Agenda item

Public Participation

Sue Upton, local resident, spoke in objection to the application.

Clare Wallace, local resident, spoke in objection to the application.

Kevin Hamilton, applicant, spoke in support of the application.

Simon Chambers, planning agent, spoke in support of the application.

Councillor Maggie Bawden, Chairman of Hullavington Parish Council, spoke in objection to the application.

The Planning Officer, Simon Smith, introduced a report which recommended granting planning permission, subject to conditions, for the erection of 2 new dwellings.

Key issues highlighted included: the location of the proposals within the settlement boundary and that the emerging plan agrees that the settlement boundary would mean that the site would be outside of that boundary but that the adopted plan should be given greater weight than the emerging plan; that the highway officer had not made an objections; the design and elevations of the proposals; the material to be used; the additional drainage conditions; the distances of the proposals in relation to existing proposals.

Members of the Committee then had the opportunity to ask technical questions of the officer which focused on: the arrangements for accessing the site; the arrangements for bins and refuse collections; the relevance of permitted development rights.

Specific advice was sought from officers regarding the weight that could be given to the proposed new settlement boundary adopted into the draft Wiltshire Housing Site Allocation Plan. The officers view was that Wiltshire Housing Site Allocation Plan still carries relatively limited weight and the application should be determined against the current adopted plan.

Members of the public then had the opportunity to address the Committee, as detailed above.

Councillor Baroness Jane Scott of Bybrook OBE, Division Member, spoke in objection to the application with the main points focusing on the concerns over access to the site, the difficulties of waste facilities for the proposal, the location of the proposal in relation to the settlement boundary, and the allocation of housing land existing for the village.

At the start of the debate a proposal was moved by Councillor Sturgis and seconded by Councillor Gavin Grant to refuse planning permission as the proposal results in the access road being routed through the open countryside, falling out side of the current settlement boundary for Hullavington village.  Further, the Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Development Plan Document, now formally approved by the Full Council on 10/07/18, substantively excludes the application site from the settlement boundary, and can therefore be given considerable weight in decision making.  For the above reasons, the proposal would take place in the open countryside, outside of the village settlement boundary and would adversely impact upon the character and appearance of locality contrary to the provisions of Policies CP57 of the Wiltshire Core Strategy.

Prior to the vote, the Planning Officer reiterated his previous advice that only limited weight could be given to the emerging Wiltshire Housing Site Allocation Plan and that the application should be determined against the policies within the adopted Wiltshire Core Strategy.

At the conclusion of the debate, the meeting;

Resolved

That planning permission be refused for the following reason:

The proposal results in the access road being routed through the open countryside, falling out side of the current settlement boundary for Hullavington village.  Further, the Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Development Plan Document, now formally approved by the Full Council on 10/07/18, substantively excludes the application site from the settlement boundary, and can therefore be given considerable weight in decision making.  For the above reasons, the proposal would take place in the open countryside, outside of the village settlement boundary and would adversely impact upon the character and appearance of locality contrary to the provisions of Policies CP57 of the Wiltshire Core Strategy.