HOCKLEY PARISH COUNCIL The Old Fire Station, 58 Southend Road, Hockley, Essex, SS5 4QH Telephone: 01702 207707 e-mail: [email protected] Website: hockley-essex.gov.uk ______________________________________________________ Minutes from the online Planning Committee meeting held on Wednesday 31st March 2021 at 6:45pm. Present: Chairman: Cllr. M. Carter Committee Members: Cllr. B Thorogood Cllr. S James Cllr. T Carter Cllr. N Boxall Cllr. S Chelmsford Officers: Clare Austin – Assistant Clerk Also present: Yvonne Dunn, Planning Manager – Rochford District Council Members of the public: One. PLN20/109 Apologies for Absence None. PLN20/110 Minutes RESOLVED that the minutes from the Planning Committee meeting held on the 3rd of March 2021 be approved as a correct record and will be signed by the Chairman when able. Proposed by Cllr. T Carter seconded by Cllr. S James - All in favour. PLN20/111 Declarations of Interests Cllr. Shirley James declared a non-pecuniary interest in application 21/00203/FUL – Neighbouring property. Cllr. B Thorogood declared a non-pecuniary interest in application 21/00004/FUL – Neighbouring property. Cllr. N Boxall declared a non-pecuniary interest in application 21/00213/FUL – Neighbouring property. Hockley Parish Council is committed to being a council with a brave forward vision to create and maintain a vibrant and inclusive community in Hockley PLN20/112 Public Participation Session Yvonne Dunn, the Planning Manager at Rochford District Council attended the meeting and was asked the following questions from the committee: 1. What powers do Rochford District Council (RDC) have to stop retrospective planning applications? Are they using them? Yvonne: RDC have no power to stop retrospective planning applications. Section 73 A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 permits retrospective planning applications to be made for developments which have been carried out without permission, or which have been carried out without complying with some of the planning conditions imposed on a planning permission. 2. There have been two recent examples of residents building large structures in their gardens to be used as business premises. What can RDC do to stop these? Yvonne: RDC support working from home as long as it does not have a negative impact on neighbouring properties and the development stays within the conditions imposed on the application decision. Planning permission is required for new dwellings purposely built for business use. The list of policy- based criteria can be found in form DM33 of the Development Management Plan and are detailed below for reference: o remains linked to the residential use, and residential remains the primary use. o will not result in a residential dwelling that fails to meet the floorspace standards set out in Policy DM4. o will not have a significant adverse effect on residential amenity. o will not have a detrimental effect upon the visual character of the surrounding residential area; and o will not create on street parking or unacceptable highway problems. 3. Hockley Parish Council (HPC) request that work undertaken by builders stops on Saturday afternoons, Sundays, and Bank Holidays but these are not being followed, what caveats (if any) are added by RDC and what is being done? Yvonne: As a rule, RDC do not stipulate working hours within their planning conditions. Sometimes working hour conditions are imposed on larger scale developments and these will be documented in a plan designed for development management purposes. RDC recommend the use of the ‘Considerate Contractors Scheme’. Hockley Parish Council is committed to being a council with a brave forward vision to create and maintain a vibrant and inclusive community in Hockley 4. HPC have several developments ongoing which are being attended by multi vehicles causing difficulty in access to the area, conflict with school traffic and damage to trees. What action can be taken to limit vehicular access to sites? Yvonne: If the road has no parking restrictions in place then RDC cannot enforce rules for construction vehicles. Any breaches of parking restrictions would need to reported to the Essex Parking Partnership. RDC will occasionally add parking restrictions to developments if the site is based on a busy/main road. 19:05 – A member of the public joined the meeting. 5. Is there a telephone number to call for breaches to planning developments which occur out of hours? Yvonne: Yes, the out of hours contact number for Rochford District Council is 01245 437520. 6. Is it possible to convert a conservatory into a day room avoiding the planning application process? Yvonne: Yes, Class A of The General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) would allow this within the list of criteria. The phrase used is ‘the enlargement, improvement or other alteration of a dwelling house’. 7. What are your thoughts on developers buying properties, developing and then selling for a profit with no regard for the negative impact the building works may have on neighbouring properties? Yvonne: RDC always encourage the development of properties. There cannot be different rules for business developers and homeowners. Legislation is in place to ensure equality and fairness to everybody. 