B/14/0329 BOSTON BOROUGH COUNCIL Planning Committee – 10th November 2015 Reference Number: B/14/0329 Application Expiry Date 25 December 2014 Application Type: Full Planning Permission Proposal Description Erection of 76 dwellings, new vehicular access and estate road plus associated garages and infrastructure At: Land off Sibsey Road/Wainfleet Road, Boston, Lincolnshire For: Mrs Alison Lea, Larkfleet Homes Third Party Reps: Parish Fishtoft 66 letters plus a 305 Signature petition Ward Fishtoft Author of Report: Trevor Thompson Date of Report: 29th October 2015 MAIN RECOMMENDATION: REFUSE 1.0 REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 This application has been presented to the Planning Committee because objections have been raised by local residents and from Fishtoft Parish Council. The application has been with us since last year and discussions have taken place with the applicant regarding affordable housing, vehicular access and impact on the setting of the nearby listed buildings. Amended details have been submitted following these discussions. The Committee will undertake a visit to the site on the morning of your meeting. 2.0 PROPOSAL AND BACKGROUND 2.1 The site is of irregular shape, covers approximately 3.75 hectares and fronts onto both Sibsey Road and Wainfleet Road, close to the A52/A16 roundabout. The site is divided into 2 pieces of land by an existing hedge that runs partly along the northern boundary and through the central part of the site. The Pilgrim Hospital at Sibsey Road lies opposite the site to the west and the Burton Inn Public House and Premier Inn at Wainfleet Road lie opposite to the south. The main part of the site is within the open countryside for plan purposes, outside of settlement development limits and approximately 140m from the Boston (Spilsby Road) Conservation Area. The site boundary does however include part of Sibsey Road which lies within the development limits of Boston. There are residential properties fronting both Sibsey Road and Wainfleet Road located within close proximity to the site. 2.2 There are Grade II* and II listed buildings off Wainfleet Road which are close to the application site. These listed structures are the ‘Burton Hall with attached wall’ and ‘stables’. There is also an Anglian Water pumping station along the west corner of the site. 7 B/14/0329 2.3 The application site is located within Flood Zone 3 (High Probability) as defined in the Environment Agency’s Flood Maps and also within a ‘danger for some/danger for most’ flood hazard category with the majority of the site within low probability of tidal or fluvial flooding as identified on this Council’s Strategic Flood Risk Assessment. A small part of the south east corner of the site lies within a medium risk of tidal flooding. A number of trees within the site fronting Wainfleet Road are protected by a Tree Preservation Order. 2.4 This application is for full planning permission for the erection of 76 dwellings including affordable homes plus associated infrastructure including estate roads, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and public open space. The application was originally for 82 dwellings. The proposed residential development will be accessed via a new priority controlled T junction on the A16 Sibsey Road. The new site access junction will include a protected right turn (harbourage) and central refuges on the A16, to allow pedestrian flows. The site also has a frontage onto Wainfleet Road which is marked by a wall approximately 1.5m high with a gated access which serves the field to the rear. It is not proposed to construct a new vehicular access onto Wainfleet Road, only a pedestrian access. The existing brick wall is to remain. 2.5 The application is accompanied by: . Planning, Design and Access Statement . Phase 1 and 2 Geo-environmental Assessment report . Residential Travel Plan . Ecological Scoping Survey . Transport Assessment (as amended) . Heritage Impact Assessment . Significance Assessment . Geophysical Survey . Tree Survey . Flood Risk Assessment 3.0 PLANNING HISTORY 3.1 There have been no recent planning applications for development on this site though in 1977 two applications to develop different parts of the site for housing were refused (ref B9/0153/77 and B9/0160/77). These applications were refused on the grounds of prematurity, access, (Sibsey Road at that time being a trunk road) and because the site being located outside the area scheduled for development within the approved ‘Boston Town Map’. 3.2 Also, in 2003 an application for residential development (one plot) at the rear of 17 Sibsey Road (abutting the application site to the north) was refused on the grounds that the development did not reflect the character or density of the site and the immediate locality, contrary to Local Plan policies G1 and H2. (Ref B/03/0112). The subsequent appeal was dismissed by the Secretary of State. The Planning Inspector considered that the proposed development to the rear of this property would change the whole character of the locality, not least through the significant increase in density. Furthermore the Inspector considered that the proposal would cause substantial harm to the general character of the area, contrary to Policy G1 and the resultant curtilages would not reflect the current density of development in the area, contrary to Policy H2 (3). 8 B/14/0329 3.3 It should be noted that this decision was made before the NPPF and the ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ (as discussed below) which was issued in 2012. 3.4 This application was the subject of pre-application enquiries and correspondence during October/November 2012 and, as a result of the perceived threat to the Wainfleet Road frontage trees, the Planning Committee in February 2013 agreed the service of a Tree Preservation Order. Development Plan 3.5 The statutory development plan for Boston Borough comprises the saved policies of the Boston Borough Local Plan April 1999. S.38 (6) of the Act ‘requires that determination (of planning applications) must be made in accordance with the plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise’. RELEVANT POLICY BACKGROUND 3.6 The majority of the site lies within countryside, in an area where new development is strictly controlled unless the proposed development is supported by other development plan policies. A small part of the site includes part of Sibsey Road which lies within the settlement limits. There are no specific policies which support this application and therefore this development is not in accordance with the development plan. Relevant Local Plan policies are as follows: . Policy G1 – Amenity (This policy seeks to resist development that will harm the amenity of nearby residents or the general character of the area). Policy G2- Wildlife and landscape resources ( This policy resists development that will have a significant adverse impact upon existing landscape, wildlife and vegetation resources) . Policy G3 – surface and foul water disposal (This policy seeks to resist developments that do not provide satisfactory drainage provision). Policy G4- safeguarding the water environment (This policy indicates that permission will not be granted for developments which will have an adverse effect on the water environment or the quality of surface or ground water). Policy G6 – Vehicular and pedestrian access (This policy seeks to resist development that would harm highway safety). Policy CO1- Development in the Countryside. (This would not permit development in the open countryside unless it is supported by other local plan policies.) . Policy T1- New accesses onto major roads (This policy indicates that on all class A roads in the built up area of Boston, a new access or junction will not be permitted unless it is a replacement of an existing one to be closed or it can be demonstrated that there will be no adverse effects on the safety and the capacity of the road) 9 B/14/0329 . Policy T2 –Roads and footpaths in new developments (This policy would not allow the construction of new roads and footpaths unless the scheme meets the requirements of all users including those in public transport, car, cyclists and pedestrians). Housing policies . Policy H2 – windfall housing development (This policy allows new housing schemes within urban areas subject to certain criteria being met relating to density, layout etc). Note: As indicated above, the majority of the site lies within countryside and not within an ‘urban area’ . Policy H3 – Quality of housing developments (The objective of this policy is to improve the design of quality of new housing schemes) . Policy H4 – Open space on housing estates (This policy requires 7.5% of the site area to be devoted to suitably located public open space and children’s play areas). National Planning Policy Framework (2012) 3.7 The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2012 indicates that housing applications should be considered in the context of the presumption in favour of sustainable development. The NPPF seeks the speedy approval of proposals that accord with the development plan and, where the plan is “absent, silent or relevant policies are out of date”, to grant permission unless the adverse impact would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits; or that policies in the NPPF indicate development should be restricted. 3.8 The NPPF also states that ‘relevant policies for the supply of housing should not be considered to be up-to-date if a five year supply cannot be demonstrated’ (NPPF, para 49). Thus, if there is no five year supply, relevant housing policies are considered out of date and therefore developments would be subject to paragraph 14 of the NPPF which provides a presumption in favour of such development, subject to criteria. 3.9 The weight to be afforded to development plan policies relies to a great extent on whether a five –year supply of deliverable housing sites can be demonstrated.