PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held at 7.30 pm in the Harting Community Hall, on Friday 16th November 2018 Present: Sheridan Bowman (Chair), Andrew Shaxson, Sheila Bramley, Tim Bonner and Hugo Stuttaford. In attendance: Trish Walker, Parish Clerk 67. Apologies for absence: Chris Healey and Simon Powys Maurice. 68. Declarations of Interest: None.

69. Members of the Public Present: 26

70. Minutes of the meeting on 18th October 2018: Having been agreed, the minutes were signed by the Chairman.

71. Matters of Urgent Public Importance: None.

72. Current Planning Applications:

72.1. SDNP/18/05385/FUL Demolition of existing village hall and construction of 2no. 4 bedroom detached houses including associated infrastructure, car parking and landscaping on land at The Henry Warren Club, Road, Nyewood, West , GU31 5JE. Construction of new village hall including associated infrastructure, car parking and landscaping on land North East of Prestwood, Nyewood Road, Nyewood, , GU31 5HX.

The Henry Warren Club and Land North East of Prestwood Nyewood Road Nyewood South Harting West Sussex GU31 5JE

The Chairman commented that the application is very unusual as it is two applications in one, with each part of the application being in two separate parishes. For this reason, the Council only considered the part of the application situated in the Parish of Harting for which it is a statutory consultee, i.e. 2no. 4 bedroom detached houses including associated infrastructure, car parking and landscaping on land at The Henry Warren Club.

Representations were made by opponents of the scheme and the following areas were covered:

• Noise

• The results of a poll carried out by a local group show the majority of the community do not support this application, in particular the siting of the new hall.

• Concerns that the finances have not been made public and that the viability of funding the new hall from the proceeds of the sale of the houses has not been demonstrated.

• Access for delivery of oil and wood to the rear of the neighbouring cottages to the south would not be possible if the houses were built.

• The proposed hall is unnecessarily large for the village, it would be costly to run and could impact on the income for other village halls in the area

• The houses are too big for the site

• The design of the two houses is too urban and the street view of Edwardian cottages will be detrimentally altered

Representations were made by supporters of the scheme and the following areas were covered:

• A survey carried out by the Trustees showed that a majority of the community wished to have the new hall built on the larger site.

• The current hall was gifted by the Warren family, but, due to the change in demographics of the village, the hall is now too small and the site cannot accommodate a larger hall and necessary on-site parking.

• The proposed houses have been designed to fit in with the linear street scene which is a mix of building designs from many periods – Victorian, Edwardian, 1960s and 1970s.

• For each house, off-road parking will be provided for three vehicles.

• Fund raising for a new hall on the existing site had been very difficult, but cross-funding through the housing makes a new hall viable on the new site at the north of the village.

Councillors asked the applicants a number of questions concerning the recommendations made in the SDNPA’s pre-application advice; it was confirmed that none of the recommended changes had yet been addressed. Councillors discussed the difficulty of considering only one part of the application when the two are financially interdependent: it was noted that Parish Council had considered only that part of the application which falls within their parish, i.e. a new hall on a site at the north end of Nyewood. The WSCC Highways Officer’s comments were also discussed and concern was expressed regarding the achievability of adequate visibility splays.

Objection

Although the Council appreciates that the two aspects of the application are interdependent, it is only a statutory consultee on applications which fall within Harting Parish. Its comments are therefore confined to the proposal to build “2 no. 4 bedroom detached houses including associated infrastructure, car parking and landscaping on land at The Henry Warren Club”.

The Council objects for the following reasons:

firstly, the bulk and mass of the design given the small size of the site, as well as the 8.3 metre ridge height relative to the lower ridges of neighbouring properties,

secondly, those issues raised in the pre-application advice which could have been addressed in the full application have not been addressed: in particular, there is no evidence of measures to mitigate light spillage and no information on sustainability measures,

and, thirdly, the Council objects to the 3 metre by 2 metre roof lanterns which are contrary to the SDNPA’s Dark Night Skies Policy (SD 8).

73. To note the Review of National Park’s Local List for validation of South Downs National Park Development Management Applications The Council agreed there was no need to submit comments.

74. To note any planning appeals: None

75. To note any planning appeal decision: None

76. Date of next meeting: to be arranged The Chairman closed the meeting at 8.45 pm.