Appendix 2 Agenda Item No 5 TS55-09 Eden District Council Planning Applications Committee 21 May 2009 Erection of Twenty-Four Affordable Dwellings and Access Road Report of the Director of Department of Technical Services 1 Purpose of Report 1.1 To allow Members to consider further this planning application and to confirm any conditions to be attached to any decision should Committee continue to be minded to approve the application. 2 Recommendation: It is recommended that: outline planning permission be refused for the following reasons: 1) The proposed development would encroach into the countryside outside the settlements of Penrith and Eamont Bridge and no overriding essential need for such development is established to the satisfaction of the Council sufficient to outweigh the environmental costs that would occur to the character of the site, its setting and the local environment. The development proposed would therefore be contrary to Policy NE1 of the Eden Local Plan and Policy E37 of the Cumbria and Lake District Joint Structure Plan 3 Report Details 3.1 This application was placed before Committee at its April meeting when Members resolved that contrary to officer advice Committee was minded to grant planning permission. 3.2 This report is to address the conflict between Committee resolution and the Officer recommendation. 3.3 It is the officer's recommendation that the application be refused for the reasons indicated in the report presented to the April Committee. This recommendation is made because the site is in the countryside outside the built urban form of Penrith and the Village of Eamont Bridge. In addition the site has been the SUbject of previous applications for housing development, which, as the officer report notes, have been refused and subsequently dismissed on appeal. The Council has consistently resisted the development of this land. Finally the Council is undertaking its housing land allocations work as part of the Local Development Framework and it is considered by officers that this work will demonstrate that there are likely to be better place sites available, in respect of sustainable locational considerations than that the subject of this application. 3.4 The development fails the test of the relevant policies as indicated in the officer report. In order to overcome this situation Committee should be able to offer 1 substantive reasons why policy is to be set aside. Such a reason might be an overwhelming need for housing of this nature that cannot be provided elsewhere because land is not available so the site might be treated as an exception to policy. Alternatively policy could be set aside if it can be established that the land is available for development and that development will take place in the immediate future in order to contribute to any identified shortfall in affordable housing provision. 3.5 If the above tests cannot be satisfied then there is the possibility that any approved scheme may not be implemented before the identification of the Council‟s preferred location for housing and as a consequence potentially compromise the allocation of more suitably located land. 3.6 If Committee resolves to approve the application it is recommended that such an approval be subject to the applicant entering into an Agreement under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act to secure 100% occupancy of the site on an affordable basis and subject to the conditions listed below. 3.7 In respect of the S106 Agreement, Members are advised that officers have had initial discussions on the content of this with the applicants agents. From these discussions it is clear that the applicant remains committed to 100% affordability of dwellings on the site, although the precise nature of the tenure will have to be determined. However they also made clear that because of the outline nature of the application, the applicant may wish to reopen these negotiations at the stage when the development is ready to commence in order to address the precise requirement for affordability at that point in time and in the light of more precise costing of the development. In light of these discussions, and should Members resolve to grant planning permission, they are advised to record the fact that the site has only been granted permission as an exception to Council policy and on the basis that it is entirely for affordable housing and for a mix of tenure that is to be specified by the Council 3.8 The required Conditions are: 1) The development shall be begun before the expiration of three years from the date of this permission or before the expiration of two years from the date of the approval of the last reserved matter to be approved, whichever is the later. 2) Application for approval of all reserved matters must be made to the local planning authority before the expiration of three years of the date of this approval. 3) Approval of the details of the siting, design and external appearance of the buildings, means of access thereto and the landscaping of the site, (called the reserved matters), shall be obtained from the local planning authority in writing before any development is commenced. 4) No development shall commence within the site until the applicant has secured the implementation of a programme of archaeological work in accordance a written scheme of investigation which has been submitted by the applicant and approved by the planning authority. 5) The carriageway, footways, and footpaths shall be designed, constructed, drained and lit to a standard suitable for adoption and in this respect further details, including longitudinal/cross sections, shall be submitted for approval by the local planning authority before work commences on site. No work shall 2 be commenced before a full specification has been approved. These destails shall be in accordance with the standards laid down in the current Cumbria Design Guide. Any works so approved shall be constructed before the development is complete. 6) Ramps shall be provided on each side of every junction to enable wheelchairs, pushchairs and other similar vehicles to be safely manoeuvred at kerb lines. Details of all such ramps shall be submitted for approval to the local planning authority before development commences. Any details so approved shall be constructed as part of the development. 7) No dwellings shall be occupied until the estates road including footways to serve the dwellings has been constructed in all respects to base course level and street lighting where it is to form part of the estate road has been provided and brought into full operational use. 8) The access, including the provision of the ghost island junction as shown on Drawing Nos. C002/C003, shall be completed in accordance with such details that form part of an agreement with the Highway Authority under Section 278 of the Highway Act 1980 unless otherwise agreed in writing with the local planning authority before any building work commences on site so that construction traffic can turn clear of the highway. 9) Finished floor levels in the properties shall be set at or above 120mAOD. 10) Finished wearing levels on the access road shall be at or above 119.7mAOD. 11) There shall be no storage of any materials including soils within that part of the site which is in Flood Zone 3 outline. 12) No development approved by this proposal shall be commenced until a scheme for the provision of floodplain storage has been provided. The scheme shall be in accordance with details submitted by Tweddell and Slater Ltd in support of this proposal. 13) No development approved by this permission shall be commenced until a scheme for the provision and implementation of a surface water regulation system has been approved by the local planning authority. Post development surface water run-off rates should be at greenfield rates for the site up to the 1 in 100 year (1%) rainfall event. The scheme should take into account the effect of overland flow from higher ground on the proposed system. 14) No dwellings shall be occupied until signalised pedestrian and cycle crossing facilities at the A6/A66 roundabout have been provided and brought into full operational use. 3.9 In respect of Condition No 14, which is requested by the County Council, Committee should be aware and give consideration to the fact that that the view of the Highways Agency (with specific responsibility for road safety on Trunk Roads) is that such a crossing would not be permitted accross the A66 unless the whole of the Kemplay Bank roundabout was fully traffic light controlled. 3 4 Policy Framework 4.1 The Council has four corporate priorities which are: • Affordable Housing • Quality Environment • Economic Vitality • Quality Council Council on 7 February 2008 agreed fifteen strategic actions to achieve these priorities. 5 Implications 5.1 Legal 5.1.1 None 5.2 Financial 5.2.1 The Council has agreed an action plan to carry through the Balancing the Budget exercise. A key part of this is the Resource Allocation Categorisation which is designed to ensure that resource allocation reflects the Council‟s priorities. The full categorisation was agreed at Council on 7 February 2008 and the financial implications of any report must be consistent with this. 5.3 Equality and Diversity 5.3.1 The Council has to have regard to the elimination of unlawful discrimination and harassment and the promotion of equality under the Equalities Act, 2006 and related statutes. It is not considered that there are any such issues requiring consideration in the context of this application. 5.4 Environmental 5.4.1 The Council has to have due regard to conserving bio-diversity under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act.