application was refused in accordance with the Case Officer’s recommendation.

The Development Manager gave a presentation on the application and updates/additional representations received following the publication of the agenda were provided in the update sheet, as appended to these minutes.

In accordance with the criteria for public speaking Tony Johnson, as the applicant, spoke in support of the application and then left the meeting room following his submission to the committee.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Councillor Barry Durkin spoke as a proxy for the local ward member.

He made the following principal comments:

·        In 2010 a factory received permission close to the application site and at 1.3 miles was considered to be within walking distance of Colwall. The current application had not been considered sustainable development as the officer had concluded that the village was not within walking distance but would need to be accessed by car. Consistency between the two applications was required and permission for the current application should be granted in accordance with the assessment undertaken in 2010. The suitability of the site was established by the 2010 application and permission granted.

·        Within the previous five years there had been development around the application site including new houses, a factory and vineyard. The driveway to the application site was used as an access to these local developments together with a cricket pavilion and tennis courts which demonstrated that the locality was becoming a built up area.

·        The applicant wanted to build a single residential dwelling to provide suitable accommodation for his health needs.

·        The national planning policy framework required a presumption in favour of applications for sustainable development where there was a shortage in the supply of building land and the core strategy was out of date with regard to land supply.

·        The application site fell within the area of the Colwall neighbourhood development area and was therefore deemed appropriate for development.

·        The Malvern Hills AONB had advised that the colour and design of the development would need to meet their specification.

·        The application proposed a modest development but one which would benefit the county and there was no potential for harm posed.

In the committee’s discussion of the application the following principal points were made:

·        The importance of incorporating wellbeing issues into planning matters and the potential that the applicant would need to leave due the area to his health needs if the application was not approved.

·        There was concern regarding development proposals located in the countryside. It was accepted by some members of the committee that the application site was set in open countryside and was therefore in an inappropriate location. It was the contention of some members that the area was a hamlet due to the level of local development.

·        It was acknowledged that the application site was set on a country lane but it was surrounded by commercial developments. The permission granted in 2010 was queried and if it concerned industrial usage.

·        There was disappointment that there was no supporting evidence provided as to how the application would meet the criteria  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27