Agenda item

(Councillor Bushell left the room for the discussion of this item, having made a Declaration of Predetermination with regard to the agenda item to be discussed. He took no part in the vote on the matter to be determined.)

The Planning Team Leader:

a.    described the application property, Markham House, 73-75 Swift Gardens, a two storey building formerly occupied by St. Giles Matters as community use, although currently vacant

b.    reported that an existing vehicular access from Swift Gardens to the south side of the building provided access to a car park at the rear

c.    added that 71 Swift Gardens was adjacent to this access accommodating flats, with 77A, B, C and D Swift Gardens beyond the opposite side boundary to the north and the car park of the Myle Cross Centre directly to the rear of the site

d.    highlighted that the wider area was predominantly characterised by a mix of two storey semis and terraces, with parking both on and off street

e.    reported that planning permission was sought for demolition of the existing building and the erection of a terrace of five, two storey dwellings with the benefit of an off-street parking space to the front and gardens to the rear

f.     confirmed that the City of Lincoln Council was the applicant for this scheme which proposed to provide affordable housing

g.    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 LP15: Community Facilities

·         Policy LP26: Design and Amenity

·         National Planning Policy Framework      

h.    outlined the responses made to the consultation exercise

i.      referred to the update sheet which included a response from the City Council’s Arboricultural Officer identifying that:

·         The submitted tree report was comprehensive with controls to mitigate possible damage to retained trees, conditioned as part of any consent.

·         Proposed pruning to T5, the tree to the front of the site within the highway would require consent from Lincolnshire County Council

j.      advised members of the main issues to be considered as part of the application to assess the proposal with regard to:

·         Principle of use

·         Visual amenity

·         Residential amenity

·         Access and highways

·         Trees

k.    concluded that:

·         The applicant had provided an appropriate case to sufficiently justify the loss of the community use and the principle of the use of the site for residential purposes was considered to be acceptable in this location.

·         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 highways and contamination were to the satisfaction of the relevant consultees and could be dealt with appropriately by condition.

·         The application would therefore be in accordance with the requirements of Central Lincolnshire Local Plan Policies LP1, LP2, LP15 and LP26, as well as guidance within the National Planning Policy Framework.

Members discussed the content of the report in further detail, asking why the plans for the proposed building height had been altered from the original height of 3 storey to two.

The Planning Team Leader confirmed that the change to the height of the buildings had been made by the applicant and not suggested by planning officers, although the change had been accepted.

RESOLVED that subject to the Tree Report being to the satisfaction of the City and County Council Arboricultural Officers, the application be granted subject to the following conditions:

• Time limit of the permission
• Development in accordance with approved plans
• Contamination
• Land levels
• Material samples
• Boundary details
• Landscaping scheme
• Electric vehicle recharge points
• Construction of the development (delivery times and working hours)
• Tree protection measures.