Application Recommended for Refusal APP/2009/0729 Cliviger with Worsthorne Ward

Full Planning Application Proposed continued use of car park for village hall with additional use by five residents Cliviger Village Hall Burnley Road Cliviger

Background:

Planning permission was granted in 2003 for the car park on agricultural land adjacent to the Village Hall.

The car park was described as being for the exclusive use of visitors to the village hall and a planning condition made that a requirement.

The previous application was controversial with a significant number of representations for and against the proposal. It was granted on the basis of a balance: more weight being given to community benefit of the hall car park than to loss of a small area of rural land.

The present application is brought to Committee in anticipation of ‘call-in’ by Members of the Council.

Summary of Reason for Recommendation:

The development is not in accordance with the Development Plan, in particular the policies listed below, and other material considerations do not indicate that planning permission should be granted:

Relevant Policies:

Burnley Local Plan Second Review GP1 – Development within the Urban Boundary GP2 - Development in the Rural Area E27 - Landscape Character and Local Distinctiveness in Rural areas and Green Belt TM20 - Car Parking Standards

Site History:

2003/0714: Creation of car park of 18 spaces for the exclusive use of visitors to village hall - Granted

Consultation Responses:

Highway Authority – No objections. The proposal to allow use of part of the car park by residents is a positive step to reducing parking congestion in this area, but it is anticipated that roadside spaces freed up would then be used by other residents.

Planning and Environmental Considerations:

The village hall car park is on land to the rear of Nos.382 to 392 Burnley Road, Cliviger. Access is via an unmade road between Nos. 380 and 382 Burnley Road.

In 2003 permission was granted for the car park described as ‘for the exclusive use of visitors to the village hall’. Conditions were imposed requiring that it only be used as such and that if its use was discontinued the land should be reinstated to its former condition. The car park was to be kept locked at all other times.

Former condition of car park land

Present car park

Site plan –existing car park layout - the 5 spaces proposed for residents’ use

In the present proposal 5 of the car spaces would be used by residents. A gate locking bolt arrangement would be installed to ensure control of the use.

The planning issues revolve around the development plan principle of limiting urban development outside the Urban Boundary.

Policy GP2 (as relevant to this application) provides that:

Development in Rural Areas be limited to agriculture, forestry and outdoor recreation uses not requiring large buildings; and proposals that contribute to a particular local housing, social or community problem within a named settlement.

Policy E27 (as relevant to this application) provides that:

Development will be expected to contribute to the protection of landscape character by protecting the setting of rural and urban settlements.

The application states that: 1. The application is made because of the ongoing problems with vehicle access to the Village Hall car park along the access side street caused by residents parking.

Access side street

2. Generally 6 to 10 spaces are used at the most. On occasions when major functions take place (generally no more than six events a year) the spaces allocated to residents would be required to be kept free for function parking.

3. The gate would be kept locked and access details only given to hall user groups or resident users.

4. It has been indicated during discussions about the application that the applicants are seeking to gain a measure of control of the access road between Nos. 380 and 382 Burnley Road so that it can be marked out to provide a 2- way with parking spaces marked on either side.

My concerns are summarised as follows:

1. Permission for the car park was only granted on the basis that it was specifically for community use and the benefits were considered to outweigh the loss of an area of rural land and adverse impact on the setting of the Cliviger village. It was an exceptional case. Use by residents would amount to a more general encroachment of urban use into the rural area.

2. The present permission requires that the car park is kept empty except when the Hall is in use, so that the land would, for the remaining time, retain an open appearance. This openness would be lost if residents cars were parked.

3. The amenities of immediate residents would suffer a degree of harm from the coming and going of cars to the car park, at the rear of their houses, on a 24 hour basis, and from the presence of cars in the landscape forming their outlook.

4. Whilst residents’ cars would be displaced to the car park from the access road or main road it is likely that the street parking would soon be filled by others.

5. Allocation of 5 spaces to nearby residents would reduce the amount of parking available for the Village Hall.

6. The problem of parking congestion on the access side street could be resolved separately if it comes into the control of the applicant.

7. Whilst the condition imposed in the previous permission requiring reinstatement of the car park land to its former state would not apply in the case of under-use of the car park in connection with the Village Hall, such under-use should not be taken to support a proposal otherwise in conflict with the development plan.

8. The general residential car parking use would be an unjustified encroachment into the rural area. It could be cited as a precedent by others seeking to develop urban uses outside the urban boundary.

My conclusion, therefore, is that the application should be refused.

Recommendation: That the application be refused for the following reasons:

Reasons

1. The site is located outside the urban boundary and on rural land identified by Policies GP1 and GP2 of the Burnley Local Plan Second Review and (as applicable to this proposal) restricted by those policies to agriculture, forestry and outdoor recreation uses not requiring large buildings and proposals that contribute to the solution of a particular community problem in the named settlement. The residential car parking proposed would conflict with those policies and would thereby fail to concentrate development within the urban area.

2. The present arrangements for operation of the car park require its use for car parking to be kept to the minimum commensurate with operation of the Village Hall, which minimises the impact of car parking on the rural landscape. The proposal would result in cars standing on the land for long periods that would adversely affect the visual amenities of the area and the setting of this part of Cliviger. This would be contrary to Policy E27 of the Burnley Local Plan Second Review.

AR 29.1.2009