Agenda item

To consider the erection of 3 no. 3 bedroom dwellinghouses with associated parking, landscaping, access and ancillary works.

 

It was RESOLVED that planning permission be granted subject to the conditions as per the recommendations set out in the report.

 

The Committee considered an application for the erection of 3 no. 3 bedroom dwellinghouses with associated parking, landscaping, access and ancillary works.

 

The application was before the Committee for determination as the applicant and landowner was Stevenage Borough Council and there had been more than 5 objections to the application.

 

The Senior Planning Officer gave an introduction to the Committee.  She advised that the application for the dwellings and associated parking was on Council land which had been designated as an informal area of public open space.  The existing communal parking bay would be retained in-situ and remain unchanged.

 

The Chair introduced Mr Justin Mills, Contour Planning, who would be speaking on behalf of residents who had objected to the application, to the Committee to address the meeting.  He advised that the application site offered a contribution to the street scene and wildlife and was an area for local people to use and children to play.  The application would have a detrimental impact on the environment and neighbouring properties and would be contrary to policy HO5 in the Council’s Local Plan.  The application also failed to comply with the separation distance standards between dwellings at ground floor levels. 

 

The Chair then invited Councillor Margaret Notley, Woodfield Ward Councillor to address the meeting.  Councillor Notley concurred with the comments made by Mr Mills and advised that the style of housing was out of keeping with the existing properties.  She also expressed concern regarding the loss of the green space in the area.

 

The Chair thanked both of the speakers for their contributions.

 

The Senior Planning Officer advised the Committee that the main issues for consideration in the determination of the application were the acceptability of the proposal in land use policy terms, both as a windfall housing site and loss of amenity space; design and impact on the character and visual amenity of the area, amenity of future occupiers and neighbouring properties and highways access and parking provision.

 

Members were advised that the issues considered were consistent with the most recent revision of the NPPF.  The Council was required to apply the tilted balance in favour of sustainable development by reason of its housing delivery position.

 

Officers advised that the proposed development would result in the delivery of 3no. three bedroom dwellings, making a small, but significant contribution towards meeting the Borough’s housing needs and the scheme would provide a good standard of accommodation which carried significant weight in favour of the proposal.

 

In the Officer’s opinion, the proposal was acceptable  in terms of the impact on the amenities of neighbouring occupiers, the collection of waste and recycling, appearance and the proposed car parking and cycle parking.

 

In relation to the loss of public open space, the Committee was advised that the loss of the area of informal open space was justified having regard to the quality and accessibility of the open space and whether alternate spaces would remain available for community use.  The benefits of providing additional housing were considered to outweigh any harm caused by the loss of this small area of open space.

 

The following points were raised by Members, and responses were given:

 

·         Conditions 9 and 10 in the Officer’s report dealt with the treatment of the hedgerow and associated trees.  A management plan would be drawn up but the hedgerow would be owned and maintained by the Council;

·         Members were concerned that the alternative play area suggested in the report although being a large area of open space at the northern end of St Albans Drive was not visible to the main road and had a limited amount of play space;

·         In relation to separation distances, the required 15m would be achieved at first floor level and the front of the proposed dwellings would be approximately 28m from the front of the bungalows to the east of the site.  The proposed windows at ground floor and first floor on both side elevations would all serve bathrooms or W.C.’s and would be obscurely glazed so there would be no direct overlooking or loss of privacy between the two dwellings;

·         In terms of daylight and sunlight, all rooms with a requirement for daylight and sunlight and all required windows passed the daylight distribution test;

·         Officers confirmed that the applicant was the Estates Department at Stevenage Borough Council;

·         The site had been classified by the Environment Agency as being of very low risk to surface water flooding;

·         In relation to biodiversity net gain, it was noted that although there would be a 2% loss, the applicant would provide a financial contribution, secured by a S106 legal agreement to achieve a 10% net gain, which would be spent on improving biodiversity on another site in Stevenage to be agreed with the Council’s Green Spaces Development Officer.

 

It was RESOLVED that planning permission be GRANTED subject to the applicant having first entered into a S106 legal agreement to secure/provide contributions towards:-

·      Securing the provision of a 10% net gain in biodiversity off-site within Stevenage;

·      SBC Section 106 monitoring fee – 2.5% of the total financial obligations.

