Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence

An apology for absence was received from Cllr Bill Pipe.

Cllr John Worth advised that he would be arriving late to the meeting.

Proposed by Cllr David Shortell, seconded by Cllr Susan Cocking.

Resolved: That Cllr Louie O’Leary be elected Vice-Chairman for the meeting.

To disclose any pecuniary, other registerable or non-registrable interest as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct. In making their disclosure councillors are asked to state the agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as part of their declaration.

If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

Cllr Paul Kimber declared that he had predetermined Application WP/18/00662/FUL - Land Off Verne Common Road and Ventnor Road, Portland as he had spoken in objection to the application when considered by the committee at a previous meeting, at a time when he was not a member of the committee.  He would speak only as the Ward Member and not take part in the debate or vote on this application.

Cllr Susan Cocking declared an interest in Application WP/18/00662/FUL - Land Off Verne Common Road and Ventnor Road, Portland as she had worked with the applicant as lead councillor on a Portland Town Council building project and also knew the applicant personally.  She advised that she would not take part in the debate or vote on this application.

To receive questions or statements on the business of the committee from town and parish councils and members of the public.

Public speaking has been suspended for virtual committee meetings during the Covid-19 crisis and public participation will be dealt with through written submissions only.

Members of the public who live, work or represent an organisation within the Dorset Council area, may submit up to two questions or a statement of up to a maximum of 450 words.  All submissions must be sent electronically to denise.hunt@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by the deadline set out below.  When submitting a question please indicate who the question is for and include your name, address and contact details.  Questions and statements received in line with the council’s rules for public participation will be published as a supplement to the agenda.

Questions will be read out by an officer of the council and a response given by the appropriate Portfolio Holder or officer at the meeting.  All questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting.  The deadline for submission of the full text of a question or statement is 8.30am on Tuesday 28 September 2021.

Representations by the public to the Committee on individual planning applications are detailed below. There were no questions, petitions or deputations received on other items on this occasion.

To consider the applications listed below for planning permission.

Members considered written reports submitted on planning applications as set out below.

Develop vacant land by the demolition of garage, formation of vehicular

access, erection of 25 dwellings & associated landscaping.

Cllr Susan Cocking and Cllr Paul Kimber did not take part in the debate or vote on this item.

Cllr John Worth joined the meeting part-way through consideration of this application and did not take part in the debate or vote on this application.

The Committee considered an application to develop vacant land by the demolition of garage, formation of a vehicular access, the erection of 25 dwellings and associated landscaping.

The Senior Planning Officer presented the application, explaining that following approval by the committee in February 2020, a decision had not yet been issued due to negotiations in relation to the affordable housing element of the Section 106 Agreement.  The Portland Neighbourhood Plan (2017-2031) had been adopted in the intervening period which was a material consideration, however, its policies did not include housing allocation.

The Committee was shown a location plan, aerial photo, photos of the site, proposed site plan, elevation plans, and sections.

Following the presentation, the Technical Support Officer read out some of the public written submissions received in accordance with the protocol for public speaking. The written submissions are attached as an appendix to the minutes of this meeting.

Cllr Paul Kimber addressed the Committee as the Ward Member, speaking against the application in relation to the loss of green open space and wildlife habitat, increased traffic on Verne Common Road and overdevelopment. 

The Senior Planning Officer responded to technical points made during the public participation.

In response to technical questions put by members, the committee was advised that the site had been designated in the Portland Neighbourhood Plan as incidental open space and it was for the committee to decide what weight was given to amenity and the planning balance in light of this.

Members were informed that paragraph 14 of the NPPF did not apply as the Council could not demonstrate a 5 year housing land supply, therefore paragraph 11d of the NPPF was relevant in the consideration of this application.

The Committee had concerns about this development and debated issues including the relevance of the newly adopted Portland Neighbourhood Plan,  the location of the site outside the defined development boundary, lack of services & facilities on the island; the loss of valuable open space for residents and visitors; the low number of affordable homes and road safety.  In particular, it was noted that Portland Town Council had not commented on this application.

