Agenda item

Outline Application

Develop land by the erection of 83 dwellings (48 houses and 35 apartments), new and refurbished commercial floor space, associated car parking and new vehicular and pedestrian accesses following demolition of some commercial units. Make repairs to flood wall immediately west of 'Tower Building'. Appearance and landscaping reserved for further approval. (Further revised scheme).

Attached to this report are:

Appendix 1 – 15 June 2023 Committee Report

Appendix 2 – 06 July 2017 Committee Report

Appendix 3 – 15 June 2023 Committee Update Sheet

The Development Management Area Manager provided members with the following update, which related to all applications on the agenda:

• The revised NPPF was set to be published on the day of the meeting, so the recommendation for each application was adjusted to allow the application to be determined under delegated powers, so that if there were any relevant changes in the NPPF, the application could be brought back to the Western and Southern Area Planning Committee and if there weren’t any relevant changes agreement could be sought from the chair and the application determined by the Head of Planning or Service Manager for Development Management and Enforcement.

With the aid of a visual presentation including plans and aerial photographs, the Lead Project Officer identified the site and explained the proposal and relevant planning policies to members. It was explained that the application was returning to the committee for determination following suggested changes to planning conditions in light of information published this year by the Council in respect of flood risk.

The location of the application site was shown to members and nearby listed buildings and non-designated heritage assets were outlined. Photographs of the site and surrounding area were also provided, to give members an indication of the current condition of the site. The Lead Project Officer detailed the proposal, which included the demolition of buildings on the site and the construction of new buildings for commercial and residential use.

The key planning issues were summarised for members and the Lead Project Officer explained that the applicant had submitted a flood risk assessment to ensure the buildings would be safe for their lifetime and several of the changed planning conditions related to the flood risk assessment. The planning conditions were shown and the changes to the previously approved application were highlighted.

There were no public speakers.

In response to questions from members the Lead Project Officer provided the following responses:

• There was not currently a named provider for the affordable housing.
• A reduced affordable housing contribution of 15% had been agreed following a viability assessment that had identified some abnormal costs on the site.
• It had been negotiated with the applicant, to provide a higher number of affordable homes in a substandard distribution, resulting in 14 affordable homes being located in the same part of the site. 
• Two non-designated heritage assets within the site were set to be demolished and a balancing exercise was carried out, which concluded that the loss of the non-designated heritage assets was acceptable given the benefits of the proposal.

Proposed by Cllr O’Leary and seconded by Cllr Wheller.

Decision:

A: That authority be delegated to the Head of Planning and the Service Manager for Development Management and Enforcement to grant subject to the completion of a S106 Legal Agreement with the following heads of terms:

1)     14 affordable dwellings (a minimum of 70% social / affordable rent and a maximum of 30% intermediate affordable housing) to be provided in accordance with an agreed Affordable Housing Scheme with the phasing of 1/D/11/002012 and WD/D/16/002852 interlinked via a phasing plan in the Section 106 Agreement based broadly on Phasing Plan Ref. SM1 Rev A received April 2023 and Phasing Breakdown dated June 2022;

2)    Agreement and subsequent implementation of an “Employment Buildings Refurbishment Scheme”, (based broadly upon Appendix C Regeneration of Commercial Estate of the Design and Access Statement submitted in support of the application) with the phasing of 1/D/11/002012 and WD/D/16/002852 interlinked via a phasing plan in the Section 106 Agreement based broadly on Phasing Plan Ref. SM1 Rev A received April 2023 and Phasing Breakdown dated June 2022;

And subject to planning conditions set out in the appendix to these minutes and if the revised NPPF has been published prior to the issuing of the planning decision not to issue the planning decision unless and until officers have agreed with the chair of the Western and Southern Area Planning Committee that there are no changes in the revised NPPF which could have led to members reaching a materially different conclusion on the application.

B: That authority be delegated to the Head of Planning and the Service Manager for Development Management and Enforcement to refuse planning permission for the reasons set out below if the S106 Legal Agreement is not completed by 12 June 2025 (6 months from the date of committee) or such extended time as agreed by the Head of Planning and the Service Manager for Development Management and Enforcement:

1)    In the absence of a satisfactory completed legal agreement to secure affordable housing and an employment buildings refurbishment scheme, the development would be contrary to Policies HOUS1 and BRID5 of the West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland Local Plan (2015) and Policies H1, H2 and COB4 of the Bridport Neighbourhood Plan.