 

The detail of which would be delegated to the Assistant Director of Planning and Regulation in liaison with the Council’s appointed solicitor, along with delegated powers to the Assistant Director in liaison with the Council’s appointed solicitor to enforce the obligations set out in the S106 Legal Agreement on behalf of Stevenage Borough Council and / or appoint another Planning Authority to enforce planning obligations on behalf of Stevenage Borough Council as and where legally required to do so. In addition, the imposition of suitable safeguarding conditions, with authority given to the Assistant Director of Planning and Regulation in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair of Planning Committee, to amend or add to the suggested draft conditions set out in this report, prior to the decision notice being issued, where such amendments or additions would be legally sound and most effectively deliver the development that the Planning Committee has resolved to approve. These suggested conditions are as follows:-

 

1       The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved plans:

          LS2077-01; 22077.su1.01; 22077.su1.02; 22077.wd2.03; 22077.wd2.04; 22077.wd2.05; 22077.wd2.01-B; 22077.wd2.02-A;

         

2       The development hereby permitted shall be begun before the expiration of three years from the date of this permission.

         

 3      Unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority, no demolition or construction activities audible at the site boundary shall be carried out except between the hours of 08:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday and 08:00 to 13:00 on Saturdays. For the avoidance of doubt, no such work shall be carried out on Sundays or Bank Holidays.

         

 4      Any external lighting installed at the site shall be angled so as to avoid any spillage beyond the site boundaries unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

         

 5      In the event that contamination is found at any time when carrying out the approved development that was not previously identified, it must be reported in writing immediately to the local planning authority. An investigation and risk assessment must be undertaken and where remediation is necessary, a remediation scheme must be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. Following completion of measures identified in the approved remediation scheme, a verification report must be submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority.

         

 6      The development to which this permission relates shall be carried out in accordance with the mitigation measures as specified in Section 5 of "Ecological Impact Assessment" authored by Ecology by Design dated June 2023 unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

         

 7      No development shall commence (including site clearance) until a Construction Management Statement has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority, including elements of the CLOCS standards as set out in the Highway Authority's Construction Management template. Thereafter the construction of the development shall only be carried out in accordance with the approved Statement. The Construction Management Statement shall include details of:

a)  Construction vehicle numbers, type, routing;

b)  Access arrangements to the site;

c)  Traffic management requirements;

d)  Construction and storage compounds (including areas designated for car parking, loading/unloading and turning areas);

e)  Siting and details of wheel washing facilities;

f)   Cleaning of site entrances, site tracks and the adjacent public highway;

g)  Timing of construction activities (including delivery times and removal of waste) and to avoid school pick up/drop off times;

h)  Provision of sufficient on-site parking prior to commencement of construction activities;

i)    Post construction restoration/reinstatement of the working areas and temporary access to the public highway;

j)    where works cannot be contained wholly within the site a plan should be submitted showing the site layout on the highway including extent of hoarding, pedestrian routes and remaining road width for vehicle movements.

k)  Demolition and construction works between the hours of 0730 and 1800 on Mondays to Fridays and between the hours of 0800 and 1300 on Saturdays only (These times relate to works which are audible at the boundary)

l)    hours of construction operations including times of deliveries and removal of waste;

         

 8      Before any development commences, including any site clearance or demolition works, any trees on the site shall be protected by fencing or other means of enclosure in accordance with a detailed scheme submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.  Such protection as may be agreed shall be inspected and approved by the Local Planning Authority prior to the commencement of the work and maintained until the conclusion of all site and building operations.

         

 9      No development shall take place until there has been submitted to and approved by the Local Planning Authority a scheme of works to the hedgerow, and associated trees and scrub habitat.  The scheme shall include details of all existing trees and hedgerows on the land and details of intended works.

         

10     Notwithstanding the details shown in this application the treatment of all boundaries  including details of any walls, fences, gates or other means of enclosure shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority prior to the commencement of development.  The approved boundary treatments shall be completed before the use hereby permitted is commenced or before the building(s) is occupied.

         

11     No development shall take place above slab level until a schedule and samples of the materials to be used in the construction of the external surfaces of the dwelling hereby permitted have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.  Development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details.

         

12     No development shall take place above slab level until there has been submitted to and approved by the Local Planning Authority a scheme of soft and hard landscaping and details of the treatment of all hard surfaces.  The scheme shall include details of all existing trees and hedgerows on the land and details showing all trees to be removed, or retained, together with details of all new planting to take place including species, size and method of planting.

         

13     No development shall take place above slab level until details (make, model, location) of integrated (installed within the brickwork) bat boxes and integrated swift boxes have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. These must be fully installed in accordance with the approved details prior to occupation and retained as such thereafter.

