PLANNING APPLICATION REPORT Case Officer: Wendy Ormsby Parish: Bigbury Ward: Charterlands Application No: 4214/18/FUL Agent/Applicant: Applicant: Mrs Valerie Scott - Valerie Scott Planning Mr Rob Ellis - South Hams District Council Glen Cottage Follaton House Bigbury Plymouth Road Kingsbridge Totnes TQ7 4AP TQ9 5NE Site Address: Land at Holwell Farm, St Ann’s Chapel, TQ7 4AP Development: Residential development to provide 13 dwellings with associated access, car parking, public open space and landscaping Reason item is being put before Committee: The applicant is South Hams District Council. Recommendation: Recommendation: Delegate to Head of Development Management Practice (HoP), in conjunction with Chairman to conditionally grant planning permission, subject to a Section 106 legal obligation. However, in the event that the Section 106 legal Agreement remains unsigned six months after this resolution, that the application is reviewed by the HoP, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, and if no progress is being made delegated authority is given to the HoP to refuse to application in the absence of an agreed S106 Agreement. The terms of the Section 106 Obligation are: 8 x affordable dwellings (60%), 3 of which will be discounted sale (30% - 40% discount subject to education contribution) and 5 will be affordable rent. Implementation and management of LEMP Secure public access to POS and on-going management and maintenance, including SUDs features. Written scheme of works to be agreed and undertaken to improve long term legibility and viability of the nearby Holy Well Scheduled Ancient Monument Conditions 1. Time 2. Accords with plans 3. CEMP 4. LEMP 5. Materials details/samples to be agreed and roof to the finished with natural slates fixed in the traditional way using nails not hooks 6. Levels to be agreed 7. Boundary treatment details, including any retaining walls, to be agreed and to provide permeability for wildlife and details of boundary treatments to ensure protection and retention of new and existing boundary hedgerows and planting to be agreed and implemented. 8. Details and materials of hard and soft landscaping to be agreed 9. Footpath to eastern site boundary to be provided prior to occupation of first dwelling 10. Parking areas to be provided prior to occupation 11. PD removed – roof alterations, boundary treatments, hard surfaces 12. Pre-commencement percolation testing 13. Pre-commencement surface water management scheme 14. ground water monitoring scheme 15. Pre-commencement construction phase surface water management scheme 16. Tamar Estuary mitigation 17. No external lighting unless agreed 18. Details of integral bird nest sites to be agreed and provided 19. Unsuspected contamination 20. Details of electric charging points to be agreed and provided 21. Acoustic fence to be provided on northern boundary of Holywell Stores 22. Details of kerb types, heights, road details etc are to be agreed 23. Tree protection details Key issues for consideration: The requirement to give great weight to conserving and enhancing the South Devon AONB, the impact on the setting of the Holy Well Scheduled Ancient Monument, impacts on biodiversity, highway safety and access, the way in which the proposal meets the needs of the Parish. Financial Implications (Potential New Homes Bonus for major applications): It is estimated that this development has the potential to attract New Homes Bonus of £17,378.40 per annum however The Government have advised that the New Homes Bonus scheme will end after the 2019-2020 financial year and this year is the last year's allocation (which was based on dwellings built out by October 2018). A statement about a replacement scheme is expected in September 2019. Members are advised that this is provided on an information basis only and is not a material planning consideration in the determination of this application. Site Description: The site of 0.66 hectares of agricultural land is located on the northern edge of St Ann’s Chapel, a small rural village. Despite its small size the village has a number of local facilities including a shop and post office, a pub, a village hall and children’s playground. The village facilities serve the wider community of the Parish including Bigbury which shares the village hall. The site is the southern corner of a much larger field, currently there are no field boundaries on the proposed north west and north east edges of the development site. The site slopes downwards from south west to north east. New housing is sited to west of the site and the shop Holywell Stores and car park are sited to the south. The site proposes to take vehicular access from the B3392 and pedestrian access from Holywell Road. St Ann’s Chapel is dominated by a busy cross roads where there is limited visibility for traffic arriving at most of the junction points. North East of the application site, in the corner of the main field is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM), the Holy Well. This monument is fenced off from the main field but is very overgrown. This SAM is on the Heritage at Risk Register as a result of vulnerability due to scrub and tree growth. The Pickwick Inn to the south of the site is a Grade II Listed Building. The site is within a cirl bunting habitat buffer zone. It is within the Tamar Estuary zone of influence. The site is also within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The application site is the preferred site within the emerging Bigbury Neighbourhood Plan (reg 15 stage) for residential development of up to 13 dwellings, identified to meet the housing needs of the Parish The Proposal: The application proposes 13 dwellings of the following mix: 4 x 2 bed semi detached 1 x 2 bed detached 2 x 2 bed semi-detached bungalows 1 x 3 bed detached bungalow 3 x 3 bed detached 2 x 3 bed semi detached The size of the house vary from 80.9 to 98.8 sq. m and comply with National Space Standards Plots 4 and 1 will be provided as serviced plots with footings and given to the landowner, to be completed at the same time as the rest of the development Plots 5, 6 and 7 are to be sold on the open market. It is stated that these units will be subject to a principal residency clause to prevent use as a second home within the terms of sale. The remaining 8 dwellings will be affordable. Three would be available for discount purchase with a discount of between 30 to 45 % off market price (depending of the extent of financial contribution required for education and /or recreation) and the remaining for available for affordable rent at 60% of market rate. The dwellings are designed as a ‘rural cluster’ of units set around a central open space, accessed via a shared surface cul-de-sac road. A pedestrian link to the eastern boundary will provide pedestrian access to the village facilities The dwellings will be of timber frame construction and seek to achieve passivhaus certification. External materials include mainly painted render and natural slate roofs but also include natural stone and some timber cladding to break up the massing and minimise landscape impact The design includes the use of solar photovoltaic arrays within the south facing roof slopes. The proposed dwellings have a variety of forms and roof heights, full details of the design approach are set out in the supporting Design and Access Statement. Each property has a minimum of 2 parking spaces. The dwellings are clustered around a public open space to the south. Consultations: County Highways Authority: Holding objection: inadequate information to demonstrate adequate road width and visibility splays etc. – verbal update on highway matters to be given at committee. Environmental Health Section: No objection subject to conditions SHDC Affordable Housing: Further to my comments below, I can confirm that the Affordable Housing team support the revised tenure mix on this application. The revised mix is: 5 x Affordable Rent units 3 x Discount Sale units This mix meets an identified housing need in the parish of Bigbury. We are also in support of the housing mix. SHDC Landscape: No support, moderate harmful landscape impact identified AONB Unit: No comment SHDC Ecology: No objection subject to conditions DCC Education: No objection subject to the following financial contributions: Secondary school infrastructure: £42,745 Secondary school transport: £13,471 Primary school transport: £32,984 Police AOL: Potential for unintentional damage to parked cars from ball games; pedestrian link to east should be overlooked for natural surveillance. Rear gates should be lockable from both sides. Adequate parking should be provided with minimal reliance on tandem or garage parking. Historic England: Raise concerns as to whether clear and convincing justification has been provided for selection of this site over any other alternatives throughout the neighbourhood plan process and recommends that the LPA: Be satisfied that the site is the most appropriate for the delivery of housing taking into account the historic environment Be satisfied that the number of houses proposed can be accommodated within the site taking into account the setting of the heritage assets Ensure that all opportunities to avoid or mitigate harm to the designated heritage assets have been designed into the scheme and that there is an appropriate level of screening for the development in views from and surrounding the nationally designated well site. Ensure that if harm is identified that the LPA is satisfied this harm is clearly and convincingly