Agenda item

Redevelopment for 48 Dwellinghouses & Village Hall including access improvements, parking & landscaping.

The meeting adjourned 10:40 – 10:45.

The Lead Project Officer presented the application and updated members that the wording had been altered in the report to provide flexibility for the applicant on the number of dwellings that they would be able to build and the Senior Tree Officer had changed their comment to no objection, subject to a legal agreement.

A location plan and aerial photograph were provided and the site constraints listed, including a Tree Protection Order. The Tree Officer had inspected the site and had no objections.

An indicative layout of the site was provided, showing the areas of housing and open space, as well as an exclusion zone to protect the trees on site. In the indicative plan there were several plots that incorporated protected trees, so an informative note was included to suggest that trees be excluded from private gardens at the Reserved Matters stage. The proposal also included a community hall for East Stoke, following the closure of the previous community hall in 2008.

The Transport Development Liaison Manager covered the highways aspects of the application. It was explained that the primary access would be to the west of the site and there would be an additional emergency access. Visibility splays had demonstrated that vehicles could access and leave the site safely, there would be some additional vehicle movements, however these were considered acceptable.

The Lead Project Officer explained that an attenuation basin was included in the proposal and details about foul drainage were to be set out in the section 106 legal agreement.

It was noted that the proposal was contrary to the Purbeck Local Plan as it was outside of a settlement boundary, however the Council’s housing land supply was set to fall below the necessary 5 years of supply in November and so significant weighting was given to the provision of housing. Officers also considered that the scheme made East Stoke a more sustainable location through the provision of a community hall.

The agent for the application, Mr Bennett, spoke in support of the application. He noted that the site was already in residential use and the proposal would include 19 affordable homes and a village hall, that would provide a community benefit.

Cllr Sowry-House read out a statement on behalf of the Ward Member, Cllr Wilson. He stated that he supported the application, however asked that the community hall be delivered at the earliest stage of development, in the interests of the local community.

In response to public speakers, the Lead Project Officer clarified that it was included in the S106 legal agreement, that the community hall be delivered before the housing.

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

·       Should the roads on the development remain with the developer then they would be advised to have a suitable speed limit for the roads.

·       The road outside of the development was 40-mph leading into a 50-mph zone.

·       The most important trees had been identified on the Tree Protection Plan and were protected through a TPO.

·       The Heathland Mitigation Officer had been consulted on the application and had worked with the applicant to address concerns.

·       People would be able to use the car park at the community hall and walk through a wooded area across the site to access the SANG.

·       The eastern entrance to the site would only be used for emergency access.

·       The total amount of affordable housing was compliant with policy at 40% and the affordable housing tenure mix was listed in the report.

·       A registered provider had not yet been confirmed.

·       The Enabling Officer had raised no objection on the basis of the affordable housing tenure mix and it was compliant with the Purbeck Local Plan.

·       Officers considered that an informative note and a condition served the same purpose at this stage of the development, in regard to excluding protected trees from private residential garden plots.

Having had the chance to debate the merits of the application, several members expressed support for the scheme. It was proposed by Cllr Brenton and seconded by Cllr Goringe, that the application be granted. Cllr Sowry-House, seconded by Cllr Hobbs-Chell, proposed a change to the S106 legal agreement heads of terms, to alter the affordable housing tenure mix, to change the number of socially rented tenure from 2 to 10, or a proportional split if fewer than 48 dwellings were built, with flexibility on the tenure of the remainder of the affordable housing. It was considered important that there should be more socially rented housing since this reflected the income levels of the area, in comparison to affordable rented housing, which was based on the market rate for the dwelling. Members considered that deviating from the Local Plan policy in this case was justified to reflect the income streams of the local rural population. The committee voted to agree to alter the proposal to include the change to the section 106 legal agreement.

Decision:

a.    That the application be granted subject to the conditions set out in the appendix to these minutes and the completion of a section 106 legal agreement, or

b.    refused if within six months from the day of the Committee the section 106 legal agreement is not completed.