Agenda item

25/0154/FUL – Demolition of the concrete shed and part demolition of the cart shed adjoining The Black Barn and construction of front/side extension including solar panels; alterations to doors and materials; alteration of front access path and courtyard; creation of drop off zone and parking area; change of use from agriculture to a mixed commercial use and community uses including indoor sport and recreation, provision of education, public hall, exhibition hall and as a public meeting place (Use Classes E(d), F.1(a), F.1(e), F.2(b));  widening of access off Denham Way at Woodoaks Farm Denham Way Maple Cross Rickmansworth.

and

25/0155/LBC - Listed Building Consent: Demolition of the concrete shed and part demolition of the cart shed adjoining The Black Barn and construction of front/side extension including solar panels; alterations to doors and materials; alteration of front access path and courtyard; creation of drop off zone and parking area; change of use from agriculture to a mixed commercial use and community uses including indoor sport and recreation, provision of education, public hall, exhibition hall and as a public meeting place (Use Classes E(d), F.1(a), F.1(e), F.2(b)); widening of access off Denham Way.

Recommendation for 25/0154/FUL: that authority is delegated to the Head of Regulatory Services, following the completion of a S106 agreement securing the Heads of Terms set out below (and subject to any minor alterations to those terms as agreed between the Head of Regulatory Services and the Planning Committee Chairman), to grant planning permission subject to conditions.

Recommendation for 25/0155/LBC: that Listed Building Consent be granted subject to conditions.

The applications were a full application and associated listed building consent application for demolition of the concrete shed and part demolition of the cart shed adjoining The Black Barn and construction of front/side extension including solar panels; alterations to doors and materials; alteration of front access path and courtyard; creation of drop off zone and parking area; change of use from agriculture to a mixed commercial use and community uses including indoor sport and recreation, provision of education, public hall, exhibition hall and as a public meeting place (Use Classes E(d), F.1(a), F.1(e), F.2(b));  widening of access off Denham Way at Woodoaks Farm Denham Way Maple Cross Rickmansworth.

The Planning Officer provided an update to the Committee, outlining that whilst officers were satisfied with the conclusions set out in the committee report (i.e. that the proposed development would result in less than substantial harm to the heritage asset and harm to the openness of the Green Belt but that there were other considerations that existed to outweigh that harm) officers were not satisfied that the mechanisms proposed within the report to secure the very special circumstances met the necessary tests. Those mechanisms included a number of the recommended planning conditions, and the draft Heads of Terms for a legal agreement which were detailed at section 7.7 of the report.

As a result, officers had been working with the applicant and the Council’s Planning Solicitor to produce a revised set of Heads of Terms which were considered to better secure what would be necessary to make the application acceptable in planning terms. These had been circulated to Members of the Committee prior to the meeting as a supplementary item and were available to view on the committee agenda online.  It was considered that these would secure the public benefits proposed by the scheme, and they therefore replaced what had been set out in section 7.7 of the report.  The Planning Officer summarised the revised draft Heads of Terms for the benefit of the Committee.

In terms of the proposed use of the building, the Planning Officer reported that the description of the development, the report, and condition 4 referred to a number of uses.  It was subsequently agreed by the Committee that as the permitted uses were secured by the conditions and Heads of Terms, the description of the development in both the full application and the listed building consent application should be revised to omit the references to the use classes as follows: 

‘Demolition of the concrete shed and part demolition of the cart shed adjoining The Black Barn and construction of front/side extension including solar panels; alterations to doors and materials; alteration of front access path and courtyard; creation of drop off zone and parking area; change of use from agriculture to a mixed commercial use and community uses; widening of access off Denham Way at Woodoaks Farm Denham Way Maple Cross Rickmansworth WD3 9XQ.’

The Planning Officer also reported that as the refined Heads of Terms addressed a number of elements which were usually covered by recommended planning conditions, the following conditions which had been included in the report could be deleted: Conditions 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13. Condition 12 was not considered necessary.  Condition 5 should be kept, but the hours of operation revised to allow use between 6:00 and 23:30 with all persons attending in connection with a Function required to leave the site by midnight.

Following these changes, the recommendation on the full application was proposed to be amended as follows:

That authority is delegated to the Head of Regulatory Services, following the completion of a S106 agreement securing the Heads of Terms set out in the addendum heads of terms document circulated prior to the meeting (and subject to any minor alterations to those terms as agreed between the Head of Regulatory Services and the Planning Committee Chairman), to grant planning permission subject to conditions (subject to any minor alterations to those conditions as agreed between the Head of Regulatory Services and the Planning Committee Chairman).

In terms of the listed building consent application, the only necessary change would be to the description of the proposed development.

A speaker on behalf of 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 included:

·       The Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) monitoring fee and the S106 monitoring fee were one-off fees.  The BNG monitoring was a legislative requirement and the fee would cover periodic monitoring over 30 years.  It took account of inflation over that period and was calculated on a cost-recovery basis.  The S106 monitoring fee was also calculated on a cost-recovery basis.  Members sought clarification on the need for the BNG monitoring fee and the services it covered and debated the appropriateness of the fee level.

·       The development would cause some harm but was balanced by significant public benefits.  On balance, these were considered to represent very special circumstances which justified the development.

·       The restriction on use of the Temporary Open Air Use Land to 28 days per calendar year was considered by officers to achieve a balance between minimising harm and not curtailing the existing uses of other parts of the site.  It covered all temporary use of the land and not solely car parking.

In relation to application 25/0154/FUL, Councillor Gazzard moved and Councillor Mitchell seconded that the description of the development should be amended to remove reference to use classes, and that authority be delegated to the Head of Regulatory Services, following the completion of a S106 agreement securing the Heads of Terms set out in the addendum Heads of Terms document (and subject to any minor alterations to those terms as agreed between the Head of Regulatory Services and the Planning Committee Chairman), to grant planning permission subject to conditions (subject to any minor alterations to those conditions as agreed between the Head of Regulatory Services and the Planning Committee Chairman).  On being put to the vote this was agreed, the voting being 10 in favour, 0 against, 1 abstention.

In relation to application 25/0155/LBC Councillor Lloyd proposed, and Councillor Whately-Smith seconded that the description of the development be amended to remove reference to use classes and that Listed Building Consent is granted subject to conditions.  On being put to the vote this was agreed, the voting being unanimous.

RESOLVED:

25/0154/FUL

That the description of the development be amended to remove reference to use classes, and that authority be delegated to the Head of Regulatory Services, following the completion of a S106 agreement securing the Heads of Terms set out in the addendum Heads of Terms document (and subject to any minor alterations to those terms as agreed between the Head of Regulatory Services and the Planning Committee Chairman), to grant planning permission subject to conditions (subject to any minor alterations to those conditions as agreed between the Head of Regulatory Services and the Planning Committee Chairman). 

25/0155/LBC

That the description of the development be amended to remove reference to use classes and that Listed Building Consent is granted, subject to conditions.