Proposed by Cllr David Bolwell, seconded by Cllr David Shortell.

The Committee was minded to grant the application, subject to planning conditions and the completion of a legal agreement.

The Service Manager for Development Management and Enforcement having considered the representations and the officer’s presentation and having taken into account the views of the committee made the following decision under delegated authority.

Decision of the Service Manager: That the application be approved subject to the conditions outlined in the appendix to these minutes; and the completion of a legal agreement under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

Erection of 4 dwellings.

The Committee considered an application for the erection of 4 dwellings on a site within the Southwell area of Portland.

Members were shown a presentation including an aerial photo, photos of the application site (showing groundworks previously completed to allow for a previously consented scheme for 2 houses), site plan and street scene elevations.

The main issues were highlighted including:-

·        Principle of development –within DDB; extant consent on the site for residential development (2 units); presumption in favour of sustainable development.

·        Scale, design and impact on character and appearance – scale and design similar to the neighbouring properties fronting Rip Croft; Scheme amended to avoid over dominance in the street scene; density in line with area; smaller dwellings supported in Neighbourhood Plan (policy PORT/HS1 Housing Mix)

·        Amenity – dwellings meet national space standards; adequate external amenity space provided; scheme would avoid overlooking and overbearing or loss of light to neighbours

·        Access and parking – off street for all units; no highways objection; private gardens would allow for cycle parking

Following the presentation, the Technical Support Officer read out a statement submitted by the Agent which is attached as an appendix to these minutes.

In response to Members’ concerns about the relatively small size of the houses and amenity space, the Senior Planning Officer advised that each property would have a private garden with a secondary access that was considered to be appropriate for the size of the dwellings.  He confirmed that the size of the homes was close to minimum national space standards; that there would be no impact on the amenity of neighbouring properties and that the land originally had no formal status other than incidental green space.

Whilst some members remained concerned that this was overdevelopment of the site, other members considered that smaller homes were need for starter homes or people wishing to downsize and was a good use of the land.

Proposed by Cllr Nick Ireland, seconded by Cllr Dave Bolwell.

The Committee was minded to grant the application, subject to planning conditions.

The Service Manager for Development Management and Enforcement, having considered the representations and the officer’s presentation and having taken into account the views of the committee, made the following decision under delegated authority.

Decision of the Service Manager: That the application be approved subject to the conditions outlined in the appendix to these minutes.

Temporary demolition and reinstatement of a section of the existing front wall to widen entrance. Carry out repairs to wall.

The Committee considered an application for the temporary demolition and reinstatement of a section of the existing front wall to widen the entrance and to carry out repairs to a wall.

The Senior Planning Officer presented the application, explaining that the application would widen the access for vehicles during construction of a children’s home.  The wall and entrance gates would be reinstated following construction.

The following Main issues were highlighted:-

·       Conservation and heritage – rebuilding of wall with retained materials will avoid harm to the Conservation Area. 

·       Highways – recommended condition is already addressed through the wider scheme

·       Trees and landscaping – loss of 1 category C tree (low quality) replacement planting secured through extant consent on the site.

Proposed by Cllr Sarah Williams, seconded by Cllr Louie O’Leary.

The Committee was minded to grant the application, subject to planning conditions.

The Service Manager for Development Management and Enforcement having considered the officer’s presentation and having taken into account the views of the committee made the following decision under delegated authority.

Decision of the Service Manager: That the application be approved subject to the conditions outlined in the appendix to these minutes.

Erection of 8 dwellings following approval of Permission in Principle application no WP/19/00162/PIP.

The Committee considered an application for the erection of 8 dwellings following approval of Permission in Principle application no: WP/19/00162/PIP.

The Senior Planning Officer provided some background to Permission in Principle (PIP) applications that must commence within 3 years of the date of approval. 

This application was for technical details following approval of a PIP in September 2019 for up to 8 dwellings on this site, therefore the principle of dwellings on this site had been approved.

The Committee was given a presentation that included a location plan, aerial photo, site layout, elevations / floor plans, a site plan with the footpath extension.

