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Minutes of a meeting of Town Council Planning Committee held at The Station, Road, Ottery St Mary on Monday 24th August 2015 at 7pm

Present: Chairman: Councillor Holmes Councillors: Dobson, Giles, Pratt, Carter, Hall, Gori, Edwards Together with the Deputy Clerk

1. P/15/08/31 To receive Apologies Apologies were received from Councillors Bailey, Talbot, Mitchell, L Harding and Bartlett.

2. P/15/08/32 To receive Declarations of Interest and requests for new Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI) Dispensations for items on the Agenda Councillor Dobson declared a Personal Interest in application 15/1663/MOUT as he is a friend of the neighbour whose field abuts the land that Blue Cedars propose to build on.

3. P/15/08/33 Reports, Correspondence and Items referred to the Committee Appeal Decision APP/U1105/W/15/3006993 – Little Gosford Lane, Ottery St Mary. Appeal allowed. The development proposed is the relocation of the existing farm shop”. Duly noted. P/15/08/34 Pending Appeal APP/U1105/W/15/3035869 Beechcroft House, Toadpit Lane, West Hill, EX11 1LQ. Construction of a dwelling. Duly noted.

4. P/15/08/35 Planning Decisions Received 15/1622/ADV The Coleridge Medical Centre, Ottery St Mary, EX11 1EQ Granted

Mayor’s initials ……………………..

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P/15/08/36 5. To consider and determine observations on the following Planning Applications Members of the public present spoke regarding Application 15/1663/MOUT points raised were:  Assess from development not viable Slade Road is a single track road too far for elderly to carry shopping resulting in more vehicles with an already limited bus service  Schools, Medical centre full to capacity with and no provision for employment opportunities  Outside the BUAB  Over loaded sewerage treatment plant  Definitive Rights of Way Map shows Knightstone Lane as a bridleway and not adopted  No Section 106 agreement in place with landowner and EDDC  No protection for the trees

Reference Applicant Details 1) 15/1663/MOUT Blue Cedar Outline planning application for Homes the construction of up to 52no Dwellings incorporating age restricted open market and affordable dwellings together with associated infrastructure (all matters reserved except for access) Land adjacent to Slade Farm, Slade Road, Ottery St Mary Background When Ottery St. Mary Town Council were informed of this pending application the Mayor leafleted the most affected adjacent properties. This was followed by a meeting at the resident’s houses, a meeting at the Council Offices with residents and a presentation by Blue Cedar Homes to a group of Councillors. Subsequently the EDDC Ward members leafleted many houses around the Town. A site visit has been made by members of the Planning Committee. An active Facebook page was set up with … comments criticizing this application A time extension for comments was sought by the Town Council to enable resident’s time to submit their comments and arrange a suitable venue for the Planning Meeting as the Town Council Offices were not considered large enough. A Planning Meeting was held on Monday24th August with approximately 50 Ottery residents present.

Ottery St. Mary Town Council vigorously opposes this application and does not support it for the following reasons:

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Public Consultation Despite a request from Ottery St. Mary Town Council to the applicant Blue Cedar Homes for public consultation this has not been carried out.

Sustainability The applicant relies on the claim that there is not a five year supply of housing land, hence the development plan is not up-to-date and that there is therefore a presumption in favour of sustainable development. We do not agree with this, and do not consider that the proposed development is sustainable. The Town Council does not consider that this site is sustainable as it is well beyond reasonable walking distance of all facilities apart from the Primary School. The emerging Local Plan planned for 300 additional dwellings in Ottery St. Mary in the period 2013- 2031. In fact there are already over 500 dwellings with planning approval in Ottery, so these are now considered planning commitments rather than allocations. Construction is well under way at the Butts Road site with 64 houses already occupied, construction has started at the Island Farm site, and work has started at the Factory site. We can be confident that all these 500 dwellings will be built. This will mean 25% growth in Ottery.

Validity of Planning Application Questions have been raised about the validity of the Planning Application as local knowledge indicates that Knightstone Lane is privately owned and not the property of County Council as indicated in the application. The landowner of Knightstone Farm stated that Knightstone Lane had been owned by his family for generations and was not adopted by DCC.

Development Boundary The site is outside of the present built up area boundary. The proposed site is a Green Field Site, is totally unsustainable and will encourage further car usage.

Proposed Site Access The site is poorly related strategically to the Town Centre. The main vehicular access is from a farm lane onto a busy country lane used extensively by local businesses and farmers. Although the vision splays are stated to be adequate there is no room for a footway for the 150 metres from Slade Farm entrance to Longdogs Lane junction. There is insufficient room for two cars to pass safely with few passing places, the entrance to houses in Slade Road being the only ones available. Knightstone Lane is essentially a farm track and bridle way, there is insufficient room for pedestrians, mobility scooters, pushchairs etc. to pass any farm vehicles. The proposed pedestrian access via Knightstone Lane terminates in a busy four way junction of Slade Road, Chineway Gardens and Longdogs Lane. Within 150 metres in Longdogs Lane is a large Primary School which is particularly busy at School start and finish. Parking at these times is at a premium and this whole area is highly congested with cars and pedestrians. Vehicles exiting Chineway Gardens have to drive out into Slade Road to gain sufficient vision from the left to move out. The junction of Slade Road and Chineway Road is causing traffic problems and a petition for road improvements has been submitted to DCC Highways.

