69 1 SUMMARY 1.1 Permission Is Sought for a Residential
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DEVELOPMENT CONTROL COMMITTEE – 7th April 2015 10 APPLICATION NO DC/14/4128/FUL LOCATION Land At Stoven Close Lowestoft Suffolk EXPIRY DATE 24 th March 2015 APPLICATION TYPE Full Application APPLICANT Orwell Housing Association PROPOSAL Construction of 4 No. houses, 2 No. flats and 6 bay residents parking area DO NOT SCALE SLA100042052 Reproduced from the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. 1 SUMMARY 1.1 Permission is sought for a residential development which comprises three houses, one bungalow, two flats and a six space parking area on land part of which is currently used as an amenity area and car park. This is an affordable housing scheme, all of which will provide rented accommodation. 1.2 The application comes before the Committee because the application site is owned by Waveney District Council. 69 2 SITE DESCRIPTION 2.1 The area is characterised by terraced housing located on Westhall Road, Stoven Close, Rumburgh Road and Wissett Way which back onto a regular-shaped grassed area which is transected by two footpath routes, and flanked to the north and south by two communal parking areas. 2.2 The application site consists of three areas: 2.3 Rear of No’s 30-36 (even) Westhall Rd and Rear of No’s 15-17 Stoven Close . This is part of a larger informal grassed area divided by two footpaths linking Westhall Road to the west, Stoven Close and a parking area to the north, Rumburgh Road to the east and Wissett Way and another parking area to the south. 2.4 East of No.15 and South of No.14 Stoven Close – Located on part of the northern communal car park providing approximately 18 car parking spaces which serve residents of Stoven Close. 2.5 West of 10-13 Stoven Close – Part of the fringe of a much larger area of Public Open Space. 3 PROPOSAL 3.1 The application proposes an affordable housing scheme comprising: 3.2 Three two-storey, two bedroom terraced houses and a one bed bungalow backing onto the existing terrace of No’s 30-36 Westhall Road and abutting the rear boundaries of No’s 15- 17 Stoven Close. 3.3 A pair of one bedroom flats on the parking area between No.15 Stoven Close and No.17 Rumburgh Road whilst utilising the remaining area of 10 spaces to provide car parking for the proposed development. 3.4 The creation of a new parking area accessed from Stoven Close, providing 6 off street car parking bays to be set out formally for the benefit of existing residents. 4 CONSULTATIONS/COMMENTS Neighbour consultation/representations 4.1 Letters of objection have been received and the following comments raised in relation to the two rounds of neighbour consultation carried out: 4.2 Andrew Davies (address not supplied) • Loss of this play area at the rear of their home. The play area has no vehicular traffic their children can be physically seen and heard from the house whilst playing on the site. • The proposals will result in this amenity being taken away. • Privacy - clear view into living room windows. • Properties are closer than a limit they believe to be in force of 24m. • Rear alleyway proposed will be unsafe for children entering an alley way to come home from school and that unlit space will make matters worse. 70 4.3 Mr. & Mrs Woolston (30 Westhall Close): • Concerns relating to overlooking and of blocking out light to homes and gardens. • Proposed alleyway will cause security issues, antisocial behaviour and criminal activity. • Noise issues from new residents due to close proximity. • Lack of existing parking and the proposals will make the situation worse. • Increased traffic in the area. • Extra burden on the sewerage system. • The interface distance not the required 24m. 4.4 Mr. & Mrs D. Smart (11 Rumburgh Road) • Proposed development is too close to existing houses. • The development will result in a loss of light. • There will be more pressure on the sewerage system which has existing problems. • Other sites such as the existing underused play area nearby would be a more appropriate location for the proposals. 4.5 Mrs. P Warren (16 Westhall Road) • Noise concerns from the close proximity of the development. • Danger from additional traffic. • Concerns about the construction noise and traffic. 4.6 A petition has been received against the proposed development, signed by residents concerned about the effect of the development on the local community. The concerns are stated as: • Increased amount of traffic in the area. • Lack of parking for existing residents. • Extra burden on the sewerage system – existing small pumping station continually has problems. • Residents’ security – alleyways between the perimeter rear gardens, possible criminal and anti-social behaviour in darkened areas. • Possible noise pollution from new residents in close proximity of existing housing. • Current residents being overlooked. • Blocking of light to existing properties. 