Agenda item

The Planning Manager:

a.    described the application site situated on land formerly occupied by the Boultham Dairy (now demolished) located on the south east corner of the junction of Dixon Street and Boultham Park Road

b.    reported that the site formed part of a scheme which was approved under a hybrid permission (2011/0860/F) and included full planning permission for a food store with access and car parking together with outline permission for a mosque, both of which had now been built on site, and outline permission for the erection of dwellings

c.    advised that planning permission was now sought for the erection of 36 affordable dwellings, 18 two bed and 18 three bed with a split of shared ownership and social rented properties (19 shared ownership and 17 affordable rent)

d.    reported on the site history relevant to the planning application site as detailed within the officer’s report

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

·         Policy LP1: A Presumption in Favour of Sustainable Development

·         Policy LP2: The Spatial Strategy and Settlement Hierarchy

·         Policy LP10: Meeting Accommodation Needs

·         Policy LP11: Affordable Housing

·         Policy LP13: Accessibility and Transport

·         Policy LP14: Managing Water Resources and Flood Risk

·         Policy LP26: Design and Amenity

·         National Planning Policy Framework      

6. outlined the responses made to the consultation exercise

7. referred to the update sheet which contained an amendment to the proposed recommendation to include an additional condition relating to the removal of Permitted Development for plots 1-6

8. advised members of the main issues relevant to the consideration of the application are as follows:

·         Impact on residential amenity

·         Principle of the use

·         Impact on visual amenity

·         Flood risk and surface water drainage

·         Impact on highway safety

·         Contributions

·         Contaminated land and other matters

9. concluded that:

·         The principle of the use of the site for residential purposes was considered to be acceptable and the development would relate well to the site and surroundings, particularly in relation to siting, height, scale, massing and design.

·         The proposals would also not cause undue harm to the amenities which occupiers of neighbouring properties may reasonably expect to enjoy.

·         Matters relating to contamination and flood risk could be dealt with appropriately by condition.

·         Subject to Anglian Water not raising any issues regarding surface water drainage the proposal would therefore be in accordance with the requirements of Central Lincolnshire Local Plan Policies LP1, LP2, LP10, LP11, LP13 and LP26, as well as guidance within the National Planning Policy Framework.

Members discussed the content of the report in further detail, raising support in general to the scheme. The following concerns were highlighted:

·         Did the section 106 legal agreement to cover playing field, play space and amenity space include play equipment?

·         Would the highway be adopted or maintained by the developer?

·         Who would maintain the green space adjacent to the pumping station?

·         How would the flood risk in this area be managed?

·         Could members be given reassurance as to what affordable housing meant in this instance?

·         Was Lincolnshire County Council consulted in respect of schooling provision in the area?

·         How did we ensure the properties were used as affordable homes rather than controlled by landlords?

Kieron Manning, Planning Manager, offered the following points of clarification:

·         S106 contributions to the scheme would be used for delivery of local green infrastructure in the locality. Pooling restrictions permitted a maximum of five contributors to each S106 scheme. No one scheme would be capable of providing a single answer in supporting S106 infrastructure requirements other than a massive scheme.

·         Access roads within the development would be fully adopted by the Highways Authority.

·         The green area to the front of the site would be accessible and act as additional drainage if required.

·         The area was at risk of flooding in theory. Lincolnshire County Council as lead Flood Authority had raised no objections to the proposal in terms of flood risk. A Flood Risk Assessment had been submitted and approved by the Environment Agency subject to flood risk mitigation measures. A minimum floor level of 6 metres would be provided with no habitable rooms on the ground floor to the west of the site where it was not practicable to raise the levels. This strategy was agreed at Outline planning permission stage.

·         The land level on the adjoining land was higher.

·         Anglian Water Authority were happy to accept foul water drainage from the scheme.

·         A surface drainage scheme had been submitted which showed that there would be no increase in flood risk to neighbouring properties.

·         Affordable housing was proposed here either social rent, shared ownership or affordable rent.

·         Lincolnshire County Council as statutory consultee for the Education Authority had assessed the impact from the development in terms of school places and was satisfied that the size/type of the proposed housing could be catered for within existing local schools.

RESOLVED that:

Planning permission be granted conditionally following the signing of the s106 legal agreement and subject to the conditions listed below,

• Removal of permitted development for plots 1-6
• Time limit of the permission;
• Development in accordance with approved plans;
• Contamination;
• Dust management plan;
• Samples of materials;
• Details and implementation of electric vehicle recharging points
• Implementation of Flood Risk Assessment;
• Implementation of landscaping;
• Implementation of tree protection
• Construction of the development (delivery times and working hours); and
• Roads and footways to be constructed to an adoptable standard