Residential development of 300 dwellings including access from Roman Road, essential infrastructure, open space, balancing pond, landscaping, roads, parking, footpaths, cycleway and engineering earth works.

Residential development of 300 dwellings including access from Roman Road, essential infrastructure, open space, balancing pond, landscaping, roads, parking, footpaths, cycleway and engineering earth works.

The Principal Planning Officer gave a presentation on the application and updates / additional representations received following the publication of the agenda were provided as follows:

§               Amended plans had been provided which covered the majority of the changes required by the Traffic Manager.  However, further amendments as detailed in the report had been requested and therefore further amended plans were required.

§               Further information regarding foul drainage had been provided by the developers as follows:

They confirmed that an order had been placed for the additional equipment required to bring the existing drainage infrastructure up to an adoptable standard and the equipment was to be installed within the next 4 to 6 weeks.  Within the same timescale, the land was to be transferred to Crest.  The existing drainage system was then be submitted to Welsh Water for adoption by the end of 2009.

§               The Environmental Health and Trading Standards Manager raised no objection subject to minor points being clarified with respect to the ground investigation report.

§               Crest had also agreed to provide 20 bird boxes as requested by Hereford Ornithological Club.

§               Natural England and the Council's ecologist had withdrawn their objections as acceptable mitigation and enhancement for Great Crested Newts had been demonstrated.

§               Further letters have been received from Mrs Allen along with two letters from Bill Wiggin MP.  The points made were already covered in the report primarily concerning the existing drainage infrastructure.  Additional points included the impact on barn owls and the need to obtain a licence from Natural England and the whole development should be re-considered including further liaison with the landowners.

§               Holmer Primary School had requested £5000 for improvements to existing educational infrastructure at the school.

§               The Parish Council had requested that the burial ground contribution be given to Holmer burial ground as originally requested rather than Holmer Church burial ground.

Officer comments were also provided as follows:

§               The resolution of the existing foul drainage problems and adoption of the system prior to the new drainage infrastructure being installed was welcomed.

§               Subject to Crest and the Children’s and Young Peoples Directorate agreement, some of the agreed education contribution could be directed to Holmer School as requested and the burial ground contribution could be amended as requested by the parish council.

§               Delegated authority was still sought to enable the final amendments to be resolved.

Councillor AM Toon declared a prejudicial interest at the start of the item but, in accordance with the Constitution [Appendix 12, Members Code of Conduct, Part 2, paragraph 12 (2)], wished to exercise the opportunity to speak for up to three minutes before withdrawing from the meeting.  She welcomed the implementation of Eco Homes ‘Very Good’ standard and the mix and tenure of the affordable housing.  The importance of the drainage issues was noted.  Councillor Toon suggested that the delegation to officers should include consultation with the Local Ward Member and, if planning permission was approved, a condition should be included to restrict commercial vehicles.

In accordance with the criteria for public speaking, Mrs. Boyles spoke on behalf of Holmer and Shelwick Parish Council and Mrs. Allen spoke in objection to the application.

Councillor SJ Robertson, the Local Ward Member, made a number of comments, including:

·               An opportunity had been missed at the outline application stage [DCCW2006/2619/O refers] to defer consideration until the essential foul drainage capacity issues had been addressed and to renegotiate the details of the Section 106 Agreement.

·               Local residents were frustrated by the frequent problems with the inadequate drainage infrastructure and the lack of progress made by the developer and Welsh Water to resolve the situation.  It was considered that the authority had a duty to ensure that the problems were rectified by the relevant parties.

·               In terms of design, the three-storey houses were considered out of keeping with the rural area.

·               The contributions towards the enhancement of educational infrastructure should be allocated specifically to Holmer Primary School.

·               Concerns were expressed about the additional traffic that would be generated by the development.  Details of recent accidents in the vicinity were outlined.  Ongoing problems with speeding on nearby roads were also outlined.

·               Councillor Robertson did not consider that the application was acceptable in its present form and suggested that it would be prudent to hold a site inspection to ensure that the outstanding issues were addressed.

The Development Control Manager clarified that this application sought Reserved Matters approval following on from the outline for the layout, scale, appearance and landscaping of the development.  It was acknowledged that the existing drainage infrastructure was a problem area that needed to be addressed but it was considered that the appropriate controls over drainage existed through the Section 106 Agreement.  The Principal Planning Officer outlined the controls and advised that no development could be occupied until the approved drainage scheme had been implemented.

