Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2023 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

An update sheet was circulated in relation to planning applications to be considered this evening, which included additional information for Members attention received after the original agenda documents had been published.

RESOLVED that the update sheet be received by Planning Committee.

Please note that, in accordance with the Members' Code of Conduct, when declaring interests members must disclose the existence and nature of the interest, and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) or personal and/or pecuniary.

Councillor Bill Mara declared a Personal and Pecuniary Interest with regard to the agenda item titled '18A - 20 High Street, Lincoln'.

Reason: He was known to one of the objectors to the planning application although not present this evening as a friend.

He left the room during the consideration of this item and took no part in the discussions or vote on the matter to be determined.

In the interest of transparency, Councillor Rebecca Longbottom requested it be noted in relation to the application for development Agenda Item No 6a 18A-20 High Street, Lincoln, that she was known to one of the objectors, however, not in a personal capacity and there was no conflict of interest after discussion with the legal advisor

.

Lee George, Open Spaces Officer:

a.    advised Planning Committee of the reasons for proposed works to trees in the City Council's ownership and sought consent to progress the works identified, as detailed at Appendix A of his report

b.    highlighted that the list did not represent all the work undertaken to Council trees, it represented all the instances where a tree was either identified for removal, or where a tree enjoyed some element of protection under planning legislation, and thus formal consent was required

c.    explained that ward councillors had been notified of the proposed works.

RESOLVED that the tree works set out in the schedules appended to the report be approved.

Lee George, Open Spaces Officer:

a.    presented a report to provide advice relating to the proposed management of priority heathland habitat located within Swanholme Lakes SSSI, by the implementation of limited targeted deforestation and thinning of specified areas

b.    advised that Swanholme Lakes was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1985 and became a Local Nature Reserve in 1991

c.    described the location of Swanholme Lakes Nature Reserve which fell within the City Boundary adjacent to Hartsholme Country Park, owned by the City Council and subject to Tree Preservation Order, Doddington Road No1 – Hartsholme Wood

d.    highlighted that the site was open to public access and comprised of a variety of habitats including woodland, heathland, and several lakes, which were originally pits formed during the extraction of sand and gravel in the last century

e.    stated that tree species forming the woodlands were predominantly Birch, Willow, Pine, Alder, and Oak; the site supported wet and dry heathland, both important habitats supporting a variety of wildlife and the lakes provided suitable conditions for the benefit of several uncommon aquatic species of flora and fauna

f.     reported that presently, pioneer species, such as Birch and Willow were encroaching onto the heathland sites, additionally other species such as Pine and Alder were having detrimental effects on the heathland habitat located in the vicinity of the area known as Acid Pools, which, if left unmanaged would negatively affect the underlying nature of the heathland habitat, leading to the loss of mosses lichens and other desirable heathland species.

g.    added that trees growing adjacent to the lakeside banks were currently producing significant shading, minimising the habitat potential of the marginal zones

h.    advised that lakeside trees also influenced the level of eutrophication which occured within individual water bodies due to the shedding of leaves, the deposition of leaves could also have the effect of altering the water chemistry of individual lakes, which in turn could adversely affect the ability of rare plants and marginal species to utilise an otherwise suitable niche

i.      requested permission to selectively fell, coppice and prune some of the Birch, Willow, Alder, Pine and Oak encroaching onto the existing heathland or in close proximity to the lakeside edges for the benefit of the area as detailed at paragraph 3.2 of the officer’s report

j.      clarified that the existence of the Tree Preservation Order prevented any unconsented tree works being undertaken without the consent of the local authority, and was also controlled via the Forestry Commission; in this case as the proposed tree removal would produce more than 5 cubic metres of timber per calendar quarter, the City Council had a legal obligation to apply to the Forestry Commission for a felling licence to undertake its planned works within the Nature Reserve

k.    stated that as the site in question also had SSSI designation the City Council had submitted a Supplementary Notice of Operations (SNO) to the Forestry Commission, this included detailed information on the protective measures we  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

(Councillor Mara left the room during the consideration of the following item, having declared a personal and pecuniary interest in the matter to be discussed. He took no part in the debate or vote on the matter to be determined.)

