1 Planning Committee 9 January 2014 EAST HAMPSHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL At a meeting of the Planning Committee held on 9 January 2014 Present Councillor: A Glass (Chairman) Councillors: D Ashcroft*, R Ayer, P Burridge, M Harvey, A Muldoon and A Williams (Vice-Chairman) Councillor R Harris as reserve for Councillor C Graham *Minutes 127-135(i) and 136 only. 127. Apologies for Absence Apologies for absence were received from Councillors C Graham, D Newberry and S Schillemore. 128. Chairman's Announcements The Chairman announced: (i) The location of the fire exits and requested that everyone evacuated by one of the fire exits and assembled in the car park, where a roll call would be taken; (ii) To ensure all members of the public could hear the proceedings of the meeting, a portable loop system was available; (iii) Asked that all present switched off their mobile phones to prevent interference with the microphones; and (iv) Asked that those making representations used the microphone when speaking. 129. Declarations of Interest Councillor(s) Item Number Nature of Details of Interest Interest Cllr D Ashcroft* Part 1 – Section 1 – Perception The application had item (ii) – 52942/004 – of bias. been submitted by a Land to the east of relative of Cllr Ashcroft. Rock Barn Cottage, Heath Hill, Headley, Bordon. *Cllr Ashcroft left the meeting during the discussion and voting on this item. 2 Planning Committee 9 January 2014 130. Acceptance of Supplementary Matters Councillors noted the supplementary papers which included information received since the agenda had been published. These were reported verbally at the meeting and are attached as Annex A to these minutes. 131. Future Items The Committee agreed to visit the following site: 54507/002 – Land South of Gaston Lane, Farringdon, Alton. 132. Report of the Service Manager Planning Development 133. Town and Country Planning Act, 1990 (as amended) – Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2010 – Development Applications Report of the Service Manager Planning Development, PS.420/2014 was considered and it was RESOLVED that: Application No., Site and Description: Resolution: 36802/007/FUL Permission subject to conditions as set out in Appendix A. Dials Close, Yew Tree Lane, Wield, Alresford, SO24 9RX CHANGE OF USE OF SWIMMING POOL FROM PERSONAL USE TO BE ALLOWED FOR BUSINESS USE 52942/004/FUL Temporary permission subject to conditions as set out in Appendix A. Land to the East of Rock Barn Cottage, Heath Hill, Headley, Bordon USE OF LAND FOR THE STATIONING OF AN AGRICULTURAL MANAGERS MOBILE HOME- REVISION TO PREVIOUSLY APPROVED 52942/001 The current coverage of Tree Agreed that a Tree Preservation Order be Preservation Orders in place in Chiltley made. Lane, Liphook and whether additional TPOs are required to maintain the sylvan character of the lane. 3 Planning Committee 9 January 2014 134. PART 1 – East Hampshire District Council – Applications and related planning matters to be determined or considered by the Council as the local planning authority. 135. SECTION 1 – APPLICATIONS REPORTED IN DETAIL (i) 36802/007 – Dials Close, Yew Tree Lane, Wield, Alresford, SO24 9RX – Change of use of swimming Pool from personal use to be allowed for business use. The Planning Development Manager introduced the report and displayed an aerial photograph of the site, along with a block plan and photographs of the entrance and parking area. She explained that this was a retrospective application for a business that had been operating for six years. Whilst Highways and the Rights of Way Officer had raised concerns, this had to be balanced with the National Planning Policy Framework’s encouragement of small rural businesses and the fact that the business had been operating without incident for six years. Given that the business was very low key, officers’ felt that the application was acceptable. The determining issues for consideration were: • Principle of proposal; • Impact on amenity; and • Access, parking and highways safety. The officer’s recommendation was for permission. The applicant, Mr Robert Cooper, addressed the committee. He explained that they had operated swimming lessons at Dials Close, Lower Wield for over six years and that during that time they had not had one complaint, problem or accident, until an incident in April 2013 when one mother had parked in such a way that a neighbour could not get into his driveway. It was only for three minutes, as she had left something at a lesson she had attended. The location of their house was on a quiet lane with very little traffic, particularly between 9am and 5pm on weekdays. The swimming lessons were provided for local families to attend specifically for children aged between three months and seven years. The teacher was a single mother of two children and had all of the qualifications that were needed to teach