East Northamptonshire Council Cedar Drive THRAPSTON Northamptonshire NN14 4LZ APPLICATIONS FOR DETERMINATION DEVELOPMENT CONTROL COMMITTEE - 30 September 2009 INDEX OF APPLICATIONS FOR CONSIDERATION Case Ref. No. Location Recom. Page No. EN/09/00804/VAR The Old School House Main Street Grant Apethorpe Peterborough Northamptonshire 2 PE8 5DL EN/09/00936/FUL Potting Sheds Ashton Wold Ashton Refuse Northamptonshire 5 EN/09/01269/NCC Slipe Clay Pit Landfill Site Stamford Road Kings Cliffe Northamptonshire 9 EN/09/01412/FUL Stanwick Lakes A45 Nene Valley Way Grant Stanwick Northamptonshire 16 Development Control Committee 1 of 23 Date printed 30 September 2009 Committee Report Printed: 18 September 2009 Case Officer Amie Baxter EN/09/00804/VAR Date received Date valid Overall Expiry Ward Parish 26 May 2009 3 June 2009 29 July 2009 Kings Forest Apethorpe Applicant Mr A Forbes Location The Old School House Main Street Apethorpe Peterborough Northamptonshire PE8 5DL Proposal Removal of condition 5 regarding parking to EN/94/00492/FUL This application is brought before the Development Control Committee due to Councillors having previous interest in the site and as the Condition which this application seeks to remove was imposed at the request of the Members. 1 Summary of Recommendation 1.1 That permission be GRANTED subject to conditions 2. The Proposal 2.1 The application proposes to remove Condition 5 of planning permission number EN/94/00492/FUL by removing the parking restriction placed on the planning approval which requires the occupier of The Old School House to use a dedicated off road parking area situated to the rear of the application site, on Bridge Street. 2.2 The condition was considered necessary at the time of the previous application, to ensure that the additional parking need from the conversion of The Old School to a dwelling, did not result in additional vehicles parking on Main Street and thus resulting in possible detriment to highway safety. 2.3 The Old School has since been converted to a dwelling and the previous occupiers no longer live at the application site. The new occupiers have expressed that using the dedicated off road parking area is impractical due to its distance from the application site and have noted that they do not use the dedicated area for parking and instead use on-street parking along Main Street. 2.4 .The applicants have also noted that no other dwellings in the area have such a condition requiring the use of off-street parking. 3 The Site and Surroundings 3.1 The application site sits adjacent to the junction of Main Street and Bridge Street. The site is surrounded by dwellings of a similar age and size and St Leonards Church sits to the east. 3.2The application site accommodates a detached dwelling which was once a school. The property was converted from a school in 1995 and benefits from a private garden but has no off street parking facility within the curtillage of the application site. Development Control Committee 2 of 23 Date printed 30 September 2009 4 Policy Considerations 4.1 National Planning Policy Guidance PPS1– Sustainable Development PPG3- Housing. PPG13- Transport 4.2 North Northamptonshire Core Spatial Strategy Policy 13- General Sustainable development Principles. 4.2 Northamptonshire County Structure Plan None relevant to this application. 4.3 East Northamptonshire District Local Plan None relevant to this application. 4.4 Supplementary Planning Guidance NCC Parking SPG-2003 5 Relevant Planning History 5.1 EN/94/00492/FUL Extension and conversion of a former school into a residential dwelling Permitted 22/07/1994. The applicant sought pre-application advice which noted that, if the applicant is able to demonstrate that since The Old School House was occupied, the parking area referred to in Condition 5 has not been used for the parking of vehicles associated with The Old School House, then an application for a Certificate of Lawfulness could be submitted. An alternative to this could be an application to remove the existing condition. 6 Consultations and Representations 6.1 Neighbours 6.1.1 The occupier of 1, The Terrace objects to the proposal for the following reasons: Main Street is already congested without adding more cars. The Old School House is situated on a corner and parking outside the property is already dangerous. The existing parking condition should be kept because there is no more room on the road for anymore cars and the occupier has lived next to the application site for fifteen years and for the last couple of years, parking has become a major problem for those of us who have no choice but to park on the street. 