The Planning Team Leader:

a)    reported that planning permission was sought for the proposed conversion and extension of an existing restaurant at 18a High Street, Lincoln to form 1no. commercial/ retail unit at ground floor and 9 no. residential apartments (C3) with associated amenity space (Re-submission of Planning Application 2022/0762/FUL)

b)    described the location of the application site on the west side of High Street on the corner of High Street and Henley Street, occupied by a three storey building fronting High Street with a restaurant at ground floor, associated residential accommodation above and the site also included some garages to the rear accessed from Henley Street

c)    reported that the Golden Eagle Pub was located to the north and attached to the building at first/second floor with an arch at ground floor, which led into its car park to the rear with a grassed outdoor seating area/garden located beyond to the west

d)    advised that to the west of the application site were terraced properties on the north and south side of Henley Street, the site was situated within the St Catherine's Conservation Area No 4

e)    reported that the previous application had been recommended to grant by officers but was refused by Planning Committee 22nd March 2023, for reasons as set out within the officer’s report; the application had been revised and resubmitted to try and address the previous refusal reasons

f)     advised that the revisions included a reduction to the scheme from 10 apartments to 9, the reduction in apartments had meant that the remaining apartments now met space standards, also, all north facing windows had been altered to be obscured glazed in order to remove overlooking concerns raised in the previous refusal

g)    highlighted that the building fronting High Street would be extended upwards by raising the existing eaves and ridge height to provide accommodation within the roof space and a three storey extension would be added to the rear of the existing building to provide further residential accommodation

h)    reported that the application was brought to Planning Committee given the amount of objections received

i)     provided details of the policies pertaining to the application, as follows:

·         National Planning Policy Framework

·         Policy S1: The Spatial Strategy and Settlement Hierarchy

·         Policy S3: Housing in the Lincoln Urban Area, Main Towns and Market Towns

·         Policy S6: Design Principles for Efficient Buildings

·         Policy S12: Water Efficiency and Sustainable Water Management

·         Policy S13: Reducing Energy Consumption in Existing Buildings

·         Policy S47: Accessibility and Transport

·         Policy S53: Design and Amenity

·         Policy S57: The Historic Environment

·         Policy S58: Protecting Lincoln, Gainsborough and Sleaford's Setting and Character

·         Policy NS72: Lincoln Regeneration and Opportunity Areas

j)     outlined the responses made to the consultation exercise

k)    referred to the Update Sheet which included further information  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

(Councillor Mara re-joined his seat for the rest of the meeting.)

The Assistant Director of Planning:

a.    advised that planning permission was requested for a single storey rear extension at this semi-detached dwelling, 29 Severn Street, Lincoln to enable the reconfiguration of the internal arrangements of the existing accommodation and the provision of a ‘play room’

b.    detailed the location of the property on the south side of Carholme Road on a high density street, comprising traditional red brick, bay fronted, semi-detached and terraced 2 storey dwellings

c.    highlighted that the application property was located outside of the local West Parade and Brayford Conservation Area and within Flood Zone 2

d.    advised that the application was presented to Planning Committee as it had received more than four objections

e.    reported that no pre-application advice had been sought on the proposal

f.     reported on the planning history of the application property as detailed within the officer’s report, which permitted the property currently to be occupied as a C4 HMO for up to six individuals

g.    provided details of the policies pertaining to the application, as follows:

·         Policy S6: Design Principles for Efficient Buildings

·         Policy S53: Design and Amenity

·         National Planning Policy Framework

8. advised Planning Committee of the main issues to be considered as part of the application to assess the proposal with regards to:

9. outlined the responses made to the consultation exercise

10. referred to the Update Sheet which included further information received in relation to the planning application after the original agenda papers were published

11. concluded that the proposals would not have a detrimental impact on the residential amenities of neighbouring properties or the visual amenity of the wider area, in accordance with Policy S53 of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework.

The Committee discussed the content of the report in further detail.

Members asked whether the ground floor accommodation should be used for bedrooms being in Flood Zone 2.

The Assistant Director of Planning confirmed that the area was not as high a flood risk as Flood Zone 3 and therefore did not require floor levels to be elevated. Under its powers as a Local Planning Authority, use of the rooms could not be controlled, however would suggest informative guidance was for bedrooms not to be occupied at ground floor level.

A comment by one member suggested the application was spurious and that the intended use of the extension would not be as a playroom.

The Assistant Director of Planning offered the following points of clarification:

·         He accepted the comment made, however, it was not within the jurisdiction of the Planning Authority to stipulate that the space could only be used as a play room.

·         If the proposed use was to change in the future then separate planning permission would be required for permitted occupancy of more than six individuals living there.

RESOLVED that planning permission be granted, subject to the following  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.