Agenda item

Addition of two extra traveller pitches, two day rooms and associated ancillary development.

The Senior Planning Officer, Steven Sims, presented a report which recommended permission be granted for addition of two extra traveller pitches, two day rooms and associated ancillary development. Key issues included the principle of the proposal, the impact on the character of the area, on highway safety and drainage. If approved there would be a total of six pitches, including regularising the positioning of the static caravans currently on the site.

 

Details were also provided of the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment, identifying a need across the county for at least 120 additional pitches for those meeting the statutory definition of a Traveller, and at least a further 61 who did not meet the statutory definition but who were required to be accommodated.

 

Members of the Committee were given the opportunity to ask technical questions. Details were sought about the number of caravans on site, with it confirmed a seventh would not remain, foul water drainage, involvement of building control for the day room construction details, and details of the proposed area of replanted woodland.

 

Queries were also raised about the process for determining Gypsy and Traveller applications should be considered by the Strategic Planning Committee.

 

No members of the public had registered to make a statement to the Committee.

 

The Unitary Member, Councillor Horace Prickett, then spoke regarding the application, noting the comments received from the local Parish Council.

 

A debate followed, which discussed when any proposed replanting would take place and conditions around use of the site and restricting scale of vehicles operating on the site.

 

On the motion of Councillor Sarah Gibson, seconded by Councillor Adrian Foster, to approve the officer recommendation to grant permission, with the addition or amendment of conditions in respect of drainage, building control, and timing of any replanting, at the conclusion of debate it was,

 

Resolved:

 

GRANT planning permission subject to conditions set out below:

 

1       

The development hereby permitted shall be begun before the expiration of three years from the date of this permission.

REASON: To comply with the provisions of Section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as amended by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

  

2       

The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved plans:

 

Location plan scale 1:1250 drg no. MM01 rev A

Dayroom details scale 1:100 drg no. MM2

Figure 3a Habitat Enhancement scale drg no. IES/2021/015

Proposed layout plan scale 1:500 drg no. MM03

Proposed drainage plan scale 1:500 drg no. TP05

 

REASON: For the avoidance of doubt and in the interests of proper planning.

  

3       

The site shall not be occupied by any persons other than either gypsies and travellers as defined in Annex 1: Glossary of Planning Policy for Traveller Sites published August 2015 or persons who identify as gypsies and travellers in line with the stipulations in the Equalities Act 2010.

 

REASON: Planning permission has only been granted on the basis of the provision of accommodation for gypsies and travellers as defined in this condition, and it is necessary to keep the site available to meet such need.

  

4       

No more than twelve caravans, as defined in the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 and the Caravan Sites Act 1968 as amended (of which no more than six shall be static caravans) shall be stationed on the site at any time.

 

REASON: To control the number of caravans on the site and in order to safeguard interests of visual and residential amenity.

  

5       

No commercial activities shall take place on the land, including the storage of materials used in connection with any business operated by the occupiers of the site.

 

REASON: In the interests of visual amenity, highway safety and the amenity of occupants of the site and adjacent residents.

  

6       

No vehicle over 3.5 tonnes 'gross unladen' weight shall be stationed, parked or stored on the site.

 

REASON: In the interests of visual amenity, highway safety and the amenity of occupants of the site and adjacent residents.

  

7       

No elements of ‘new development’ shall be first used or occupied until surface water drainage arrangements are put in place in accordance with the approved Surface Water Drainage Strategy and soakaway design “Soakaway Design for Impermeable Surfaces and Static Homes at: Sunnyside, Yarnbrook Road, West Ashton, Wiltshire” and Drainage Plan drg no. TPO5.

 

REASON: To ensure that the development can be adequately drained without increasing flood risk to others.

  

8       

No construction or demolition work shall take place on Sundays or Public Holidays or outside the hours of 08:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday and 08:00 to 13:00 on Saturdays.

 

REASON: Core policy 57, Ensuring high design and place shaping such that appropriate levels of amenity are achievable.

  

9       

All planting of hedgerows and trees as detailed within the approved Ecological Management Plan (ES Consulting, Feb 2022) and the Habitat Enhancement Woodland planting (as detailed in Figure 3a: Habitat Enhancement (IES Consulting, Feb 2022)) shall be carried out in the first planting and seeding season following the first occupation or use of any of the elements of ‘new development’ at the site. All hedgerows and trees shall thereafter be managed in accordance with the Ecological Management Plan (IES Consulting, February 2022) for the lifetime of the development in accordance with the approved details. All shrubs, trees and hedge planting shall be maintained free from weeds and shall be protected from damage by vermin and stock. Any trees or plants which, within a period of five years, die, are removed, or become seriously damaged or diseased shall be replaced in the next planting season with others of a similar size and species, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

 

All hard landscaping shall also be carried out in accordance with the approved details prior to the first occupation of any of the elements of ‘new development’ or in accordance with a programme to be agreed in writing with the Local Planning Authority.

 

REASON: To ensure the long-term management of ecological features retained and created by the development and for the benefit of biodiversity for the lifetime of the scheme, and in the interests of amenity.

  

10     

Within 24 months of the first occupation or use of any elements of ‘new development’ hereby approved photographic evidence shall be provided to the LPA demonstrating that the area of Habitat Enhancement Woodland planting as detailed in Figure 3a: Habitat Enhancement (IES Consulting, Feb 2022) in the eastern part of the site has been implemented. This must include the double row of species-rich hedgerow illustrated on Figure 3a which divides the main development area from the Core Buffer Bat Habitat in the eastern part of the site and all woodland planting which will form the newly planted Core Bat Habitat.

 

REASON: To ensure adequate protection for bats through the implementation of detailed mitigation measures that were prepared and submitted with the application before determination.

  

11     

No elements of ‘new development’ hereby approved shall be first used or occupied until additional information to enable the sensitive lighting regime on-site as detailed in the Bat Transect & Static Detector Survey Report V1 (IES Consulting Ltd, November 2021) shall be provided, including a marked-up plan, and submitted to the Local Planning Authority for approval. The marked-up plan must specify light levels (luminaires) and the exact locations of all fittings. The lighting shall be installed in accordance with the approved additional information and marked-up plan, and it shall be retained and maintained as approved thereafter.

 

REASON: To ensure there is an overall reduction in lighting across the site and that the boundary features are reinstated as dark corridors.

  

12     

No elements of ‘new development’ hereby approved shall be first used or occupied until the parking spaces have been completed in accordance with the details shown on the approved plans. The parking spaces shall be maintained for those purposes at all times thereafter.

 

REASON: In the interests of highway safety.

  

13     

Prior to any elements of ‘new development’ approved by this planning permission being first constructed or laid out, a scheme for the disposal of foul water, including, if relevant, the point of connection to the existing public sewer, shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. No elements of ‘new development’ shall then be first used or occupied until the approved scheme has been fully implemented in accordance with the approval.

 

REASON: To ensure that the proposal is provided with a satisfactory means of drainage and does not increase the risk of flooding or pose a risk to public health or the environment.

 

14

INFORMATIVE: For the purposes of the above conditions nos. 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 ‘new development’ is defined as all elements of the development approved by this planning permission but excluding, firstly, any existing elements which also benefit from past planning permissions; and secondly, any existing elements which are now regularised by this planning permission. 

 

 

 

A break was taken from 1240-1250