Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Caswell and Councillor Meredith.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8^th April 2014 were agreed and signed by the Chair.

RESOLVED:That under the following items the members of the public listed be granted leave to address the Committee.

·         N/2014/0213 - Angel Street

Richard Beeby and Dave Stewart (both Northamptonshire County Council)

·         N/2013/0338 -  Land to the east of Hardingstone, north of Newport Pagnell Road

Cllr Nunn; Cllr Hill; Danny Punter (Hardingstone Action Group); Kate Servant (Hardingstone Action Group); Gordon Crowe (Hardingstone Parish Council); George Dundon (LDA design) and Jonathan Tricker (Parsons Brickerhoff)

·         N/2013/1325 - Residential development via Harcourt Way

Steven Coombes; Simon Kirkby; Mike Habeib and David Joseph (Bloor Homes)

Councillor Flavell declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest in item 10a as member of West Northamptonshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee.

Councillor Oldham declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest in item 10a as substitute member of West Northamptonshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee.

Councillor Mason declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest in item 10c as the ward member for the application area.

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The Chair advised that due to the large attendance in the public gallery items 7a; 7b; 10a; 10b and 8a would be considered first and in that order.

The Planning Policy and Heritage Manager introduced the written report and elaborated thereon.

In response to questions from members the Planning Policy and Heritage Manager explained that future reports would show the weight to be attached to the emerging Joint Core Strategy (JCS) and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Some of the Local Plan policies are now of such an age that they have been overtaken by the JCS and NPPF. When the JCS is adopted some Local Plan policies will fall away and no longer be a material consideration. 

RESOLVED: That the report be noted

The Development Manager advised that amended plans had been received requiring consultation and that the report had been withdrawn from the agenda. The application would return for the Committee’s consideration in due course.

The Senior Planning Officer outlined the report of the Head of Planning, as set out in the agenda. The committee’s attention was also drawn to the circulated addendum. The recommendation was for approval in principle with the conditions set out in the report and addendum.

Councillor Nunn addressed the Committee. He declared personal interests as a member of West Northamptonshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee; a local ward member for Nene Valley; a Director Brackmills Business Improvement District (BID) and as the Council’s Assistant Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Heritage Champion. He opposed the application on the grounds of the impact on Brackmills Estate and the highways issues that remained unresolved. He believed the mitigation proposed would not resolve these matters.

In response to questions from the Committee Councillor Nunn supplied the following information:

·         He had concerns that the nearest secondary schools were already oversubscribed.

·         He did not believe enough attention had been paid to the wider infrastructure needs.

Councillor Hill addressed the Committee. He declared a personal interest as a local ward member for Nene Valley. He opposed the application on the grounds of potential traffic issues. He added that the number of representations should be viewed as significant under the NPPF and application rejected.

Mr Punter, representing Hardingstone Action Group, addressed the Committee. He opposed the application and suggested it would result in Hardingstone losing its character and the town gaining the added infrastructure stress.

Ms Servant, representing Hardingstone Action Group, addressed the Committee. She opposed the application and highlighted that this was currently a sustainable site, which was economically viable as farmland.

Mr Crowe, representing Hardingstone Parish Council, addressed the Committee. He opposed the application and suggested there was no cohesive plan for future infrastructure.

Mr Dundon, LDA Design, addressed the Committee. He supported the application and highlighted that there were significant upfront financial contributions to highways infrastructure. He advised the Committee that many of the detailed considerations raised as objections would be dealt with by S106 agreement and in the reserved matter application, which would include further consultation. He believed the application met the JCS and NPPF. He also advised the Committee that Government funding was dependent upon work starting on site in the near future.

In response to questions from the Committee Mr Dundon supplied the following information:

·         The level of secondary education need was advised by the local Education Authority and they had proposed a S106 contribution to fund additional places off site.

·         The local centre was required under JCS emerging policy N6 and the need had also been identified during the consultation process.

·         An ecological impact survey had been carried out, but the existing hedgerows would be retained and in places enhanced.

Mr Tricker, Parsons Brickerhoff, addressed the Committee. He supported the application and explained his role as transport lead for the applicant. The development had adopted the nil detriment approach to traffic load, as outlined in the NPPF, and the highways mitigation proposed would achieve this aim. The developer welcomed the opportunity to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10a

The Planning Officer outlined the report of the Head of Planning, as set out in the agenda. The committee’s attention was also drawn to the circulated addendum. The recommendation was for approval in principle with the conditions set out in the report and addendum.