         

14     Prior to the first occupation of the dwellings herby permitted the parking provision, access and visibility splays as shown on approved plan 22077wd2.01-B, shall be constructed, hardsurfaced and made ready for use.  Any new areas of hardstanding created, or existing areas which are replaced, shall be constructed in a porous material or provision shall be made for a sustainable urban drainage system (SuDS) to be built into the hardsurfaced areas. Once provided the parking facilities shall be retained in that form and thereafter be used for the parking of vehicles only.

         

15     Prior to the occupation of the dwellings hereby permitted, the parking spaces shown on approved plan 22077wd2.01-B shall be provided with the underlying infrastructure for connection to the electricity network to enable them to be served by an electric vehicle charging point.

         

16     The development hereby approved shall be constructed in accordance with the measures to address climate change as laid out in the Design and Access Statement by Kyle Smart Associates dated June 2023.

         

17     Prior to the first occupation of the dwellings hereby permitted, the cycle storage as shown on plan 22077wd2.01-B shall be implemented accordingly. The cycle storage shall be retained and maintained accordingly during the lifetime of the development.

         

18     Prior to the first occupation of the dwellings hereby permitted, the general waste and recycling storage associated with the development shall be implemented in accordance with the details as specified on plan number 22077wd2.01-B.

         

19     All planting, seeding and turfing shall be carried out in the first planting and seeding seasons following the first use of the site or the completion of the development whichever is the sooner.

         

20     Any trees or plants comprised within the approved plans which within a period of five years from the completion of the development, die, are removed, or become seriously damaged or diseased, shall be replaced in the next planting season with others of similar size and species, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

         

21     All areas of hedges, scrub or similar vegetation where birds may nest which are to be removed as part of the development, are to be cleared outside the bird-nesting season (March - August inclusive) or if clearance during the bird nesting season cannot be reasonably be avoided, a suitably qualified ecologist will check the areas to be removed immediately prior to clearance and advise whether nesting birds are present. If active nests are recorded, no vegetation clearance or other works that may disturb active nests shall proceed until all young have fledged the nest.

         

INFORMATIVE

 

 1      Public Information on Planning Applications

          Warning: all information provided on your planning application is now publicly available. Individuals and organisations offering their services may contact you. The Council does not endorse or approve any builders, surveyors, trades persons or other supplier, and advises householders to obtain quotes/references, and check the legitimacy of any contractor who contacts them before making payment.

 

 2      Community Infrastructure Levy

          Stevenage Borough Council adopted a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Charging Schedule at Full Council on 27 January 2020 and started implementing CIL on 01 April 2020.

         

          This application may be liable for CIL payments and you are advised to contact the CIL Team for clarification with regard to this. If your development is CIL liable, even if you are granted an exemption from the levy, please be advised that it is a requirement under Regulation 67 of The Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 (as amended) that CIL Form 6 (Commencement Notice) must be completed, returned and acknowledged by Stevenage Borough Council before building works start.

Failure to do so will mean you risk losing the right to payment by instalments and a surcharge will be imposed. NB, please note that a Commencement Notice is not required for residential extensions if relief has been granted.

         

          Stevenage's adopted CIL Charging Schedule and further details of CIL can be found on the Council's webpages at www.stevenage.gov.uk/CIL or by contacting the Council's CIL Team at CIL@Stevenage.gov.uk .

         

 3      Building Regulations

          To obtain advice regarding current Building Regulations please contact Hertfordshire Building Control Ltd. by emailing us at building.control@hertfordshirebc.co.uk or phoning us on 01438 879990.

         

          To make a building regulations application please apply through our website portal at https://www.hertfordshirebc.co.uk/contact-us/ payment can be made online or by phoning the above number after the application has been uploaded.  Please phone Hertfordshire Building Control for fees guidance on 01438 879990.

         

          Hertfordshire Building Control can also be contacted by post at Hertfordshire Building Control Ltd, 4th Floor, Campus West, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, AL8 6BX.

         

          Once a building regulations application has been deposited with relevant drawings and fee building work may commence.  You will be advised in their acknowledgement letter of the work stages we need to inspect but in most instances these are usually:

         

                  Excavation for foundations

                  Damp proof course

                  Concrete oversite

                  Insulation

                  Drains (when laid or tested)

                  Floor and Roof construction

                  Work relating to fire safety

                  Work affecting access and facilities for disabled people

                  Completion

         

          Please phone Hertfordshire Building Control on 01438 879990 before 10.00am to ensure a same day inspection (Mon - Fri).