Councillor PJ Edwards said that the resolution should include wording similar to that included in a decision made at the last meeting regarding an adjoining site [DCCW0009/1402/F - Holmer Court Residential Home, refers], that ‘no development shall commence until the foul sewer into which these premises propose to connect has been upgraded in accordance with the details agreed and approved under plans ref. DCCW2006/2619/O and is proven to have sufficient capacity and is adopted by the relevant sewage undertaker’.  Alluding to problems with other large developments, he commented that the road network needed to be of sufficient width and include practical curbing treatments in order to avoid difficulties with passing and manoeuvring.  Councillor Edwards also commented on the need to ensure that the development was restricted to a maximum number of 300 houses, questioned the arrangements for the future maintenance of the open areas, and questioned the timescale envisaged by the developer to bring the existing drainage infrastructure to an adoptable standard given the substantial upgrades required.

In response to questions and comments, the Principal Planning Officer advised that:

·               The Section 106 Agreement had been agreed as part of the outline planning permission and included a specific schedule relating to drainage.

·               The works referred to in the updates intended to tackle the existing drainage problems.

·               The internal road network would be constructed to adoptable standards and parking was generally on plot or in courts.

·               A management plan for the future maintenance of the open areas had been included in the Section 106 Agreement.

·               A single means of vehicular access would serve the development and a network of new footpath and cycle links would connect to existing footpaths.

·               The three-storey dwellings should not appear significantly higher than the two-storey dwellings, particularly as the mass of the larger blocks would be broken up with different roof heights and detailing.

·               The layout of the development had been designed around the existing landscape features and included a green infrastructure corridor around the perimeter of the site.

Councillor RI Matthews felt that application should be deferred in order to address the outstanding concerns; he added that this would provide the opportunity for the imminent drainage infrastructure improvements to be completed to a satisfactory standard and adopted by Welsh Water.  The Principal Planning Officer provided further clarification about the controls included in the schedule relating to drainage.  The Development Control Manager said that officers understood the concerns but it was not considered reasonable to require the adoption of the existing infrastructure prior to any development commencing, as this would be reliant on third party agreement outside the control of the applicants and the Council, and deferral for this purpose could result in a challenge against non-determination.

In response to a suggestion by Councillor AJM Blackshaw, the Development Control Manager provided assurance that the Local Ward Member would be briefed about ongoing developments. 

Councillor MD Lloyd-Hayes noted the need to determine the application before the Sub-Committee, welcomed development north of the city given the enhanced community infrastructure available there compared to other areas, considered the layout and open space features to be satisfactory, and noted the importance of involving the Local Ward Member.

In response to questions from Councillor AT Oliver, the Principal Planning Officer advised that the outline planning permission restricted the number of dwellings to 300 and the higher density elements were concentrated centrally within the site.  Councillor Oliver urged officers to look seriously at the road system improvements suggested by the parish council, expressed concerns about the design approach, and felt that the development should include enhanced sustainability technologies.

In response to questions from Councillor NL Vaughan, the Principal Planning Officer advised that each dwelling would have at least one parking space, there should be no discernible difference between the design of the general market and affordable dwellings, particularly given the broad mix and spread of housing types.   He also commented on the measures required to meet the Eco Homes ‘Very Good’ standard.

RESOLVED:

Subject to the resolution of the objection from Natural England and subject to the submission of amended plans addressing the concerns of officers and the Traffic Manager, the officers named in the Scheme of Delegation to Officers be authorised to issue reserved matters approval subject to the following conditions and any additional conditions considered necessary by officers:

1.      F16 No new windows in specified elevation.

2.      Vehicular access to the site during the construction phase shall be via the proposed new access onto Roman Road only and there shall be no other vehicular access to the site during the construction of the development.

Reason: In the interests of highway and pedestrian safety, to safeguard the amenity of local residents and to comply with Policies DR2 and DR3 of the Herefordshire Unitary Development Plan.

Informatives:

1.      N15 Reason(s) for the Grant of PP/LBC/CAC.

2.      N19 Avoidance of doubt - Approved Plans.