Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Pip Ridout, who was substituted by Councillor Mike Sankey.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 12 April 2023.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 12 April 2023 were considered. Following which, it was:

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes of the previous meeting held on 12 April 2023 as a true and correct record.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

The Chairman announced that upon the receipt of further late comments on the application, the applicant had made the decision to withdraw application PL/2022/09808, in order to review the information received. Therefore, the Committee would not be making a decision regarding Agenda Item 8.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

Members of the public who wish to speak either in favour or against an application or any other item on this agenda are asked to register no later than 10 minutes before the start of the meeting. If it is on the day of the meeting registration should be done in person.

The rules on public participation in respect of planning applications are linked to in the Council’s Planning Code of Good Practice. The Chairman will allow up to 3 speakers in favour and up to 3 speakers against an application, and up to 3 speakers on any other item on this agenda. Each speaker will be given up to 3 minutes and invited to speak immediately prior to the item being considered.

Members of the public will have had the opportunity to make representations on the planning applications and to contact and lobby their local member and any other members of the planning committee prior to the meeting. Lobbying once the debate has started at the meeting is not permitted, including the circulation of new information, written or photographic which have not been verified by planning officers.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution which excludes, in particular, questions on non-determined planning applications.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Tuesday 2 May 2023 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on Thursday 4 May 2023. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

The Chairman explained the rules of public participation and the procedure to be followed at the meeting.

There were no questions or statements submitted.

To receive details of completed and pending appeals and other updates as appropriate.

The Chairman invited Kenny Green, Development Management Team Leader, to update the Committee on the pending and determined appeals as per the appeals report included within the Agenda Pack.

Following which, it was:

Resolved:

To note the appeals report for the period 31 March 2023 to 27 April 2023.

Reserved matters (Following Outline Permission 20/01938/OUT) for development comprising the erection of 144 dwellings with informal and formal open space, associated landscaping and vehicular and pedestrian accesses off Semington Road.

Public Participation

Kenneth Graham, local resident, spoke in objection to the application.

Cecilia Hughes, agent, spoke in support of the application.

Cllr Richard Wood, Melksham Without Parish Council, spoke in support of the application.

Steven Sims, Senior Conservation and Planning Officer, introduced the report which recommended that reserved matters approval be granted for the development comprising of the erection of 144 dwellings with informal and formal open space, associated landscaping, and vehicular and pedestrian accesses off Semington Road. Key issues included: the principle of the development and highways issues.

In response to technical questions asked by the Committee, officers explained that the application hadn’t reached the 200-dwelling threshold to be considered by the Strategic Planning Committee. The Committee were informed that the application had been revised following officer/developer negotiations that resulted in a materially different housing mix, which officers now supported. Clarification was also given regarding the fencing along the southern boundary of the application site, to prevent public access. It was further confirmed that Shails Lane was a private road, and that Wessex Water would have exclusive access and control of the gate to access utilities and for maintenance purposes.

There were queries raised on relevant planning policies, and the terms of the reserved matters application, and about the secured Section 106 obligations relating to contributing to the cost of supporting the healthcare provision for the Melksham and Bradford-on-Avon Primary Care Network.

Members of the public then had the opportunity to present their views to the Committee, as detailed above.

A debate on the application followed, Councillor Jonathon Seed, seconded by Councillor Trevor Carbin, moved that the officer’s recommendations be approved, subject to additional informatives relating to securing a variation of the Section 106 pursuant to a different off-site highway improvement project, to clarify the security hoarding to prevent vehicular use of Shails Lane, and to encourage enhanced pedestrian connections and additional informal areas of play.

The wording of the proposed additional conditions and informatives were then debated to promote positive working with the developers and other relevant parties, particularly regarding the nearby toucan crossing. The Committee discussed in detail the use of a management company to be responsible for the maintenance of the development and noted that the Parish Council had not been consulted upon whether it would have been willing to take on the management instead.

At the conclusion of the discussion, it was then:

Resolved:

The Committee granted reserved matters approval subject to the following conditions and informatives:

Conditions

1. The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with thefollowing approved plans and documents:

P21-3414_03D ILLUSTRATIVE STREETSCENES
P21-3414_06H SITE LOCATION PLAN
P21-3414_07G MATERIALS PLAN
P21-3414_08G EXTERNAL WORKS
P21-3414_09E AFFORDABLE HOUSING
P21-3414_10E BUILDING HEIGHTS
P21-3414_11E REFUSE STRATEGY
P21-3414_12F PARKING STRATEGY
P21-3414_13F HOUSEPACK
P21-3414_14G ADOPTION & MANAGEMENT
P21-3414_15S SITE LAYOUT
P21-3414_16A ENCLOSURE DETAILS
P21-3414_19C BAT AND SWIFT BRICKS LOCATION PLAN
P21-3414_20 ENTRANCE WALL
P21-3414-PEG-XX-XX-DR-C-001 – Drainage Strategy – Sheet 1 – R06
P21-3414-PEG-XX-XX-DR-C-002 – Drainage Strategy – Sheet 2 – R06
P21-3414-PEG-XX-XX-DR-C-003 – Drainage Strategy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

Demolition of stables and construction of new house with associated works and change of use of land to C3. (resubmission of PL/2022/03190)

As detailed under Chairman’s Announcements, the application was withdrawn by the applicant prior to the meeting.

Any other items of business which, in the opinion of the Chairman, should be taken as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.