Demolition of existing vacant warehouse for three no. terraced town houses and associated parking facilities.

Ward: St. Nicholas

Demolition of existing vacant warehouse for three no. terraced town houses and associated parking facilities.

The Principal Planning Officer recommended an additional condition to require the development to meet level three of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Councillor JD Woodward, a Local Ward Member, commented on the value of the site inspection that had been held, particularly as it provided members with the opportunity to view the relatively small footprint of the site.  She expressed concerns about the lack of amenity space, the design approach, and the potential impact of the access and parking arrangements on highway safety.  Therefore, she proposed that the application be refused.

Councillor DJ Benjamin, the other Local Ward Member, felt that the site needed to be redeveloped but felt that the design would be out of keeping with Barton Manor and the character of the street scene.  He also expressed concerns about highway safety.

The Principal Planning Officer advised that the objections of the Conservation Area Panel mainly related to materials and the scheme had been revised since the comments were made.  He also advised that the development would be set back from the road in order to provide a pedestrian footpath along the frontage, with a rail to prevent accidental transgression into the road.

Councillor PJ Edwards, noting that development had to preserve or enhance the character of the Conservation Area, felt that the scale and design of this proposal would have a detrimental impact and supported the views of the Local Ward Members.  He also felt that it would be difficult to achieve safe access to and from the underground parking area and commented on the technical challenges of this element of the scheme.

In response to concerns expressed about highway safety, the Principal Planning Officer reported that the access and parking arrangements had been informed by pre-application discussions with the Traffic Manager, who had no objections to the proposal subject to conditions.

Members debated the merits of the contemporary design approach and the potential impact on the Conservation Area setting.

RESOLVED:

That  

(i)      The Central Area Planning Sub-Committee is minded to refuse the application subject to the reason for refusal set out below (and any further reasons for refusal felt to be necessary by the Head of Planning Services) provided that the Head of Planning Services does not refer the applications to the Planning Committee:

CW2007/2663/F

1.               The proposal by reason of its design and appearance would appear out of keeping with the character and appearance of the Conservation Area and furthermore the absence of private amenity space to serve the three bed dwellings proposed would lead to an inadequate level of residential amenity within the scheme contrary to Policies DR1, H13 and HBA6 of the Herefordshire Unitary Development Plan 2007.

CW2007/2634/F

1.                The proposal to demolish the warehouse is contrary to Policy HBA7 of the Herefordshire Unitary Development as planning permission for its redevelopment has been refused.

(ii)     If the Head of Planning Services does not refer the application to the Planning Committee, officers named in the Scheme of Delegation to Officers be instructed to refuse the application, subject to such reasons for refusal referred to above.

[Note:

Following the vote on this application, the Development Control Manager advised that, although the resolution was contrary to the officers’ recommendation, he was not minded to refer the matter to the Head of Planning Services.]