Agenda and minutes

Councillor Picknell welcomed everyone to the meeting. Members of the Committee and officers introduced themselves.

Apologies were received from Councillor Nicholls.

There were no declarations of substitute members.

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a)     Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b) Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c) Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d) Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e) Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f) Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

Councillor Convery declared a personal interest in items B2 and B3 as he was a personal friend to the applicant and a ward councillor.

The order of business would be as per the agenda.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 December 2017 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

Proposed change of use of the first and second floors and roofspace of the existing ancillary accommodation of the public house (A4 use) to create 3 self-contained residential flats (C3 use), being a 1 x 3 bedroom unit and 2 x 1 bedroom units. Erection of first floor side/ rear extensions, roof terraces at first floor, raising of the roof by 0.3m and front, and rear dormer windows. Installation of 1 x air condenser unit to the rear yard at ground floor level to serve the public house, adjacent to proposed refuse and cycle storage area.

(Planning application number: P2015/5085/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         The Planning officer informed Members that item was deferred at the meeting in December 2017 for a further assessment on the amenity impact in terms of loss of daylight/sunlight to No. 4 Prebend Street.

·         Members were advised that assessment had been carried out and that with the separation distance between the adjoining properties, together with the positions of the extensions, the proposal would not result in any significant loss of daylight to the windows of no 4 Prebend Street. The Planning Officer advised that although the objector was satisfied with the assessment, other issues had been raised.

·         With regards to concerns about overlooking from the first floor terrace, the Planning Officer advised that condition 8 in the report would address this issue.

·         Objector was concerned that other assessments in the report had not been addressed sufficiently especially with regards to overlooking from the second floor terraces. She was concerned that although officers had provided a solution for the first floor terraces, no screening had been offered regarding the second floor roof terrace.

·         In response to overlooking concerns of the objector from the second floor, the Committee requested that condition 8 be amended to read ‘ first floor and second roof terraces shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority’.

·         Councillor Gantly proposed an additional condition regarding the swift brick, the exact wordings to be delegated to Officers and the Chair of the Committee.

Councillor Convery proposed a motion to amend condition 8 as noted above. This was seconded by Councillor Picknell and carried.

RESOLVED:

That planning permission be granted subject to the conditions set out in Appendix 1 plus the amendment to condition 8 as stated above and the additional condition outlined above; and subject to the prior completion of a Planning Obligation made under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 between the Council and all persons with an interest in the land (including mortgagees) in order to secure the following planning obligations to the satisfaction of the Head of law and Public Services and the Service Director, Planning and Development/Head of Service – Development Management or in their absence, the Deputy head of Service.

Erection of mansard roof extension with front roof terrace plus erection of rear lower ground floor infill extension and terrace at upper ground floor level. Installation of door to front lower ground floor level and rain water pipe to front elevation. 

(Planning application number: P2017/4729/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         The Panning Officer advised that no representations had been received and item was before the Committee for consideration as the applicant is a ward councillor.

·         Members were advised that the principle of the mansard roof addition was accepted, given that 8 of the 16 properties had existing roof additions, and the additions had been designed so as not to be visible from street level.

·         In response to a question about the rear additions, The Planning Officer advised that the proposal was in line with the Urban Design Guide, that this was an infill and not a one storey extension or half width rear extensions higher than two storeys.

·         With regards to loss of light, Members were advised that the proposed addition being located at lower ground and enclosed between existing built form, the rear addition is considered to have no material impact on the adjoining neighbours in terms of loss of light sense of enclosure or loss of outlook to the adjoining properties.

RESOLVED:

That planning permission be granted subject to the conditions set out in Appendix 1 of the officer report.

Retrospective application for the retention of and alterations to the existing black chimney on the roof.

(Planning application number: P2017/3097/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         The Panning Officer advised Members that this was an application seeking  retrospective planning permission and was before the Committee as the co- applicant was a ward councillor.

·         The Planning Officer informed the Committee that in paragraph 5.1 of the report, the third line should be amended to read 3.7 metres rather than 3.2 metres and on the 5^th lone it should read 2.3 metres rather than 1.9 metres.

·         Objector was concerned that her complaint to planning officers regarding the erection of chimney without planning permission was ignored; that the chimney was ugly and considering that Oakley crescent was part of a conservation area, a 3m high shiny metal pipe would not blend in. The objector was also concerned with the glass wall of the new patio, not visible to the residents of 7 Oakley but impacting the amenity of the residents that back the site. The neighbouring resident suggested that the glass patio wall be straightened and the chimney put inside the patio area and instead of a 3m pipe that a new chimney stack of either yellow or terracotta brick would be more suitable.

·         In response to the objectors concerns, the Planning Officer advised that the proposed amendments to the chimney will improve its appearance and reduce the visual impact on the application site and the conservation area.

·         Members acknowledged that although seeking retrospective planning permission was not to be encouraged, amendments such as reduction in the height of the chimney and the blackening of the pipe to reduce reflections into neighbouring residents was welcome. 

RESOLVED:

That planning permission be granted subject to the conditions set out in Appendix 1 of the officer report.