Issue - decisions

By affirmation, the Committee approved the application subject to the Conditions and Informative set out in the report from the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development.

Councillors Rippeth, Roberts and Richard Williams were not present and did not form part of the affirmation.

The Committee gave officers delegated powers to approve the application, in accordance with the Building Height Parameter Plan (SZ258000027-202 Rev B) subject to

1.     The prior completion of a Legal Agreement under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 securing

a.     £92,310 towards Early Years Education

b.     £128,459 towards Primary School Education

c.      £297.84 towards libraries and lifelong learning

d.     £5249.00 towards strategic waste

e.     £18,009 towards GP Surgery

f.       £35,000 towards Old Methodist Church

g.     £30,000 towards relocation of tennis courts and bowling green

h.     £35,000 towards The Butts Playground

i.       £10,000 towards a cycle link feasibility study

j.       Scheme of 40% affordable housing provision to be agreed

k.      Scheme of on-site public open space and management to be agreed

l.       Scheme of ecological enhancement, management and monitoring

as detailed in the Heads of Terms attached as Appendix 1 to the report from the Head of Development Management, subject to

(i)               an amendment to the trigger for Reference CCC4 (Libraries and lifelong learning) to 50% prior to occupation and 50% prior to occupation of the 14^th dwelling

(ii)              an additional clause securing maintenance and management of the hedge along the application site boundary with Mill Street;

2.     The Conditions and Informatives set out in the said report, amended in Condition (b) by replacing ’18 months’ with ’12 months’, and in Condition (c) also by replacing ’18 months’ with ’12 months’; and

3.     An additional Condition requiring that no built development take place within a distance of ten metres from the western edge of the existing footway along the application site adjacent to Mill Street (Reason: to secure an acceptable relationship with the setting of the Grade II listed buildings and Conservation Area, in accordance with policies CH/4 and CH/5 of the adopted Local Development Framework 2007); and

4.     Another Condition stating that,notwithstanding the approved plans identified in condition (d) no more than two houses shall be permitted along the eastern edge of the site fronting Mill Street.

(Reason: To ensure there is not significant harm to the setting of the Grade II listed building and Conservation Area in accordance with policies CH/4 and CH/5 of the adopted Local Development Framework 2007.)

The Committee gave officers delegated powers to approve the application subject to

1.     The prior completion of a Legal Agreement under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 securing the obligations referred to in the Heads of Terms attached as an Appendix to the report from the Head of Development Management;

2.     The Conditions and Informatives set out in the report from the Head of Development Management; and

3.     An additional Condition requiring the placement of bollards (or similar suitable street furniture) to protect the grassed area in front of numbers 36, 38 and 40 Grays Road.

Further to its delegated approval of the application at the meeting on 22 April 2016 (Minute 5 refers), the Committee

(a)   gave officers delegated powers to require completion of a Legal Agreement under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 securing payment of £240,006 to be offered in the first instance to Gamlingay Parish Council for the provision of early years education, subject to a time limited opportunity to identify a specific project and, should such a project not be forthcoming, to be offered instead to Cambridgeshire County Council as detailed in Appendix 2 to the report; and

(b)   noted that the contribution for primary school education should be £513,835 and not as reported to the meeting on 22 April 2016.

The Committee approved the application subject to the Conditions and Informatives referred to in the report from the Planning and New Communities Director.

Kathryn Slater (applicant’s agent), Councillor Sarah Groom accompanied by Kirsten Rayner  (Gamlingay Parish Council) and Councillor Bridget Smith (a local Member) addressed the meeting. The agent summarised the application, highlighting the absence of objections from statutory consultees, and only three objections from local residents. The developer would contribute £750,000 to the local community. Councillor Groom said that the development would generate increased demand for pre-school places, and the facility in the Methodist Chapel would need about £350,000 spent on it if it were to cope. In addition, some £200,000 was needed to provide extra open space for sport, including a potential new site for the bowling green. Councillor Smith said that Gamlingay needed houses, but not at any cost. She said that it was important to protect the employment element of this proposal. Councillor Smith had supported the allocation of this site in the emerging Local Plan, but only as a mixed development. The current application offered no guarantee that the businesses would remain on site. She urged the Committee not to approve the application in its current form unless fully compliant with the Local Plan. Loss of employment opportunities had to be mitigated, and pre-school provision must be assured.

