Agenda item

Retain change of use from Club parking to Cafe' area, placing of a steel box container and fencing.

Cllr Clayton returned to the Council Chamber.

This application had been brought to committee as Dorset Council was the freehold owner of the site.

The Senior Planning Officer presented the retrospective application to retain a change of use from Club parking to Café area, placing of a steel box container and fencing.

Members were shown the site location via a map and ariel image, indicating the sites boundaries, the surrounding area and the part of the site relevant to the application. These images showed the current usage of the site as a café, which consisted of a steel box container, surrounding fencing and hard standing surface with picnic benches.

The Senior Planning Officer provided a detailed image displaying the front, rear and side views and elevation of the steel box container and fencing. As well as an interior view of the steel box container.

The main issues of development were:

·       The character and appearance of the development, which was considered limited, due to the modest scale of the structure and fencing and the fact that they are made with natural materials and are not permanent structures, so can be removed easily if necessary.

·       The impact on amenity was considered low – although there had been objections from local residents regarding noise and odour, it was not considered that this development created any additional noise to the rugby club and only limited cooking of food was observed during a site visit.

·       There was no impact on access and parking, due to there being sufficient parking at the rugby club already and due to the fact that the portion of the carpark used for the site was overgrown and unused as parking before the development was erected.

·       The applicant had provided a Flood Risk Assessment as small portions of the site were in Flood Risk Zone 2 & 3.

Oral representation in opposition to the application was received from Mr Robert Smith, Ms Linda Skelton and Mrs Anne Hall.

They had no objection to the existence of the café in principle, however the orientation and location provided significant disruption to the enjoyment of their properties and affected their privacy and the lack of additional toilet facilities also posed a concern.

In response to questions from members the Senior Planning Officer confirmed that the rugby club’s toilet facilities were not available to users of the café and there were no other toilet facilities on site, as such the only drainage required was from the sink in use in the kiosk.

Several members expressed concerns over the application, in particular due to the harm that has been caused to local residents in regard to intrusive noise, odour and lack of toilet facilities on the site.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:16 in order for the planning officers to provide suitable wording for the committee proposal put forward. It reconvened at 12:25.

Proposed by Cllr Worth and seconded by Cllr Kimber.

Decision: That permission be refused for the reasons outlined in the appendix to these minutes.

Cllrs Dunseith and Bolwell left the meeting at 12:28.