4.7 The petition as the following signatures: P. Woolston (30 Westhall Road) D. Woolston (30 Westhall Road) R. Williamson (26 Westhall Road) M. Rameles (28 Westhall Road) K. Warren (16 Westhall Road) V. Knights (3 Wissett Way) K. Mumshall (1 Rumburgh Road) N. Watt (5 Rumburgh Road) S. Cleod (7 Rumburgh Road) K. Cook (9 Rumburgh Road) S. Smart (11 Rumburgh Road) D. Smart (11 Rumburgh Road) S. Harlow (15 Rumburgh Road) E. Cameron (17 Rumburgh Road) D. Barber (15 Stoven Close) S. Dunn (16 Stoven Close) T. Dunn (16 Stoven Close) 71 J. Gurney (16 Stoven Close) L. Gurney (16 Stoven Close) D. Damerell (17 Stoven Close) L. Tarrant (17 Stoven Close) C. Buckenham (19 Stoven Close) R. Davis (36 Westhall Road) Y. Gooderham (32 Westhall Road) W. Chier (34 Westhall Road) E. Romeo (6 Stoven Close) V. Carroll (3 Stoven Close) D. Alderman (13 Stoven Close) Consultees 4.8 Anglian Water - were consulted on the 12 January 2015. 4.9 Essex and Suffolk Water PLC - We would advise you that our existing apparatus does not appear to be affected by the proposed development. We have no objection to the development subject to compliance with our requirements. Consent is given to this development on the condition that a new metered water connection is made onto our Company network for each new dwelling for revenue purposes. 4.10 Waveney Norse - Property and Facilities were consulted on the 12 January 2015. 4.11 WDC Environmental Health - Contaminated Land - The NPL report submitted with the application has identified that there is the potential for contamination to exist in the made ground below the hard standing areas. The report recommends that a competent person from NPL visits the site during site clearance to examine the material beneath the hard standing and to take any soils samples deemed necessary. 4.12 Made ground is inherently associated with contamination (PAHs, heavy metals, fuels and asbestos) so I would concur with this recommendation and the site should not be developed until such time as it has been confirmed that the site is or can be made suitable for the intended residential end use. 4.13 This work, and any remediation or validation which may subsequently be required, could be secured using the ‘suite of model planning conditions’. 4.14 Suffolk County - Highways Department - This proposal is unlikely to have any significant impact on the highway network in the area. SITE NOTICES 4.15 The following site notices have been displayed: General Site Notice Reason for site notice: New Dwelling, Date posted 14.01.2015 Expiry date 03.02.2015 5 PLANNING POLICY 5.1 The Waveney Core Strategy was adopted in January 2009.The following policies are relevant to the consideration of this application: • CS01 Spatial Strategy • CS02 High Quality and Sustainable Design • CS11 Housing 72 5.2 Development Management Policies were adopted in January 2011. The following policies are relevant to the consideration of this application: • DM01 Physical Limits • DM02 Design Principles • DM03 Sustainable Construction • DM16 Housing Density • DM17 Housing Type and Mix • DM18 Affordable Housing • DM25 Existing and Proposed Open Space 5.3 The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is also relevant to this proposal. 6 PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS 6.1 Principle of Development. Core Strategy Policy CS01 sets out the spatial vision for the district. Lowestoft is identified as the main town and will accommodate approximately 80% of the housing growth for the District. The site is within the “physical limits” identified for Lowestoft under Development Management policy DM01, where new development will be accommodated. 6.2 Policy CS01 also sets out that the focus for development will be on previously developed land within built-up areas, with more than 50% of housing expected to be delivered on brownfield sites. In the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) previously developed land is defined as land which is or was occupied by a permanent structure, including the curtilage of the developed land. It should be noted that only part of the site as such, meets the definition of ‘previously’ developed land, which the policy states should be the focus of development. 6.3 In order to achieve a good quality environment in which to live, regeneration is considered to be a key objective at all levels of planning policy. The NPPF actively seeks to bring vacant and underused previously developed land back into productive use and to promote urban regeneration whilst helping to militate against declining environmental quality. The applicant considers the site to meet this definition and considers that the proposed development will contribute towards achieving these goals. 6.4 In accordance with policy CS11 the sequential approach to proposals for development should be taken, with previously developed land within physical limits of settlements being the first choice.