The Committee considered the application at length, focusing on

·       The site’s fitness for purpose

·       The need for operating hours in the industrial part of the site to be realistic, and appropriate to the needs of the businesses there

·       The need for upgraded community facilities

·       The adequacy or otherwise of Section 106 financial contributions

·       Pressures on the village

·       Affordable housing must be for local people in perpetuity

Some members expressed misgivings about the proposal.

The Planning Lawyer said that officers would look at the Section 106 Obligations on the basis of provision rather than Quantum in order to ensure compliance with Community Infrastructure Levy requirements. They would do so in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Planning Committee, and with local Members.

By 11 votes to nil (with Councillor Deborah Roberts abstaining), the Committee gave officers delegated powers to approve the application, subject to

1.     The prior completion of a Legal Agreement under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990

a.     based on the Heads of Terms set out in the update report from the Planning and New Communities Director;

b.     preserving in perpetuity the Class B2 employment use of the 25% of the Industrial Estate not destined to be developed for housing;

c.     securing the affordable housing in a manner consistent with that at Station Road, Gamlingay – for local people, with cascade outwards only once the housing waiting list in Gamlingay had been eliminated;

2.     consultation with Cambridgeshire County Council, as Local Education Authority and in conjunction with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Planning Committee and the local Councillors for Gamlingay, in connection with the provision, but not quantum, of additional early years accommodation for inclusion as a Planning Obligation;

3.     the application being reported back to Committee for determination should negotiations with Cambridgeshire County Council under Point 2 above be unsuccessful; and

4.     the Conditions set out in the update report from the Planning and New Communities Director.

The Committee refused the application contrary to the recommendation in the report from the Planning and New Communities Director. Members agreed the reasons for refusal as being

1.     The failure of the application either to preserve or enhance the adjacent Conservation Area and setting of the Listed Buildings in Mill Street;

2.     The adverse impact on the residential amenity of occupiers of properties in Church Street, Cinques Road, Green Acres, Mill Street, West Road and Wootton Field; and

3.     The adverse visual impact of the development on the surrounding area due to its elevation and visual dominance.

The Committee approved the application, subject to the Conditions aet out in the report from the Planning and New Communities Director (the definition of Gypsies and Travellers in Condition (b) being revised to state “…defined, in Planning Policy for Travellers Sites 2012, as persons of nomadic habit of life whatever their race or origin, including such persons who on grounds only of their own or their family’s or dependants’ educational or health needs or old age have ceased to travel temporarily or permanently, but excluding members of an organised group of travelling showpeople or circus people travelling together as such.”

The Committee approved the application contrary to the recommendation in the report from the Director of Planning and New Communities, subject to safeguarding Conditions including Conditions relating to landscaping, bunding and fencing. Members agreed the reason for approval as being that the relocation of a longstanding local business, and protection of existing local jobs, outweighed any potential harm by reason of noise and disturbance to the occupiers of the adjacent bungalow that might occur over and above the site’s previous industrial use.

The Committee refused the application contrary to the recommendation in the report from the Planning and New Communities Director.  Members agreed the reason for refusal as being design of the building, adverse impact on the character ofte area and adverse impact on the amenity of neighbours.

The Committee gave officers delegated powers to approve the application for a temporary period of five years, contrary to the three years recommended in the report from the Planning and New Communities Director.  The Committee also approved the permanent change of use of land to garden.  Conditions 1 and 2 in the report would be attached to the consent, subject to Condition 2 being re-worded to reflect the amendment of the temporary timescale from three years to five years for the removal of the structures on site.

The Committee approved the application subject to

(a)        Plans showing the exact layout of the site with regard to location of the mobile home, amenity land and parking area;

(b)        Completion of a Section 106 Legal Agreement;

(c)        Comments from the Local Highways Authority; and

(d)        The Conditions and Informatives referred to in the report from the Planning and New Communities Director.

The Committee approved the application to delete Condition 2 attached to planning permission S/1747/09, subject to all of the other Conditions therein and the completion of a Section 106 Legal Agreement requiring a financial contribution towards open space and community facilities.