The site consisted of 2 detached bungalows and 6 (3) bed semi-detached houses, each with a car parking space and 4 visitor parking spaces.  The garden spaces were commensurate with nearby dwellings.

She advised that this site had been included as employment land in the recently adopted Portland Neighbourhood Plan, however this plan had not been adopted at the time the PIP was granted and the site was outside of ECON2 in the adopted Local Plan.

The main issues were highlighted:-

·       PIP for 8 dwellings granted in 2019

·       Design and materials appropriate for location

·       Provides a mix of house types including lifetime homes

·       No harm to neighbouring amenity

·       No highways objections

·       Not ECON2 in Local Plan

·       Additional footpath at applicant’s expense

·       Section 106 will need amending in future, can be achieved outside of this planning application.

The Technical Support Officer read out the public written submissions which are attached as an appendix to the minutes of this meeting,

The Senior Planning Officer responded to technical questions arising from the public participation and by members of the committee.

Members were reminded that condition 4 had been amended, details of which were contained in the update sheet circulated to members prior to the meeting.

Proposed by Cllr Nick Ireland, seconded by Cllr Louie O’Leary.

The Committee was minded to grant the application, subject to planning conditions and condition 4 as amended in the update sheet.

The Service Manager for Development Management and Enforcement having considered the representations and the officer’s presentation and having taken into account the views of the committee made the following decision under delegated authority.

Decision of the Service Manager: That the application be approved subject to the conditions (including amended condition 4) outlined in the appendix to these minutes.

A vote to continue the meeting was taken in accordance with Part 2,

Paragraph 8.1 of the Council's Constitution.

Decision: That the meeting be extended to allow the business

of the meeting to be continued from 2.00pm.

Reconfiguration of station forecourt including alteration to access and parking
arrangements, formation of new vehicular exit and public realm works together with formation of pocket park linking King Street and Jubilee Retail Park.

The Committee considered an application concerning the reconfiguration of the station forecourt, including alteration to access and parking arrangements, formation of new vehicular exit and public realm works together with formation of pocket park linking King Street and Jubilee Retail Park.

A number of plans and photographs were presented by the Lead Project Officer in addition to an update concerning a representation that was circulated to the Committee prior to the meeting.

Cllr Jon Orrell, Dorset Council – Melcombe Regis, addressed the committee stating that he viewed the scheme as a first stage in order to capture the funding opportunity.  It did not represent the transport interchange that had been envisaged and he asked whether it could be designed in such a way that it could be easily upgraded, including strengthening of the junction to accommodate buses. He commended the pocket park as this would be an enhancement to the improvement programme at Radipole Park and due to its safe integration with the cycle network.

The Lead Project Officer responded to technical questions arising from members. It was confirmed that the traffic flow through the site would remain unaltered as a result of the proposal and that overall parking spaces would be increased from 51 to 52. 

Members were mindful of the climate emergency and expressed disappointment in the lost opportunity for a comprehensive transport hub as well as the ability to incorporate elements that could be easily upgraded in future.

Members were also disappointed that the proposal only included one dedicated bus stop within the site as well as the lack of conditions in relation to cycle storage, given that opportunities to take bicycles on a train were very limited.

It was, however, acknowledged that the proposal would be an enhancement of the site that came with a funding opportunity and members were very supportive of the proposal in relation to the nearby pocket park.

Some suggestions to conditions were made to improve the scheme, however, the committee was advised that these could only be imposed if they were necessary to make the scheme acceptable and that the application should be judged on its planning merits.

Proposed by Cllr John Worth, seconded by Cllr Louie O’Leary.

The Committee was minded to grant the application, subject to planning conditions.

The Service Manager for Development Management and Enforcement having considered the representations and the officer’s presentation and having taken into account the views of the committee made the following decision under delegated authority.

Decision of the Service Manager: That the application be approved subject to the conditions outlined in the appendix to these minutes.

To consider a report concerning a Traffic Regulation Order.

This item was deferred.

To consider any items of business which the Chairman has had prior notification and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972

The reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes.

There were no urgent items.

To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 3 of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered.

There was no exempt business.