Nm-15-04160-Ful
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Parish: Ward: North Mundham North Mundham NM/15/04160/FUL Proposal Erection of 25 dwellings and associated access, parking, gardens and landscaping. Site Land South Of Stoney Lodge School Lane North Mundham West Sussex Map Ref (E) 487527 (N) 102445 Applicant Mr Luke Leleiu RECOMMENDATION TO DEFER FOR SECTION 106 THEN PERMIT Note: Do not scale from map. For information only. Reproduced NOT TO from the Ordnance Survey Mapping with the permission of the SCALE controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Crown Copyright. License No. 100018803 1.0 Reason for Committee Referral Parish Objection - Officer recommends Permit 2.0 The Site and Surroundings 2.1 The application site is an area of agricultural land of approximately 0.77 hectares that is currently used for the storage of hay bales and contains no buildings. The site is located outside the village Settlement Boundary, as set out in the Adopted Chichester District Local Plan (carried forward from the 1999 Local Plan) and the emerging Site Allocations DPD. 2.2 The site is accessed from School Lane, close to the junction with Lagness Road (B2166). School Lane has no pedestrian footways at present, and there is a no- through road serving the school, directly opposite the application site. The village hall is located to the north of the site and a ribbon of dwellings (2 storey and bungalows) extend northwards leading to a single track bridleway. 2.3 There is an existing hedgerow along the eastern boundary which also adjoins an extensive area of mature vegetation along the southern boundary, which surrounds an abandoned canal. The canal runs to the south of the site, adjacent to the B2166, parallel to a ditch which marks the southern boundary. The western boundary is marked by an existing post and wire fence, and the boundary to the north is marked by mixed vegetation of varying heights and close boarded timber fence. The vegetation and fence closest to the dwelling immediately to the north of the site (Stoney Lodge) is low, allowing unrestricted views into the neighbouring property. The outbuilding serving this property is located immediately adjacent to the northern boundary, close to School Lane. 2.4 North Mundham is a small village, with limited facilities, including a school, village hall, pub and a regular bus service to Chichester and Bognor Regis. The village is bisected by the Lagness Road (B2166) and the application site is located to the north of the Lagness Road. 3.0 The Proposal 3.1 The application seeks full planning permission for the erection of 25 dwellings, including 40% affordable, on land to the South of Stoney Lodge, an arable field located on the edge of the settlement of North Mundham. 3.2 A previous application for 25 dwellings was allowed at appeal in 2014 (13/01036/OUT) and secured the principle of development, with layout, access and scale approved. Appearance and landscaping were to be dealt with by reserved matters. This full application is submitted to enable a revised layout and housing mix to be considered. 3.3 The development would be served by a single vehicular access onto School Lane, approximately 30-35 metres north of the junction with the Lagness Road (B2166) and includes an internal access road in the form of a residential cul-de-sac, with a mix of detached and semi-detached dwellings, including 3 bungalows, and 4 maisonettes. The scheme includes 50 parking spaces - 8 more than provided with the outline consent - with 11 disabled spaces. Each unit will have private amenity space in the form of a garden, including the maisonettes. Ten of the units would be affordable, which equates to 40% overall. The proposed units are single and two storeys, with a maximum ridge height of 9.3 metres, and incorporate varying house types, heights and roof pitches. Materials proposed include tile hanging, brick and flint, and timber boarding. Parking would either be on curtilage or in small parking courts. Each residential unit would have two car parking spaces. 3.4 The housing mix proposed with this scheme is as follows:- 4 x 1 bed maisonettes 9 x 2 bed houses 8 x 3 bed houses 2 x 1 bed bungalows 2 x 2 bed bungalows Total - 25 Affordable 4 x 1 bed maisonettes (social rent) 2 x 1 bed bungalows (social rent) 1 x 2 bed bungalow (social rent) 2 x 2 bed houses (intermediate) 1 x 3 bed house (intermediate) Total - 10 Market 5 x 2 bed houses 8 x 3 bed houses 2 x 2 bed bungalows Total - 15 4.0 History 13/01036/OUT ALLOW Mixed housing development comprising 11 no. terraced cottages, 4 no. flats, 6 no. semi detached dwellings and 4 no. detached dwellings, associated access road, gardens and parking areas. 