Issue - meetings

Erection of 20 dwellings (Use Class C3) with associated parking and landscaping, provision of new vehicular access to Church Lane and pedestrian link to public footpath at Land Rear of 76-78 Church Lane, Sarratt.

Recommendation:

(1)     to delegate to the Head of Regulatory Services and subject to the recommendation of no objection from the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) and the inclusion of any conditions recommended by the LLFA and following referral to the Secretary of State and subject to them raising no objection, and following completion of a S106 Agreement (securing the affordable housing provision and a monitoring fee in relation to BNG) that planning permission is granted; or

(2)     in the event that the LLFA maintains their objection, that planning permission is refused on the grounds set out by the LLFA and in the absence of a S106 Agreement securing the above referenced contributions.

The application was for erection of 20 dwellings (Use Class C3) with associated parking and landscaping, provision of new vehicular access to Church Lane and pedestrian link to public footpath at Land Rear of 76-78 Church Lane, Sarratt.

The Planning Officer reported that since the report had been published, the Lead Local Flood Authority had confirmed that it had no objection to the proposal, subject to four conditions.  Accordingly, recommendation (2) was no longer required.  The revised recommendation was to delegate authority to the Head of Regulatory Services to refer the application to the Secretary of State, and subject to the Secretary of State raising no objection and following the completion of a Section 106 agreement to secure the affordable housing and the biodiversity net gain monitoring fee, grant planning permission subject to the conditions in the report and the conditions requested by the Lead Local Flood Authority.

The Planning Officer reported that there were also a number of changes proposed to the published conditions.  These were: merging the requirements of conditions 9 and 13 into condition 11 and removing conditions 9 and 13 as a result; merging the requirements of condition 17 into condition 7; and changing the trigger points for conditions 21, 25 and 30 so that their terms had to be met before the first occupation of the dwellings.

The Planning Officer also reported that a correction was required to paragraph 7.3.30 of the report.  The reference to the development failing to comply with purpose (b) of paragraph 155 of the National Planning Policy Framework should refer to purpose (c).

The Planning Officer reported that outline planning permission for 20 houses, with all matters other than access being reserved, had been granted at appeal in July 2023, with a Section 106 agreement to secure all of the housing as affordable.  The current application was a full application.  The differences between the two applications were set out in the report and included a reduction in the amount of affordable housing which was proposed to 50% affordable (split 70/30 between social rent and intermediate) and 50% market housing.  The Planning Officer summarised that whilst it was considered that the proposed development was inappropriate in the Green Belt and would cause some harm, officers considered that very special circumstances existed which would outweigh this and the other harms identified.

Parish Councillor James Alder of Sarratt Parish Council and Councillor Ciaran Reed spoke on the application.

A local resident spoke against the application.

The applicant spoke in favour of the application.

Committee Members asked questions about the detail of the application which were responded to by officers.  The Committee’s discussions, and concerns raised by speakers, included the following:

·       In addition to a reduction in the amount of affordable housing, the development also proposed a change in the dwelling size mix, with a significant number of 4-bedroomed properties which were not in great need in the area.

·       The proposal included a reliance on footpath 30, adjoining the site at the rear, to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54