Meeting documents

Mr R Reed proposed Mrs N Glover be the Chairman of the Committee.  This was seconded by Mr C Clare.

RESOLVED

That Mrs Glover be elected as Chairman of the Development Control Committee for the ensuing year.

Mrs Glover proposed Mr Reed as Vice Chairman of the Committee.  This was seconded by Mrs J Blake

RESOLVED

That Mr Reed be elected as Vice Chairman of the Development Control Committee for the ensuing year.

Apologies were received by Mr D Shakespeare and Mr N Brown.

Mr Clare declared a non pecuniary interest relating to agenda item 9, as he was a member of Great Moor Sailing Club.

Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 10 April 2017, to be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 April 2017 were agreed as a correct record.

Miss A Herriman, Senior Planning Officer gave an overview of the application which sought agreement for change of use from parking of empty skips to waste storage and sorting at Marsworth Airfield North Site.

Miss Herriman gave the following updates since the publication of the report:

• The applicants name was Mr Cattigan and not Mr Calligan
• Following the site visit on Friday 16 June the applicant had informed planning officers that they wished to change the location of storage of some of the materials. This is considered a minor amendment and therefore the Committee were advised that if they were to approve the application, the applicants would submit a revised plan prior to the consent being issued so that the amended layout could be correctly referenced within the consent.
• Members were asked to also approve an  added condition which would set out the permitted waste type as construction, demolition and excavation of no more than 25,000 tonnes per annum
• A further 27 objections had been received since 14 June mainly on the grounds of traffic, health and safety, pollution, noise, type of development, location and amenity

The Committee received a presentation showing the site plans and photographs.  Members of the Committee had visited the site prior to the Development Control Committee in June.

Miss Herriman highlighted the following points in relation to the site and photographs:

·     Most of the airfield industrial estate was covered under a Certificate of Lawfulness Use issued by AVDC in1985, this did not place any limitation on vehicle movements or routeing

·     There were currently other permissions on the Marsworth Industrial estate site at Unit F and Units 32, 32A and 33.  The application for permission at Unit 25B is in relation to Waste King

·     The application looked to set a limit on vehicle movements as at present there were not any for the Waste King unit.  This would put a restriction on traffic, which would be GPS tracked, recorded and a routeing agreement signed

Public Speaking

Those registered to speak were invited to address the Committee in turn

Mrs P Thomas, local resident – Objecting

Mrs Thomas highlighted the following points:

• Mrs Thomas was speaking on behalf of the 9,000 residents living in the villages surrounding the site
• A decade ago two retrospective planning applications were rejected as it would generate disturbance to residents and there would be an impact with the proposed increase to vehicles and HGV traffic.  The later appeal was also dismissed by an independent planning inspector, who stated  the road network serving the site was not well suited to accommodate substantial volumes of HGV traffic

The Committee discussed the following points:

•  The benefits of the restriction that would be put in place on vehicle movements at 40 a day (20 in and 20 out) and setting a routeing agreement as there was currently no restriction
• Mrs G Crossley, Development Management Officer confirmed to Members that if they were minded to agree the application this would result in a restriction on vehicles movements  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Chairman of the Committee addressed Members to outline that Mr B Bendyshe Brown, Local Member had requested to defer the item until he had an opportunity to discuss the application with the Headteacher.  It was agreed that there was nothing in the report that suggested the local Member had not had sufficient time as part of the consultation to engage with the school and that the Committee would proceed in hearing the Officer report and speakers to see determine whether a deferment was deemed necessary.

Mrs S Kupczyk, Planning Officer gave an overview of the application which sought agreement to create a new 2 storey entrance block with classrooms and kitchen extension, central atrium and lift access in phase 1; creation of 3 storey link block with classrooms, new drop-off area, additional car park spaces and new cycling bays and demolition of some parts of the school buildings in phase 2 and associated landscaping in both phases.

Mrs Kupczyk highlighted the following points to the Committee:

• Additional representation from residents had been submitted since the report was released, this was in relation to traffic on Clifford Road and Merton Road and confirmed that highway issues had been discussed and addressed in paragraphs 8.14 and 8.22
• Concerns had been raised regarding the opening and closing of the gate early in the morning and late at night due to the use of the sports hall and also parking problems on the highways.  Based on discussions with the School Commissioning Team and subject to the application being approved it was recommended to add an additional condition that would bring construction of the drop off into phase 1 so that it could be in use prior to the expansion of the school

The Committee received a presentation showing the site location, plans and photographs. 

Public Speakers

Mr C Stevenson and Mr P Dixon, local residents– Objecting

Mr Stevenson highlighted the following concerns to the Committee:

• Mr Stevenson stated that he did not object to the expansion of the school but that he had concerns around the road safety element in Merton Road and Clifford Road
• Merton and Clifford Road were currently being used as drop off points for the school by parents and taxi’s which was causing congestion
• The school had no control over the use of Merton Road traffic and that this was only likely to get worse as the school expands
• Mr Stevenson suggested that this issue could be addressed by closing the pedestrian and traffic gates during drop off and pick up at Clifford and Merton Road or by introducing a ‘no drop off’ zone in Merton and Clifford road that could be enforced

Mr Dixon highlighted the concerns to the Committee

• Pictures were presented of the surrounding houses to the school that were not included in the application plans
• Mr Dixon suggested that if the application for the whole site to be submitted now was to be built it would either be refused or if not access via  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Miss A Herriman, Senior Planning Officer gave an overview of the application which sought agreement to create a new 1 form of entry, new nursery, new coach parking at John Hampden and amendments to entrances of John Colet parking to improve vehicular access to the combined site

The Committee received a presentation showing the location of the school and the proposed changes to the development.