 

 4      Party Wall etc. Act 1996

          Any work that affects a party wall, including foundations dug within 3.0m of a neighbouring building, may be controllable under the Act and may require approval from the adjoining owner(s).  Party Wall Act matters are always civil matters and it is neither Stevenage Borough Council's nor Hertfordshire Building Control Ltd's remit to control or enforce Party Wall act matters.  Please refer to the Government's explanatory booklet The Party Wall etc. Act 1996, a copy of which is available online at

          https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-party-wall-etc-act-1996-revised-explanatory-booklet 

 

 5      Herts Police Crime Prevention Design Advisor

          Prior to construction the developer is advised to contact the Hertfordshire Constabulary CPDS with a view to seeking to achieve accreditation to the Police preferred minimum security standard that is Secured by Design.  The reason for this is to ensure that the development is compliant with both National and Local Planning Policies, in addition, this will also demonstrate the discharge of obligations under Approved Document 'Q' - Security of Building Regulations".

 

 6      Hertfordshire County Council as Highways Authority

          Obstruction of public highway land: It is an offence under section 137 of the Highways Act 1980 for any person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way to wilfully obstruct the free passage along a highway or public right of way. If this development is likely to result in the public highway or public right of way network becoming routinely blocked (fully or partly) the applicant must contact the Highway Authority to obtain their permission and requirements before construction works commence.  Further information is available via the website:

          http://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/transtreets/highways/ or by telephoning 0300 1234047.

 

 7      Hertfordshire County Council as Highways Authority

          Parking and Storage of materials: The applicant is advised that all areas for parking, storage, and delivery of materials associated with the construction of this development should be provided within the site on land which is not public highway, and the use of such areas must not interfere with the public highway. 

If this is not possible, authorisation should be sought from the Highway Authority before construction works commence.  Further information is available via the website: https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/highways-roads-and-pavements/business-and-developer-information/development-management/highways-development-management.aspx or by telephoning 0300 1234047.

 

 8      Hertfordshire County Council as Highways Authority

          Debris and deposits on the highway: It is an offence under section 148 of the Highways Act 1980 to deposit compost, dung or other material for dressing land, or any rubbish on a made up carriageway, or any or other debris on a highway to the interruption of any highway user. Section 149 of the same Act gives the Highway Authority powers to remove such material at the expense of the party responsible. Therefore, best practical means shall be taken at all times to ensure that all vehicles leaving the site during construction of the development and use thereafter are in a condition such as not to emit dust or deposit mud, slurry or other debris on the highway. Further information is available by telephoning 0300 1234047.

 

 

 9      Hertfordshire County Council as Highways Authority

          Avoidance of surface water discharge onto the highway: The applicant is advised that the Highway Authority has powers under section 163 of the Highways Act 1980, to take appropriate steps where deemed necessary (serving notice to the occupier of premises adjoining a highway) to prevent water from the roof or other part of the premises falling upon persons using the highway, or to prevent so far as is reasonably practicable, surface water from the premises flowing on to, or over the footway of the highway.

 

10     Hertfordshire County Council as Highways Authority

          Construction standards for new vehicle access: Where works are required within the public highway to facilitate the new or amended vehicular access, the Highway Authority require the construction of such works to be undertaken to their satisfaction and specification, and by a contractor who is authorised to work in the public highway.  If any of the works associated with the construction of the access affects or requires the removal and/or the relocation of any equipment, apparatus or structures (e.g. street name plates, bus stop signs or shelters, statutory authority equipment etc.) the applicant will be required to bear the cost of such removal or alteration. 

Before works commence the applicant will need to apply to the Highway Authority to obtain their permission, requirements and for the work to be carried out on the applicant's behalf.  Further information is available via the website https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/highways-roads-and-pavements/changes-to-your-road/dropped-kerbs/dropped-kerbs.aspx or by telephoning 0300 1234047.

 

11     Hertfordshire County Council as Highways Authority

          Construction Management Plan (CMP): The purpose of the CMP is to help developers minimise construction impacts and relates to all construction activity both on and off site that impacts on the wider environment. It is intended to be a live document whereby different stages will be completed and submitted for application as the development progresses. A completed and signed CMP must address the way in which any impacts associated with the proposed works, and any cumulative impacts of other nearby construction sites will be mitigated and managed. The level of detail required in a CMP will depend on the scale and nature of development.  The CMP would need to include elements of the Construction Logistics and Community Safety (CLOCS) standards as set out in our Construction Management template, a copy of which is available on the County Council's website at: https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/highways-roads-and-pavements/business-and-developer-information/development-management/highways-development-management.aspx

 

12     Environmental Health

          During the demolition and construction phase of the development, the guidance in BS5228-1:2009 (Code of Practice for Noise Control on Construction and Open Sites) should be adhered to.