Agenda item

Tony Philips spoke in support of the application

Ian Rae spoke in objection to the application

Cllr Margaret Bawden, Hullavington Parish Council, spoke in objection to the application.

The planning officer introduced the application which was for the creation of a new vehicular access onto a classified road at 40 The Street, Hullavington, to allow access to the site of residential property with paddocks which benefitted from an extant permission for the erection of stables. The offer recommended that planning permission be granted subject to the conditions and informatives in the report and drew attention to the late observations. Photos of the site and plans for access arrangements were shown. It was explained that highways officers had originally raised concerns with the proposed access however had withdrawn their objections since additional information including adequate visibility splays had been submitted.

In response to technical questions it was noted that the planning permission did not include the removal of an existing boundary wall to the north of the site. The planning officer advised that the highways officer was satisfied that the wall height had been reduced to a level that would not obscure views for drivers using the entrance and main road. It was explained that suggested planning conditions would limit the height of the wall to a safe height.

Members of the public then addressed the Committee as detailed above.

The local member, Baroness Scott, spoke in objection to the application, considering the existing access to be safer and questioning why a new access was required. The local member considered the access would be a highways safety risk to the busy road.

In the debate that followed, members noted the judgement of the highways officer however considered that on balance the highways impact of the proposal was dangerous and therefore ‘severe’. Members of the Committee commented that they were familiar with the site and were concerned that the proposed access would be at the narrowest part of The Street, meaning that vehicles with trailers or horseboxes would have to use the other side of the road to turn slowly into the entrance. The Committee also agreed that a second access road into the site was unnecessary and considered the location of the existing access to be much safer. Councillors were mindful that it would be common for horseboxes to enter and exit the stables and they would only be able to do so slowly and so may cause a hazard blocking the road for on-coming traffic. Members also commented that the visibility splays demonstrated an improvement to visibility when exiting the site, however would not improve visibility for vehicles approaching the site, on the highway, from around the nearby corner.

The Committee was reminded that that the planning officer had deemed the proposal to be acceptable and would have considered access by horseboxes, however felt the highways safety risks to be so severe that the application should be refused. The Chairman noted that the local member, and committee member who lived in the village knew the site well and considered the proposals to pose a severe risk to highways safety.

The meeting was adjourned for 2 minutes. On listening to the debate, officers suggested to the Committee that it had concluded that it wished to refuse permission for the following reason:

The proposed development would, by reason of an intensification of vehicles entering and exiting the site and inadequate visibility splays, result in highways hazard with the potential for severe harm to highway safety arising from conflicting vehicular movements and the volume and nature of vehicular movements at the proposed access Therefore, the proposed development is considered contrary to Core Policy 61 of the Wiltshire Core Strategy and Paragraph 32 of the National Planning Policy Framework.

Cllr Sturgis requested that the refusal reason be amended to reflect the inadequate interrelationship between the existing and proposed accesses also.

Cllr Sturgis, seconded by Cllr Greenman moved that the application be refused for the reason set out below.

Resolved:

To REFUSE planning permission for the following reason:

The proposed development would, by reason of an intensification of vehicles entering and exiting the site, inadequate visibility splays and the proximity of the existing and proposed accesses, result in highways hazard with the potential for severe harm to highway safety arising from conflicting vehicular movements and the volume and nature of vehicular movements at the proposed access. Therefore, the proposed development is considered contrary to Core Policy 61 of the Wiltshire Core Strategy and Paragraph 32 of the National Planning Policy Framework.

And:

To note advice from officers that given the identified reason for refusal, the contents of the committee report and response of highways officers, Council Officers would not be in a position to represent the Council in the event of an appeal. Therefore, members note that it would be necessary for officers to seek to appoint a suitably qualified consultant.