To consider a report by the Head of Planning.
Minutes:
The Committee considered application
3/21/0668/FUL, designed to extend the existing single storey building and
change use to that of hand car wash facility at land at rear of 5 High Street
(High Street Car
Park) Wimborne Minster. The town did
not currently have such a car wash within its vicinity.
With the aid of a visual presentation, and taking account the detail in the report, officers provided context of what the main proposals, principles and planning issues of the development were. The presentation focused on not only what the development entailed and its detailed design, but what effect it would have on local amenity and the character the area, taking into account the policies against which this application was being assessed.
Plans and photographs provided an illustration of the location, orientation,
dimensions and appearance of the facility;
access and highway arrangements; what screening there would be and the
development’s setting within that part of Wimborne Minster town centre.
Officers
showed the development’s relationship with other adjacent development in the town centre – that lay
within the Conservation
Area of Wimborne and Colehill.
High Street Car Park - in which the facility would be sited - was
located to the rear of the eastern side of Wimborne High Street, being accessed
by a narrow lane which passed between No 5 and No 7 High Street. Views into the site and around the site was shown,
which provided a satisfactory understanding of all that was necessary. Four parking spaces would be lost as a
result of the proposal.
In summary, the officer’s assessment considered the acceptability of the proposal in relation to the Development Plan on the basis that:-
· on balance the principle of the development is considered to be in accordance with saved policy WIMCO23 which provides that the High Street Car Park shall be used for car parking.
· The proposed hand car wash will not have a significant impact on Highway Safety.
· The proposal will not harm the historic significance of Wimborne Conservation Area.
· The proposal will not cause significant harm to the amenity of neighbouring development in terms of noise and disturbance.
· There are no material considerations which would warrant refusal of this application
For these
reasons the proposed development was considered to be
acceptable and in accordance with the development plan and so this formed the basis of the recommendation being
made by officers to approve the application.
The Committee
were notified of written submissions and officers read these direct to the
Committee – being appended to these minutes. Having heard what was said,
officers responded to some of the pertinent issues raised, being confident that
each one could be addressed by the provisions of the application.
Formal
consultation had seen no objection in principle from Wimborne Minster Town
Council although some concerns remained about access issues and, particularly,
that Dorset Council Highways had raised no objection to the proposal
The
opportunity was then given for members to ask questions of the presentation and
what they had heard, in seeking clarification of aspects so
as to have a
better understanding in coming to a decision.
Some important
points raised, some of which they considered still required clarification, were:-
• how access
arrangements and traffic flows would be managed and what effect there would be
on the highway network, the car park and the access
lane itself and how this had been assessed
• how surface
water and drainage issues would be satisfactorily managed, particularly as the site
was in close proximity to the River Allen
· how the constraints of the site could be managed and how manoeuvring of vehicles could be satisfactorily managed to ensure that congestion was kept to a minimum or, ideally, avoided altogether.
· what considerations had been given to the effect this would have on the Wimborne Conservation Area.
Officers
addressed the questions raised – and what clarification was needed - providing
what they considered to be satisfactory answers, which the Committee understood
to be, and saw, as generally acceptable.
Of importance
was that officers considered that the assessment made by the Highways Officer
that the highway and traffic management issues could be successfully
accommodated as part of the development should be reassuring to Members and
that, to improve access arrangements, provision would be made to install a
mirror to assist motorists at the ‘dog-leg’ approach to the facility to better
anticipate incoming and outgoing vehicles.
Officers were confident that regarding those issues and concerns raised by Members, the application of the conditions and informative notes to any grant of permission would satisfactorily address all of those issues.
One of the two
local ward Members, Councillor Shane Bartlett, considered that the proposal
would have a detrimental effect on the conservation area and its appearance.
Along with the concerns about access and site constraints, he felt unable to
support the application.
From debate, the majority of the Committee considered that what was being
proposed was contrived and expressed concern at the access arrangements,
considering these to be inadequate for what was necessary to be able to operate
the facility satisfactorily. Concern was also raised that the constraints of the
site would not provide for the necessary safe or practical manoeuvring of
vehicles that would be required to access the facility, with the probability of
significant congestion from queuing and manoeuvring vehicles at that point.
Members also felt that those arrangements could seriously compromise safety of
pedestrians, given that the car park was a well-used pedestrian route across
town. On that basis, whilst they saw the benefits of such a facility within the
town, they considered the proposal, as it stood, to be unacceptable.
Having had the
opportunity to discuss the merits of the application and an
understanding
of all this entailed; having taken into account the
officer’s report
and
presentation; the written representations; and what they had heard at the
meeting, in
being proposed by Councillor Shane Bartlett and seconded by
Councillor
Robin Cook, on being put to the vote, the Committee agreed unanimously - by 9:0
- to be minded to refuse permission.
The Head of Planning, 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.
That the application be refused for the following reasons:-
·
The site is too constrained for the
proposed development to function well and without conflict with the existing
use of the site as a car park. As a consequence
the development would fail to function well or add to the overall quality of
the area contrary to paragraph 130 of the National Planning Policy Framework
2021.
·
The proposal would lead to the loss
of parking spaces contrary to saved policy WIMCO23 of the East Dorset Local
Plan 2002.
·
The proposal fails to demonstrate
that it would not lead to a significant increase in vehicular traffic entering
the site, increasing the risk to the safety of vehicles and pedestrians passing
through the site and past the junction of the site access with the High
Street. As such the proposal is contrary to Policy KS11 of the
Christchurch and East Dorset Local Plan 2014.
·
The vehicle exit from the proposed
car wash building would appear as an industrial and utilitarian construction in
views from the High Street causing harm to the historic setting and
significance of the Conservation Area and adjacent Listed Buildings. As
such the proposal would lead to less than substantial harm to the significance of designated heritage assets that is not outweighed
by a public benefit contrary to paragraph 202 of the National Planning Policy
Framework 2021.
Supporting documents: