West Devon Borough Council Planning and Licensing Committee 3 December 2013 ______
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WEST DEVON BOROUGH COUNCIL PLANNING AND LICENSING COMMITTEE 3 DECEMBER 2013 ___________________________________________________________________ WARD NAME Tavistock North (Cllrs S Bailey; J Moody; J Sheldon) APPLICATION NUMBER 00912/2013 LOCATION Higher Wilminstone Farm, Wilminstone, Tavistock, PL19 0PJT APPLICANT NAME Ms I Chamber Site Address: Higher Wilminstone Farm, Wilminstone, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 0JT Development: Removal of Condition 7 attached to planning consent 2497/2012 to allow full time occupancy. Reason item is being put before Committee: Cllrs Moody and Sheldon have both requested that the application is presented to planning committee due to the Town Council’s concerns, objections from local residents and the current condition of the premises which need to be fully explored and considered by members. Recommendation: Grant removal of condition 7 of 02497/2012. Conditions 1. Standard time restriction 2. Removal of Permitted Development Rights 3. Surface and foul water drainage details 4. Facing materials and roofing details 5. Ecology mitigation 6. Car parking and turning area to be retained 7. No other external equipment or chimney shall be installed Key issues for consideration: Whether the removal of the current holiday let restriction condition to enable full time residential accommodation is in compliance with national and local policy (namely Local Plan policy RB2). Officers are satisfied that the site has been marketed appropriately and the creation of a permanent residential dwelling at this site is considered in accordance with this Local Plan policy. Site Description: The application site is a former milking parlour building located to the north of Tavistock being accessible via a small junction from Old Exeter Road as it heads towards “Vigars Hall” which is situated approximately 130m to the south of the application site and also via the road approximately 225m to the east of the site, which connects the A386 to Heathfield. The site is accessed via a narrow track in need of some repair to reduce its rutted and compacted nature and removal of the loose aggregate material. This track separates the site from the nearby dwellings known as “Wilminstone House”, “Swallow Cottage” and “Wilminstone Farm”. Further to the Southeast is the property 8 WEST DEVON BOROUGH COUNCIL PLANNING AND LICENSING COMMITTEE 3 DECEMBER 2013 ___________________________________________________________________ known as Higher Wilminstone Farm being approximately 13m from the rear yard area that is situated adjacent to the former milking parlour’s Eastern elevation. Further to the South of the site is the property known as “The Barn” which benefits from consent for use as a holiday let and also was granted planning permission for change of use to A2 office, B1 light industrial and B8 storage uses under planning application 12857/2009/TAV. The application site has benefit of a previous planning application 02497/2012 for change of use to holiday let, which was approved on 19/6/12 and has been implemented. The window and entrance openings have been installed and the internal walls have been plastered, but the first floor living accommodation alterations have not been carried out at present. There is a concrete hard standing area towards the frontage of the site used for car parking and rear yard which would serve the proposal as private amenity space. The site is not located within Tavistock settlement boundary or any area of special designation. The Proposal: The application seeks consent to remove Condition 7 attached to the previously approved planning application for conversion of a former agricultural milking parlour building to a 3 bedroom holiday let (02497/2012). The removal of this condition would allow the permanent occupancy of the premises as a main place of residence. In other words approval of this application as proposed would create a new residential dwelling. As the external alterations in the previously approved application have been implemented, there are no changes proposed on the exterior of this former agricultural building. The present car parking area and enclosed amenity area will remain. There is a single garage facility which is also a former agricultural building (allowed on appeal (02958/2012), which will be used as a domestic garage as part of this application. The submission is accompanied by a marketing report which show the applicant has been attempting to sell the premises as a holiday let. Consultations: County Highways Authority – No comment. Tavistock Town Council – Object on the basis that the original application for the holiday let conversion has not been used for this purpose. The condition should not be removed. Representations Five objection letters have been received which state the proposal is not appropriate in the area, because of highway safety issues, drainage issues and the building is not suitable for residential living or for holiday accommodation. Relevant Planning History 01006/2013 – Prior notification for change of use of agricultural building to B8 (storage or distribution), currently pending 9 WEST DEVON BOROUGH COUNCIL PLANNING AND LICENSING COMMITTEE 3 DECEMBER 2013 ___________________________________________________________________ 02497/2012 – Conversion of milking parlour to holiday let, approved 19/6/12 0958/2012 – Change of use of part agricultural building for use as domestic garage for use in conjunction with holiday let, refused 18/9/12, but allowed on appeal 12/3/13 00942/2010 – Construction of new roof to milking parlour, refused 14/12/10 and dismissed on appeal on 19/4/11. ANALYSIS The application has been assessed against national and local development plan policies and other material planning considerations, taking into consideration the advice of statutory consultees. The key determining issues are: Whether the proposed removal of Condition 7 of 02497/2012 to allow a permanent residential occupation is satisfactory in this rural location Residential amenity issues Access, car parking and ecological matters Affordable housing provision The principle of conversion to residential use The site has previously been assessed under Local Plan policies RB1, TLS1 and SPD for the conversion of a rural building to holiday use in 2012, during the previously submitted application 02497/2012. Therefore, the use as holiday accommodation at this rural location is considered satisfactory. However, the proposal to remove the restriction to allow permanent occupation as a residential dwelling requires careful consideration of Local Plan policy RB2. It is considered that with the emergence of NPPF policy the Councils SDP on re-use of rural buildings would have lesser reliance in terms of consideration of weight because of the age of the document which was adopted in 2006. NPPF policy paragraph 55 has specific criteria for isolated residential schemes. Subject to the consideration of this criteria, and Local Plan policy RB2 the proposed principle of retaining the former agricultural building as a residential dwellinghouse can be considered acceptable in principle. In this submission, the applicant states that the former holiday let has been marketed since August 2012 however, there has been no interest relating to the holiday let. The building has been vacant since the conversion was carried out during June and July 2012. The marketing exercise has generated 9 viewings but no offers over the 13 month period. The premises has been advertised for sale over this 13 month period for £100,000 for this holiday let which is considered reasonable and consistent with other holiday lets for sale within the area. Therefore, it is considered reuse of the site would be in line with the NPPF ethos of bringing back a rural building into economic use and enhancing the immediate setting of the area. Local Plan policy RB1 criteria have been previously fulfilled as a result of the previous conversion scheme of the agricultural building into holiday let use. The building is structurally sound and is in good condition, with no external changes proposed as the windows and doorways were installed in 2012 with the previous holiday use planning permission. Local Plan policy RB2 relates specifically to residential conversions and relates to the evidence base of attempts to secure other business uses. In this case the LPA is satisfied that the applicant has attempted to 10 WEST DEVON BOROUGH COUNCIL PLANNING AND LICENSING COMMITTEE 3 DECEMBER 2013 ___________________________________________________________________ secure other business uses but has received no interest in this rural location. The proposal to remove condition 7 of 02497/2012 to create one dwelling is considered acceptable within policy RB1 and RB2 and would bring a vacant building into use which enhances the immediate setting of the rural landscape character of the locality. Residential amenity issues The wider Wilminstone area has a number of residential premises, of which ‘Swallow Cottage’ is the closest to the application site, approximately 10m towards the east. However, it is considered that the proposed residential use would not adversely affect the current residential amenities enjoyed by residents because of the little change from the existing situation. There is no change to the external appearance of the building and the existing amenity area has a boundary wall and landscaping which hinders views from the nearest neighbouring property. The other residential properties of Wilminstone House and Wilminstone Farmhouse towards