6.1.2 The occupier of Michaelmas Cottage has submitted a letter in support of the application, stating that past and current use of on-street parking has not caused any obstruction or apparent inconvenience to nearby properties. 6.2 Parish Council: No Comments received at the time of writing this report. 6.3 Conservation Officer: No objection. 6.4 Highways Officer: No objection, given the previous use of the property. 7 Evaluation 7.1 The following issues are relevant to the determination of this application: Impact on Parking Provision and Highway Safety. 7.2 Impact on Parking Provision and Highway Safety. 7.2.1 The current owners of The Old School House consider that Condition 5 of the original planning permission is unreasonable, in that the dedicated parking area referred to in Condition 5 is situated too far away from the application site to be practical for everyday use. In addition, they state that they currently park on Main Street without having an impact on highway safety or causing obstruction to other highway users. Development Control Committee 3 of 23 Date printed 30 September 2009 7.2.2 The applicant has submitted a series of photographs taken at periods through out the day, on weekdays and at weekends, which attempt to highlight that the current on street parking provision on Main Street is adequate, with the inclusion of their own parked cars. The applicant has also stated that Main Street is approximately 104 metres long and the maximum number of cars parked along the street ant any one time has been 8, including those belonging to The Old School House. 7.2.3 Planning conditions such as that which is the subject of this application can be difficult to enforce, in that compliance cannot be constantly monitored. In this instance Condition 5 is of limited use in ensuring that parking provision does not become an issue. There are no general parking restrictions in place on Main Street and it could be argued that the building’s previous use as a school would have generated a much higher level of traffic than the current use. 7.2.4 The current designated parking space sits approximately 80 metres away from The Old School House (as the crow flies) and is an estimated distance of 100 metres when walking to the parking area from The Old School House. It is considered unreasonable and impractical to expect an occupier to walk such a distance, particularly as adequate on-road parking provision exists directly adjacent to the application site. 7.2.5 Overall then, with the condition proposed as part of EN/94/00494/FUL being difficult to enforce and given that the applicant has demonstrated that the current need for parking on Main Street is met with an adequate on-street parking provision, it is considered acceptable that Condition 5 be removed so as not to insist that the designated parking area is used by the occupiers of The Old School House. 8 Other issues 8.1 Crime and Disorder - this application does not raise any significant issues. 8.2 Access for Disabled - this building would not be subject to any public access and this does not raise any significant issues 9 Recommendation 9.1 That the application be GRANTED subject to the following conditions: Conditions/Reasons - 1. The condition is hereby removed and the occupiers of The Old School House shall not be ordered to use the designated parking area referred to in Condition 5 of planning permission ref EN/94/00492/FUL and as shown on drawing number: 1, received by the Council on 03/06/09,as the sole parking area for the parking of vehicles associated with the application site. Development Control Committee 4 of 23 Date printed 30 September 2009 Committee Report Committee Date : 30 September 2009 Printed: 18 September 2009 Case Officer Mr Rhys Bradshaw EN/09/00936/FUL Date received Date valid Overall Expiry Ward Parish 17 June 2009 19 June 2009 14 August 2009 Lower Nene Ashton Applicant OHL Ltd Agent David Jackson Location Potting Sheds Ashton Wold Ashton Northamptonshire Proposal Creation of five new two bedroom residential dwellings for holiday units to compliment Phase 1 Approved under 07/01174/FUL This application is reported to the Development Control Committee because the proposed development exceeds the threshold in the scheme of delegation of 1 new dwelling in the open countryside. 1 Summary of Recommendation 1.1 The application be REFUSED 2 The Proposal 2.1 The application proposes the erection of 5 purpose built holiday let units. The units are designed to compliment an existing range of potting sheds, which are to be converted into five holiday let units under application reference EN/07/01174/FUL. 2.2 The proposed units will have two bedrooms and will be sited to infill gaps in the existing range of sheds. 2.3 The application also proposes 10 parking spaces in addition to 10 provided under the previous application.