infant children. She had worked very hard to build up her business over the past six years. She clearly had a gift in teaching swimming to young children and the committee had only to read the letters of support from over 40 parents to realise this. She had a big effect on the development of these children with encouragement and confidence and not just by teaching them to swim. 4 Planning Committee 9 January 2014 This job was her only source of income and since the business had stopped last May it had been an extremely tough time for her and her family as they have had little or no income from teaching. Since temporary permission had been given she had lost 50% of the original children as their parents had found alternative pools that have a teaching service on offer, although many were desperate to come back to her if full permission was granted. The application had received strong local support, not only from new parents of existing children attending lessons, but also from new parents who wanted their children to use the service provided and from parents who had gone elsewhere and now wanted to return. Their neighbours had been supportive and understanding, but he gave special thanks to Cllr Brian Collins, Chairman of Wield Parish Council and Mr Simon Robinson, the owner of the Hattingley Valley Winery, who had given huge support since the issue started in May 2013. They received a certain amount of money from the teacher, which went towards the upkeep of the pool. However it did not cover the full costs, in particular damage to the liner due to the temperature required for infants and damage to the non slip flooring by visiting parents. He was very fortunate to have a pool at home, which had given his family a lot of fun over the years. He was very aware of how important it was for children to learn to swim and as such, he wanted to provide a service to local parents at a reasonable cost. He, his wife and all of the parents believed in the teacher and her ability to teach swimming to young children. Given her personal circumstance he couldn’t let this go, as it would be such a shame for someone like her, who clearly had so much talent for teaching young children and had proven that it had a real positive impact on so many children. Cllr Burridge, the local councillor, highlighted the fact that the application represented very low key use and that the parish council supported the application. Whilst it was understood that Hampshire Highways and the Rights of Way Officer had to abide strictly by the rules, it was for the committee to determine the application. He urged the committee to support the application. In response to a question it was confirmed that the vast majority of users were very local. The committee voted on the officer’s recommendation for permission. Following the vote, the recommendation was declared CARRIED , 8 Councillors voting FOR permission, no Councillors voting AGAINST permission and no Councillors ABSTAINING from voting. It was therefore RESOLVED that permission be GRANTED as set out in Part 1, Appendix A of these minutes. Cllr Ashcroft left the meeting. 5 Planning Committee 9 January 2014 (ii) 54970/001 – Land to the East of Rock Barn Cottage, Heath Hill, Headley, Bordon – Use of land for the stationing of an agricultural managers mobile home – revision to previously approved 52942/001. The Planning Development Manager introduced the report and displayed an aerial photograph of the site, along with a site layout plan and photographs of the mobile home. She reminded the committee that the principle of the application had been accepted in a previous application; however the mobile home had been located in a different position to that which had been agreed. It had been sited in a slightly more elevated position, although further away from the nearest property. The Landscape Officer had not submitted an objection to the application. The determining issues for consideration were: • Principle of the proposal; • Impact of proposal on the character of the area; and • Impact on amenity. The officer’s recommendation was for temporary permission. Cllr Williams, a local councillor, felt that this application was simply fine tuning a previous application. The parish council had not submitted any objection and the application was only before the committee because it had been submitted by a relative of a district councillor. The strong representation included on page 23 of the agenda was highlighted, which raised numerous concerns. Having seen the photographs, Cllr Ayer did not think that the mobile home on the site had the appearance that one would usually expect. The committee voted on the officer’s recommendation. Following the vote, the recommendation was declared CARRIED , 7 Councillors voting FOR temporary permission, no Councillors voting AGAINST temporary permission and 1 Councillor ABSTAINING from voting.