8. Can stipulations be put in place asking that developments be in keeping with the street scene? Yvonne: Every development site is different and there cannot be a blanket planning policy for this reason. RDC do have design policies and they rely on the judgement of planning officers during site visits. Legislation states that the decision-making process must be plan lead and this is what RDC officers work to. 9. How seriously do Rochford District Council take the Parish Councils planning comments? Yvonne: All comments that RDC receive are taken seriously. On occasions, sometimes comments are not valid reasons for objections. RDC appreciates the fact that the Parish Council bridge the ‘gap’ between the district council and its residents. Hockley Parish Council is committed to being a council with a brave forward vision to create and maintain a vibrant and inclusive community in Hockley 10. If the Parish Council object to a planning application and RDC overrides the decision and grants permission, can the Parish Council receive notice of this and an explanation as to why permission was granted? Yvonne: RDC do not have the resources to inform of every decision made. They would happily provide feedback for planning application decisions if emailed directly. All decisions are published on RDC’s website. The committee would like to note their thanks to Yvonne Dunn for attending this planning committee meeting and answering their questions. A member of the public voiced their concerns relating to planning application 21/00128/FUL for the proposal of variation of condition 2 on planning application 10/00501/FUL (Allowed on appeal) to allow deliveries until 2:00am daily. The member of the public resides in Spa Road and mentioned that noise was already an issue with supermarket deliveries starting from as early as 5:45am seven days per week. The committee noted the member of the public’s comments and explained that this was imposed due to delivery lorries blocking the busy high street during peak rush hour times. By allowing deliveries up to 2:00am the resident is worried that their family would have no respite from the noise. The committee’s comments relating to this application can be found below PN20/113 (ii). 19:35 - The member of the public left the meeting after the public participation session. PN20/113 Planning Applications RESOLVED that the following comments be submitted to the District Council: (i) Application No: 21/00155/FUL Proposal: Single storey rear extension Site Location 9 Broad Walk Hockley SS5 5DD Comments: No objections. The Council would like consideration to be given to the general street scene and developments should be in keeping. Conditions should be imposed for limited parking of construction vehicles and the road cleaned of mud. Councillors are concerned with the amount of building works taking place at weekend due to the Covid19 pandemic ‘catch up’ and request that no building work be carried on Sunday. Hockley Parish Council is committed to being a council with a brave forward vision to create and maintain a vibrant and inclusive community in Hockley (ii) Application No: 21/00128/FUL Proposal: Application for variation of condition 2 on planning application 10/00501/FUL (Allowed on appeal) to allow deliveries until 2:00 daily. Site Location: 38A Spa Road Hockley Essex SS5 4PH Comments: The committee are completely against this application. They feel that it is not a reasonable request and remember objecting to similar applications in the past for fast food premises. Hockley is a village, not a town and the committee feel that 2:00am deliveries are not necessary and would be too noisy for local residents. (iii) Application No: 21/00004/FUL Proposal: Demolish existing garage and replace with single storey side extension. Proposed outbuilding. Site Location: 55 Marylands Avenue Hockley SS5 5AH Comments: Whilst the committee do not object to the single storey side extension, they object to the proposed outbuilding on the grounds of the Tree Protection Plan and the protection on the roots within the property boundary. (iv) Application No: 21/00173/FUL Proposal: First Floor Rear Extension Site Location: 10 Laburnum Close Hockley SS5 4SH Comments: No objections. The Council would like consideration to be given to the general street scene and developments should be in keeping. Conditions should be imposed for limited parking of construction vehicles and the road cleaned of mud. Councillors are concerned with the amount of building works taking place at weekend due to the Covid19 pandemic ‘catch up’ and request that no building work be carried on Sunday. Hockley Parish Council is committed to being a council with a brave forward vision to create and maintain a vibrant and inclusive community in Hockley (v) Application No: 21/00219/FUL Proposal: Proposed garage conversion and rear extension to provide ancillary annex for relative Site Location: 28 Barnwell Drive Hockley SS5 4UA Comments: No objections.