Councillor Ford addressed the Committee.  He declared a personal interest as a local ward member for Delapre and Briar Hill. He raised concerns regarding the future site access, access during construction and the siting of the children’s play area.

In response to a question from the Committee Councillor Ford supplied the following information:

·         He was not aware who owns the land at the end of Harcourt Way that would provide the access to the site.

Councillor Glynane addressed the Committee.  He declared personal interests as a local ward member for Delapre and Briar Hill and Chair of the Nene Flood Prevention Alliance. He spoke against the application and reminded members of the previous application refusal for the site in 1996. He believed that two of the three reasons for refusal then, namely loss of green space and access to the site, had not been satisfactorily resolved.

In response to a question from the Committee Councillor Glynane supplied the following information:

·         He believed the land at the end of Harcourt Way that would provide the access to the site was not owned by the nearest properties.

Mr Coombes addressed the Committee and spoke against the application. He expressed reservations about the sustainability of the site given its distance from local services and the ongoing issues with access to the estate via Danes Camp Way.

In response to a question from the Committee Mr Coombes supplied the following information:

·         He believed that the queuing times to access Danes Camp Way had increased over recent years from seconds to several minutes on some occasions.

Mr Coombes addressed the Committee and spoke against the application. He believed that the flood risk to the lower part of the site had not been alleviated. He believed the application was contrary to the emerging JCS Policy C2 and H1.

Mr Habeib addressed the Committee and spoke in favour of the application. He believed that none of the issues raised were insurmountable. The development provided an opportunity to resolve issues such as the access to Danes Camp Way and the siting of the play area. He believed the developer had responded to many of the resident’s concerns raised during consultation.

In response to a question from the Committee Mr Habeib supplied the following information:

·         The issue of traffic lights at the Danes Camp Way roundabout had been raised with the developer.

·         The gradient of any walk was an issue.

·         He worked as an analyst and had gathered the information on the application form the planning documents available on the Council website.

Mr Joseph, Bloor Homes, addressed the Committee and spoke in favour of the application. He suggested weight should be given to the emerging JCS and that the Local Plan, Policy E6 was not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10b

The Principal Planning Officer outlined the report of the Head of Planning, as set out in the agenda. The committee’s attention was also drawn to the circulated addendum. The recommendation was for approval in principle with the conditions set out in the report and addendum.

Mr Beeby, Programme Director for Project Angel, addressed the Committee in support of the application.

In response to questions from the Committee Mr Beeby supplied the following information:

·         The Fetter Street side of the development would have a widened footpath and the plan was to retain the cobbled road surface.

·         The parking onsite had been limited to 138 by cost and the consideration of other parking options in the area.

·         Currently options for future use were being considered for the Guildhall Road/jail block buildings. The former police station and the Council Chamber would be retained by the County Council.

The Committee discussed the report.

RESOLVED: That the application be APPROVED IN PRINCIPLE; subject to the conditions set out in the report and addendum

The Principal Planning Officer outlined the report of the Head of Planning, as set out in the agenda. The recommendation was for approval of N/2014/0170 with the conditions set out in the report and approval in principle of N/2014/0189, subject to prior referral to the Secretary of State and the conditions set in the report.

The Committee discussed the report.

RESOLVED: That the application N/2014/0170 be APPROVED, subject to the conditions set out in the report and that the application N/2014/0189 be APPROVED IN PRINCIPLE subject to prior referral to the Secretary of State and the conditions set in the report.

The Principal Planning Officer outlined the report of the Head of Planning, as set out in the agenda. The recommendation was for approval with the conditions set out in the report and addendum.

The Committee discussed the report.

RESOLVED: That the application be APPROVED subject to the conditions set out in the report.

The Development Manager outlined the report of the Head of Planning, as set out in the agenda. The recommendation was for approval with the conditions set out in the report and addendum.

The Committee discussed the report.

RESOLVED: That the application be APPROVED subject to the conditions set out in the report

Given the lateness of the hour the Chair proposed and the Committee AGREED to defer items 10d - N/2014/0269; 10e - N/2014/0214 and 6 - List of Current Appeals and Inquiries to the next meeting.

The Principal Planning Officer outlined the report of the Head of Planning, as set out in the agenda. He reminded the Committee that they were not giving the final approval. As the applications were related to Listed Building Consents and the Council owned the properties and was the applicant, the matter would be referred to the Secretary of State.

The Committee discussed the report.

RESOLVED: That the application be APPROVED IN PRINCIPLE subject to prior referral to the Secretary of State and the conditions set in the report

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