Mrs Herriman highlighted the proposed changes across the 3 sites, John Hampden School, Wendover CE Junior School and The John Colet School.

Mrs Herriman updated the Committee that she had since received feedback from the Local Member Mr S Bowles and she summarised his points as follows:

• He was in support of the school campus development however agreed with residents that the revised parking development would have a negative impact on Manor Crescent, directing more traffic down the road
• Mr Bowles referred to the alternative plans submitted to the Committee which suggests that the proposed plans would also increase health and safety issues for children walking to school and suggested an alternative entrance be used.  Mr Bowles supported this suggestion
• Mr Bowles urged the Committee to take into consideration Mr Holt’s plans

Public Speakers

Mr M Holt, local resident - objecting

Mr Holt addressed the Committee and referred to the written representation that had been sent to Committee Members prior to the meeting, which included concerns, photos of the area and an alternative plan.  Mr Holt raised the following concerns held by local residents:

• Danger to parked cars due to restricted turning circle of proposed exit from car park
• Two day care businesses on Manor Crescent, one in close proximity to proposed exit
• Blind bend with single lane width
• Single lane width - due to parking - on all but one area of Manor Crescent
• Road erosion
• Traffic build up and difficult junction at the south/residential end of Manor Crescent
• Extra traffic flow on busy corner. Danger to Pupils who cross anywhere on this bend 

Mr Holt ran through his alternative plan which he outlined would make use of one entrance and increase the amount of car parking spaces, addresses the concerns of local residents about the impact of traffic on Manor Crescent and the safety of pupil.

It was noted that Mr Holt’s alternative plans had been sent to the applicant and that no amendments had come forward. The Committee were required to determine the application before them.

Mrs P Campbell-Balcomb, School Commissioning Team BCC with responsibility for School Place Planning and the School Capital programme and Mr J Holland, Architect

Mrs Campbell-Balcomb highlighted the following points:

• The projections for Wendover Planning Areas showed an increase in demand on places year on year and the Local Authority sought expressions of interest from schools wishing to expand to meet the rising need – John Hampden and Wendover Junior School came forward to not only expand but to take a bulge class which was required for September 2014
• Following an initial consultation revised plans had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Mr Clare left the meeting.

Miss Herriman, Senior Planning Officer gave an overview of the application which sought retrospective agreement for remedial works to level and re-cap an area of exposed historic domestic landfill through the importation of inert sub soils and top soil.

Miss Herriman updated the Committee that Planning Officers had received a further update from the Rights of Way officer who had no objection to the application. 

There had also been a further letter from an original objector received since the reports for the Committee had been published, these points were summarised as follows:

• The objector stated that having spoken to the Local Parish Council of Twyford they said they had not been consulted on the application.  Miss Herriman confirmed that the County Council records show that Twyford Parish Council was sent a consultation to the Clerk of both Parish Councils on 24 March, 12 weeks ago.  Planning Officer had since tried to contact them by phone, with no success.  Miss Herriman also confirmed that they were not required to consult any neighbouring Parish Councils but at their own discretion they had consulted with two additional Parish Councils on this occasion
• The objector questioned if the Environment Agency (EA) had received the consultation as no responses had been received when the reports were published.  Miss Herriman confirmed that following a conversation with the EA they confirmed receipt of the consultation on 24 March and assessed it as low risk and therefore did not formally respond as they had no comments on land use planning matters.  The EA did state that the site may well need an Environmental permit and therefore planning officers suggested that the applicant contact the EA to discuss this further
• The objector questioned the type and volume of the material that had been tipped on the site.  Miss Herriman stated that these had been addressed in the report and that the EA were aware of the development and have visited the site with Enforcement Officers
• The objector claimed that the tipping operation had been going on for 6 years. The duration of the tipping was of no consequence in this retrospective application. The objectors comments had been forwarded to the Enforcement Team and EA for their consideration as to whether further investigation may be necessary
• The objector requested what he referred to as "a proper independent technical survey of the historic dumping before planning permission is granted and that you obtain the decisions from the EA and Parish Councils."  Miss Herriman confirmed that this was a matter for the EA under the Permitting regime, which was separate to the Planning regime

Miss Herriman concluded that she did not consider there to be any outstanding matters that warranted the application being deferred, nor did she consider there to be any matters which altered the recommendations as set out within the report.

Miss Herriman also referred to an update received from the applicant regarding condition 10 set out in the report that stated the development,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

31 July 2017, Mezzanine 1&2, County Hall, 10am start

31 July 2017, Mezzanine 1&2, County Hall, 10am.

RESOLVED

That the press and public be excluded for the following item which is exempt by virtue of Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12a of the Local Government Act 1972 because it contains information relating to an individual

Confidential minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 10 April 2017, to be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman

The confidential minutes of the meeting held on 10 April were agreed as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.