Agenda item

The Planning Team Leader:

a.    described the location of the application site at the bottom of Saville Street adjacent to 22 Saville Street, a derelict and overgrown piece of land informally used for storage, bounded by a mixture of timber, herras and palisade fencing, accommodating a dilapidated 1½ storey warehouse and some garages, to be removed as part of the proposals

b.    confirmed the current access to the site, via Saville Street, located at the south east corner, which served as an informal turning area for residents of the street

c.    added that beyond the access the remainder of the south boundary of the site stepped out, which narrowed the end of Saville Street where it joined St. Catherines Court, having two bollards, one in the road and one in the footpath, to stop through vehicles

d.    reported that the Highways Authority had now agreed to take on free gift of the land the subject of the informal turning point from the applicant, which would be maintained by the Highways Authority as a turning point also funding the costs of the transfer and imposition of a Traffic Regulation Order at the end of the street

e.    reported further on the location of the site as follows:

·         The side gable of 22 Savile Street was situated on the side, east boundary of the site, the property had a single off-shoot to the rear with the adjacent yard enclosed by an approximately 1.8m high fence.

·         To the rear of this, along and adjacent to the remainder of the east boundary, were outbuildings within the ownership of neighbouring 20 Saville Street.

·         The rear boundary to the north formed the side boundary with 33 St. Catherines Court and the rear boundaries with 23 and 25 Stanley Street.

·         To the west of the site was an area of landscaping on St. Catherines Court.

f.     stated that the wider area was characterised by traditional two storey red brick terraces on Saville Street with two storey semi-detached and terraced properties on St. Catherines Court

g.    advised that planning permission was sought for the erection of a terrace of five, two storey dwellings facing south, the two bedroom properties would have the benefit of six off-street parking spaces to the front and gardens to the rear, and the proposed development would see the existing access from Saville Street closed off and access to the proposed car park taken from St. Catherines Court

h.    reported that the original proposal for five dwellings in sets of two and three units had been revised during the process of application in response to concerns from officers regarding design and impact on neighbouring properties and had also attempted to address objections from neighbours to the loss of the informal turning space at the bottom of Saville Street which current access to the site provided

i.      reported that the expiry of the re consultation process fell the day after this report was finalised and, at the time of writing, no additional objections or comments had been received, although any representations received in the intervening period would be included in full on the update sheet

j.      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 LP13: Accessibility and Transport

·         Policy LP26: Design and Amenity

·         National Planning Policy Framework      

k.    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, Parking and Highways

l.      outlined the responses made to the consultation exercise

m.  referred to the update sheet which contained a revised officer recommendation and an additional comment received from a member of the public

n.    concluded that :

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

·         The application was therefore be in accordance with the requirements of Central Lincolnshire Local Plan Policies LP1, LP2, LP13 and LP26, as well as guidance within the National Planning Policy Framework.

Members commented in relation to the proposed scheme as follows:

·         There had been initial concerns regarding residents’ comments however officers had worked with the applicant and the Highways Authority to alleviate concerns.

·         The development would improve a derelict area and provide affordable housing.

·         With an assurance of reasonable hours of working and the turning point being maintained at all times there were no other issues with the building.

·         This scheme encompassed good use of urban infilling with affordable housing provided on site.

·         This was a well worked out scheme. Officers had worked together with the developer and the Highways Authority to address problems along the way to help local residents.

·         One of the consultation responses referred to a petition which was not to be seen?

The Planning Team Leader offered the following points of clarification to members:

·         Members of the public submitting objections on line were able to self-identify their observations as a petition, but in this case there wasn’t one.

·         Officers had worked with the County Council and the applicant to enable land to be gifted to the Highways Authority to help local residents.

RESOLVED that planning permission be granted subject to the following conditions:

• Time limit of the permission
• Development in accordance with approved plans
• Contamination assessment and remediation
• Material samples, including hard surfacing
• Landscaping scheme
• Electric vehicle recharge points
• Development in accordance with approved Construction Management Plan
• Development in accordance with boundary details
• Development in accordance with submitted finished floor levels
• Kerbs to St. Catherines Court replaced with flush kerbs/blocks
• Obscure glazing to first floor, east facing windows
• Land adjacent to Saville Street to remain open and clear of obstructions
• Construction of the development (delivery times and working hours)
• All windows and doors set in reveal
• Construction of site – turning head not restricted during construction of site.