Proposed redevelopment of site with 8 flats

Proposed redevelopment of site with 8 flats.

The Senior Planning Officer reported the receipt of a letter from the applicant’s agent enclosing drawings showing the two side elevations which had not been originally submitted with the application i.e. the south west elevation of the proposed block of 6 flats and the north east elevation of the block of two flats.

He stated that the drawings were considered to be of an acceptable standard and satisfied the requirements of condition 5 of the planning permission decision set out in the recommendation. This meant that condition five could be removed from the recommendation.

In accordance with the criteria for public speaking Mr. Cronin spoke on behalf of Bromyard Town Council.

Councillor A Seldon, one of the Local Ward Members, said he was pleased to note that the applicant had addressed the matters of concern raised when the application was heard previously by the sub-committee. He went on to note that following the recent heavy rain, a large amount of sewage had escaped into the River Frome which took a significant amount of time and resources to clean up.  He said that the heavy rain had led to the sewage treatment facilities of Bromyard being overloaded and that a further 8 dwellings would only add to the problems. Councillor Seldon asked that the decision on the application be deferred until the drainage situation had been addressed by Welsh Water and requested a detailed and accurate report into the condition of the plant [amended at NAPSC meeting 22 October 2008].

Responding to a matter raised by Councillor Seldon, The Northern Area Team Leader said that the area in question had a combined rainwater and foul water drainage system and stated that permission had already been granted for 18 dwellings within 200 metres of the site [amended at NAPSC meeting 22 October 2008].  Welsh Water did not object to the proposed development because there was provision in the plans for rainwater drainage to be diverted away from the mains drainage. This would in theory prevent the mains drainage system from becoming overloaded. All future applications in the area would have to make provision for rainwater drainage to be channelled away from the mains system. 

Councillor Seldon responded by questioning the robustness of the current drainage arrangements, as flooding of foul water has been a frequent occurrence during periods of heavy rainfall. Councillor Seldon moved that the application be deferred until a definitive answer had been received from Welsh Water regarding the drainage arrangements of the area.

Councillor B Hunt, the other Local Ward Member, said that the water drainage situation in Bromyard was very delicately balanced and the answers received from Welsh Water to date had not addressed his concerns. He said that until the water drainage situation had been improved, he would find it very difficult to support any future planning applications in the Bromyard area.

In response to a question, The Legal Practice Manager advised that there was a rarely used power that a local authority could bring legal action against a water company on behalf of a group of residents. He added that it was more common for consumers to bring action against water companies and that if an authority was unsuccessful in its action, costs would need to be paid to the water company.

Members generally agreed that the current arrangements for water drainage were unacceptable in the town and voted to defer the application until the situation had been addressed.

RESOLVED:   that consideration of the application be deferred in order to clarify the current position with Welsh Water with regard to water drainage in Bromyard.