Agenda item

At this juncture Councillors Kilbride, Bottwood and M Markham left the room.

The Development Manager submitted a report and elaborated thereon. The Committee heard that the application, deferred from a previous Planning Committee meeting, had been revised following strong objections from local residents. It was explained that some of the existing  garages could not be retained because of the site’s restricted layout as , however 4 additional parking spaces would be created, the rest of the development would remain substantively the same. There would be good separation distances from the proposed development and existing properties and there were no objections from the Local Highway Authority.

John Connolly, a local resident, spoke against the application and stated that by demolishing the garages, the community would suffer and a free-for-all parking frenzy would ensue.

In response to questions, Mr Connolly commented that he was not aware of any further consultation having taken place. He also disagreed that some garages were no longer fit for purpose due to their small size.

Councillor Joyce, in his capacity as Ward Councillor, spoke against the application and expressed his disappointment that the application seemed largely unchanged. He stated that a petition to save the garages that reached 168 signatures was ignored.

In response to a question, Councillor Joyce explained that the application had caused tensions amongst residents in the area.

Ann Brooks, a local resident, spoke against the application and stated her belief that NPH withheld information from members at a previous Planning Committee and that health and safety concerns had not been addressed, specifically that a fire truck would not have space for turning.

When asked to elaborate, Ms Brooks explained that the NPH Project Manager had, at a previous Planning Committee, stated that residents would be kept up-to-date with the application; she had received no correspondence.

Matthew Berry, Project Manager for NPH, spoke in favour of the application and commented that  single applications should be looked at in a wider context. He noted that the plans had been revised to allow for more parking spaces. Regarding highway safety, Mr Berry commented that regular meetings with NCC had taken place and safety of the area would improve, due to dropped kerbs and better spacing.

In response to questions, Mr Berry confirmed that 2 drop-in sessions took place during summer 2018 and that NPH sent out revised plans as soon as the consultation process began. He confirmed that NPH worked closely with residents and contractors to come up with solutions to boundary treatment.

Nicky McKenzie, Head of Housing at NPH, spoke in favour of the application and commented that 7 of the garages were rented by occupants of Lakeview House. She confirmed that every person renting a garage would be relocated; the farthest relocation would be 130m away and the closest 40m. She explained that NPH’s Assets department had to identify suitable garages across large parts of the town.

Members discussed the report.

RESOLVED:

That the application be APPROVED subject to the conditions and reasons as set out in the report.