Address:       Land off St Andrews Way, Langford (nearest postcode

SG18 9QL)

Outline Application for a residential development of up to 32 new homes (all matters reserved except access).

Applicant:     Warden Developments Ltd

The Committee had before it a report regarding planning Application No. CB/18/00432/OUT, an outline application for residential development of up to 32 new homes (all matters reserved except access) at Land off St Andrews Way, Langford. Nearest Postcode: SG18 9QL.

In advance of consideration of the application the Committees attention was drawn to additional consultation/publicity responses and additional comments as set out in the Late Sheet.

In advance of consideration of the application the Committee received representations from Langford Parish Council and an objector under the public participation scheme.

In response to the Parish Councils concerns a Member asked for clarification on reported objections to the application from the Fire Brigade, after discussion it was noted that the comments were not related to the application and related to another matter.

A Member asked for clarification around reported pre-application advice given from Central Bedfordshire Council on previous applications. As the date of this advice was not available and in the past, the Member was advised that the comments must be disregarded.

A Member responded to a request from the Parish Council to be included in S106 consultations, it was noted that the Planning Officer had received a response from the Parish Council and included it within the report. He noted that the Parish Council made no request for provisions within its response. He continued to advise the Parish Council that any suggestions put forward would be taken into consideration when making the S106 agreements. The Parish Council responded that it had engaged with the S106 process for many years, had made suggestions and notified Officers of the lack of facilities within the village. The Member responded that he would ask an Officer to investigate this and respond to the Parish Council directly.

The Chairman commented on concerns raised by an objector. He stated that the value of existing properties and the temporary disruption caused by construction noise and dust cannot be taken into consideration when considering an application.

A Member clarified to the objector that although the layout would not be taken into account when considering the outline application, if Members were minded to approve the application her comments would have been taken on board by Officers to be addressed at the Reserved Matters application.

The Planning Officer responded to concerns raised by the public speakers with the following:

·         It was accepted that there had been substantial growth within Langford in recent years but the Committee must only consider the impact of the application before it.

·         Various agencies and Central Bedfordshire’s own SUDS team had been consulted and no concerns were raised with regard to infrastructure.

·         Health Services had been contacted to confirm if they sought contributions to offset the new infrastructure burden but they had not provided a sufficient response and they had not identified specific projects.

·         Central Bedfordshire Highways had returned no objections to proposed access.

·         In relation to the pre application advice mentioned by the Parish Council, the Officer believed that related to advice given in 2016, however this related to a larger scheme and as such could not be taken into consideration when looking at this application.

·         With regard to concerns about urbanisation of open countryside, it was stated that the development would be well contained, would join two sides of built form although separated by a parcel of land, it would be well shielded and that shielding could be strengthened through landscaping in Reserve Matters. It was also noted that Landscaping Officers had no objections to the application.

·         It was noted that Reserve Matters application would provide detail of house types, form and layout at which point the concerns relating to overlooking of bungalows and existing properties could be taken into consideration. The points raised would be taken into account.

The Highways officer responded to concerns raised by the public speakers with the following:

·         He stated that East Road is capable of accommodating the extra 32 dwellings.

·         The applicant did provide a transport statement which indicated there would be an extra 12 to 13 vehicle movements in the morning equating to one every five minutes which was not seen as overly onerous and would fall in line with the NPPF.

·         St Andrews Way towards the site was also considered adequate and the link into the new development would provide a priority junction which would slow traffic.

·         Traffic increase on Church Street was not seen as being onerous.

A Member asked for clarity around access, after discussion about the boundary of the site, it was confirmed by the Planning Officer that the applicant owned the strip of land that allows access.

A Member raised that there was an objection from the Local Plan Department based upon the site not being allocated in the Local Plan. He asked on what grounds was the site not allocated to  the Local Plan. The Planning Officer responded that other sites were considered more suitable alternatives for inclusion and no other specific reasons were given. The Chairman noted that given the quantum of the allocated sites within the Local Plan, the Council would be reliant on windfall sites to fulfil the five year land supply. It was noted that the Local Plan carries little weight as it has not yet been considered by an inspector and the fact that a site has not been included in the Local Plan carries no weight. The judgement should be made on the information contained in the application as opposed to a high level view of sites or comparisons to other sites.

A Member stated that better guidance should be given to on how to determine any application sites not included in the Local Plan. She noted that there may be a presentation and perception issue with these applications. She asked for the officers to include a paragraph within their future reports as to why sites were not allocated within the Local Plan. The Chairman agreed that would be helpful and asked Officers to take that on board.

A Member raised concerns stated by the Public Speakers regarding S106 contributions, a Member reiterated his earlier point that Officers will be looking into Langford Parish Councils previous S106 representations and their Community Plans. The Chairman noted that as the application was outline, the quantum of the S106 contributions could not be determined. A Member drew the Committees attention to Paragraph 5.1 of the report which detailed that contributions to Community Buildings and Education have been agreed with the applicant.

(Note: Councillor Spurr left the meeting at this point 12:15)

On being put to the vote 6 Members voted for approval, 3 voted against and 3 abstained.

RESOLVED

That Planning Application No. CB/18/00432/OUT relating to an outline application for residential development of up to 32 new homes (all matters reserved except access) at Land off St Andrews Way, Langford. Nearest Postcode: SG18 9QL, be approved as set out in the Schedule attached to these Minutes.