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The traffic in the Town Centre at times becomes highly congested with the limited development that has already taken place and with virtually all traffic crossing the Town having to traverse narrow pinch points, this development will add to the problems. -30-

Infrastructure When the residents of Ottery St. Mary were questioned in as to how many homes they would like to see the verdict was no more than 100 over the next 15 years with development predominantly to the West side of the Town Centre, however the Town Council considered this unreasonable and 300 was submitted as a reasonable figure. To date the following have been approved; 161 houses to the East at Butts Road (Redrow) 11 houses in the Town Centre (Feniton Park) 100 homes to the West at the Factory Site (Churchill Properties) 165 houses to the West adjacent to Island Farm (Bovis) 45 houses to the South on Road (David Wilson Homes) 27 flats at the Salston Hotel 5 individual applications in the Town This is a TOTAL of 514 approved homes.

The Town Infrastructure is struggling to meet demand already with problems with school occupancy with the potential of young children having to be bussed to surrounding areas. Waiting times at the Coleridge Medical Centre are increasing.

Type of Housing The logical site for 55+ housing ideally should be as near to the Town Centre shopping, medical facilities and transport links as possible, this proposed site is about as far away from these amenities as it is possible to get in Ottery St. Mary. There is already provision for 55+ housing approved in the Town at the Tumbling Weir site. There is provision within the application for 25% affordable housing and the recommendation of the EDDC Housing Officer is that this should be 50%.

Rural Outlook The proposed site is positioned in open countryside outside of the BUAB on high ground and as such its predominant position will give an urban look to an area that has a rural feel to it. When viewed from East Hill Strips, an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, this site will dominate the East side of Ottery St. Mary. There are houses that abut the proposed site that will be overlooked by the proposed new housing resulting in loss of privacy and possibly light.

Trees Whilst there are few mature trees on the proposed site there are mature trees bordering Knightstone Lane. It is imperative that these trees be retained by way of Tree Preservation Orders. There is concern regarding removal of hedges as these are important habitat for small mammals and reptiles.

Agricultural Land It is understood that the site for the proposed application is grade 2 and 3 agricultural land. It is regrettable that the area will lose more agricultural land in addition to that lost at Butts Road and Island Farm.

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Water Run Off. Many residents are concerned about water run to and from this site and during heavy downpours Slade Road and Knightstone Lane become rivers dragging rubble and blocking the drains. Adjacent -31-

Properties off Knightstone Lane experience their properties being surrounded by water after heavy rain. A resident of Sidmouth Road expressed concerns about increased water run-off from the proposed site flooding his property and unable to flow under the Sidmouth Road culvert due to the volume.

Conclusion This Planning Application has absolutely nothing to merit it; the location is totally inappropriate being unsustainable on the wrong side of the Town with poor access. Ottery has had more that its allocation of housing resulting in traffic congestion and overloading of the infrastructure. In the opinion of the Town Council and the residents of Ottery St. Mary this application must be referred to the DMC and REFUSED by East Devon District Council.

2) 15/1843/FUL Burridge Construction of double garage and summer house Heather Down, 11A Heather Grange, West Hill, Ottery St Mary, EX11 1XZ The Planning Committee supports this application

3) 15/1762/LBC Thistlewayte Relocation of first floor corridor Door and wall Cadhay House, Cadhay, Ottery St Mary, EX11 1QT The Planning Committee supports this application subject to the approval of the EDDC Conservation Officer

4) 15/1839/FUL Hadlett Construction of a garage forward of the dwelling house Birchwood, Hawkins Lane, West Hill, Ottery St Mary, EX11 1XG The Planning Committee has no objection to this application

5) 15/1866/TCA Baker T1, Magnolia-crown reduction via thinning to remove up to 30% foliar area, making pruning cuts of no more than 60mm diameter to remove branch lengths up to 2m. T2, Douglas Fir – Fell 58 Mill Street, Ottery St Mary.

Mayor’s initials ……………………..

EX11 1AF The Planning Committee supports this application

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P/15/08/00 6. To Receive Councillors’ questions relating to Planning Matters Councillor Carter asked about progress at the Salston and was informed that the EDDC District Valuer was still awaiting a decision.

The meeting closed at 7.57pm

Mayor’s Signature………………………………………. Date……………………………

The next meeting of the Planning Committee is on Tuesday 8th September at 7pm in the Council Chamber, Council Offices, 8 Broad Street, Ottery St Mary, EX11 1BZ

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