5.0 Constraints Listed Building NO Conservation Area NO Rural Area YES AONB NO Strategic Gap NO Tree Preservation Order NO South Downs National Park NO EA Flood Zone NO Historic Parks and Gardens NO 6.0 Representations and Consultations 6.1 North Mundham Parish Council Object Southern Water states there is inadequate capacity in the local foul water network. Council notes objections from nearby residents on flooding. In order to support the application, the Parish seeks assurance that the issue of inadequate drainage will be addressed at the planning stage. There may be a detrimental impact on the adjoining disused canal area because of the development. Proximity of housing and lack of a management strategy for the wildlife corridor could result in the undeveloped area becoming a dumping area for waste material. Measures should be put in place by the developer to minimise the risk. Further comments following additional information The Council still has no confidence that the provision of foul drainage will be adequate. The Council notes the various responses from Southern Water and their contractors which asserted initially (Southern Water and Atkins letter dated 4 October 2012) that the local foul drainage system has inadequate capacity. This advice was repeated in Southern Water’s letter of 5 February 2016. However Southern Water’s letter of 20 April 2016 indicates that the development can be accommodated and no improvement works are required. This differs significantly from the experience of local residents who already suffer instances of sewage backing up into their properties. In particular North Mundham Village Hall, North Mundham Primary School and the Playing Field Pavilion used by the Sunbeams Pre-School and pupils from the Free School have all been affected. Local experience is particularly unsatisfactory in periods of heavy rainfall and in the immediate aftermath, and it is believed that surface water infiltration exacerbates the situation. In this context we note the information from a conversation with contractors carrying out a closed –circuit TV survey of the pipework in June 2014. They commented that the pipework is of an age where the joints between the lengths of pipe are unlikely to be very well sealed. The Parish Council has raised its concerns directly with Southern Water on a number of occasions. In particular, it is believed that the sewage main in the vicinity of this development is regularly overloaded by the discharge from the Lakeside Holiday Park development which discharges into the same branch of the foul drainage system at the northern end of School Lane. The Council has on record correspondence with both Southern Water and Chichester District Council dating back to 2001, when the potential problem of a proposed large increase in the number of holiday homes was recognised. As a result, an agreement was put in place by which the operators of the holiday park would limit the rate of discharge into the foul drainage system. Recent experience has called into question whether this agreement is still in force and effective, and the matter was raised with Southern Water in the context of a wider discussion on the sewage problems in the parish. These discussions culminated in a detailed e-mail sent on 12 June 2014 explaining the history and detail of the agreement, of which Southern Water appeared to have no record. Southern Water agreed to investigate the situation, initially suggesting that they would install flow monitoring equipment. However, despite regular updates asserting that such instrumentation would be installed, it is not yet in place. The latest update from Southern Water (by e-mail dated 25 April 2016) indicates that they will instead undertake “manual measurements of velocity and depth to establish a better understanding of the flow”. It is clear that the true state of the sewage system remains under investigation. We are therefore unable to understand how Southern Water in their letter of 20 April 2016 can confidently assert that they are “happy to confirm that Southern Water is able to provide foul sewerage disposal to service the proposed above development with no requirement of any improvement works to the public sewerage network”. The situation is potentially exacerbated by two other developments which could be connected to the same part of the local sewage system. There is already outline consent for a development of eight new homes on an immediately adjacent site at Stoney Meadow Farm (15/01857/OUT). There is also a decision pending on an application for a further 37 lodge-style holiday caravans at Lakeside Holiday Park (15/02356/FUL) which would add further to the burden on the system – this Council has already recorded an objection to the application on the grounds of the overload on the local sewage system. The Council therefore finds it incomprehensible that Southern Water can assert that the system has the potential to handle the additional burden of a further 70 homes when it is already demonstrably not fit for purpose.