Notes & Decisions of the Planning and Development Committee Meeting

Held on Wed 15th November 2017 at the John Lampon Hall at 7.30pm

Planning Committee Members:	Bob Tyrrell (Chair), Brian Butcher (Vice Chair), Andrew Savage, Murray Harlow, Chris Stevenson, Laura Walkingshaw (Clerk)	Next meeting: Wed 20th Dec 2017, J L Hall at 7.30pm
Apologies:	None
Members of the public present:	17
Declarations of Interest:	None

It is the aim of the Parish Council to seek a high standard of design for all new developments and extensions in the Village.

Item 1: To receive any pre-application representations regarding proposed planning applications

Item 3 was seen to be a pre-application and allowing for the number of members of the public who came with concerns about it, this item was discussed first.

The consultation is from Gladman Homes, who currently have speculative pre-planning applications for over 100 sites. It ignores the work that the Parish Council and the Neighourhood Steering Group have been working on for a number of years and there are about 10 good reasons to object. Colchester Borough Council are totally against it as well, there will be objections from all sides and it is generally thought that the application will be refused, and that Gladman Homes will go to appeal, for the Planning Inspectorate to decide.

The policy in Colchester’s draft Local Plan is for 120 houses in the area near the Treble Tile north of Colchester Road – this consultation is not the direction of travel where Colchester see development. The entire concept is wrong, it is in the wrong place and premature. Gladman will have to prove that Colchester doesn’t have a 5-year supply of housing, which we all know is not the case. On points of principle there are any number of reasons to object and we don’t really need to drill down into the detail as the whole notion is wrong. The Parish Council has been asked to meet them and will do, as they have all the other landowners who would like to develop land around West Bergholt.

A member of the public enquired what was the current situation with the Neighbourhood Plan. The Committee reported that it is in line with Colchester’s Local Plan and that he would expect it to be submitted in Spring or early Summer next year. Colchester Borough Council are generally happy with it, but it has to be planning bomb-proof. The Committee compared the current draft as being akin to the document passing its O Level, but still needing to pass its A Level.

The Neighbourhood Steering Group are hoping to have a pre-submission consultation in mid-February, when it will be put out for final comments for six weeks. Those comments will then be taken into account with the final document and then submitted to Colchester. CBC will then consult statutory bodies such as English Heritage and once approved it will be accepted. As long as 51% of the residents who vote agree with the plan it will be adopted by Colchester.

Another resident asked if Gladman were to be given planning permission would that mean that the 97 houses would be added to the agreed 120, making a total of 210. The Committee were unsure, if the Inspector were to grant the appeal and allow the 97 houses then the Parish Council themselves become very late objectors to the CBC Local Plan, but that would go above the Planning Inspector. Luckily, Colchester already has a Local Plan and a good supply of local housing, unlike places like Tendring, who are left unprotected from developers. The current plan has 5 years left and the emerging plan will be for the following 15 years.

Will this be the first of a number of proposals for that site? Yes. There will be a second chance when the CBC Local Plan is heard by the Inspector and any objectors (presumably Gladman among them) will have a chance to be considered. There will then be another chance when the WB Neighbourhood Plan goes before the Inspector for approval. West Bergholt is such a desirable place to live it was expected that we would get a lot of attention through CBC’s Local Plan, Gladman have got in early, but it is likely to be uncomfortable for a while.

The next stages are:

Objections to Gladman Homes
Meeting between the Parish Council & Gladman Homes
Planning Application likely from Gladman (around Jan-Feb)
Parish Council will object, as will Colchester Borough Council, the Borough Councillors and Residents
Gladman will review the objections and then we will see if they intend to go to appeal to the Planning Inspector. Possibly around this time next year, by which time the WB Neighbourhood Plan will be published.

The Parish is also protected by the Village Design Statement (available on westbergholt.net at Village Design Statement), which lays out what we think new homes in the village should look like. West Bergholt doesn’t need any more 4-5-bedroom homes, but starter homes and houses for those downsizing.

Encourage your neighbours to make comments to Gladman – a myriad of different responses is better than a petition or a standard objection letter. Borough Councillor Barber said at the last Parish Council meeting that they would be producing a brochure once it becomes a Planning Application to be distributed to the whole village explaining the situation and setting out how people can respond.

Get an idea of the objections which Colchester are likely to raise by looking at a previous planning application for a development proposed to the land North of the White Hart at http://www.planning.colchester.gov.uk .

Item 2: Current planning applications:

Location	Proposal	Application No. and link to CBC planning website	Object / Support / Observations	Decision or Recommendation	Comments by Planning Committee
Lortay Cottage, 2 Armoury Farm Cottages, Armoury Road, CO6 3JP	Single storey extension to form granny annex.	172655	Support	Decision	The Parish Council has no comment. NB. The drawings are of very poor quality below what is considered acceptable by the PC
21 Armoury Road, West Bergholt, Colchester, CO6 3JN	Single storey side/ rear extension and alterations to existing dwelling.	172653	Support	Decision	The Parish Council has no comment. NB. The drawings are of very poor quality below what is considered acceptable by the PC
4 Heathside, West Bergholt, CO6 3JT	Proposed first floor extension to front of house, new dormer and roof lights	172928	Support	Decision	The Parish Council supports the extension in principle, but would refer to the Borough Council’s knowledge regarding the size of the dormer window and whether obscured glass is required in the landing.

Item 3: Response from the Planning Committee to the speculative proposal from Gladman Developments.

See item 1 above.

ACTION – Cllr Tyrrell will be writing the response from the Planning Committee, which will be circulated before agreement at the Parish Council meeting next Wednesday.

ACTION – It was agreed that Cllrs Savage, Tyrrell and Harlow would meet with Gladman Developments. Clerk to contact them with prospective dates of 20th & 21st November.

Item 4: Other matters:

a) Review Planning Decisions:

*CBC Decision Date*	*CBC Decision*	*WBPC Decision Date*	*Object / Support / Observ.*	*Application No.*	*Location*
O/S		20/09/2017	Support	172310	Little Priors, Hall Road
O/S		16/08/2017	Support	172038	8 Colchester Road
10/11/2017	Approve	16/08/2017	Object	172113	6 Albany Road	On revised drawings
07/11/2017	Approve	18/10/2017	Observation	172025	Whitehouse Farm, Whitehouse Lane
02/11/2017	Withdrawn	18/10/2017	Observation	172564	87 Albany Road
01/11/2017	Approve	18/10/2017	Support	170994	Roundwood, Lexden Road
01/11/2017	Refuse	20/09/2017	Object	172264	27 Chapel Road
19/10/2017	Approve	20/09/2017	Object	172305	Land adj. to 3 Spring Lane	On revised drawings
13/10/2017	Approve	20/09/2017	Support	172167	6 Lodge Court
13/10/2017	Refuse	19/04/2017	Object	170839	Land north of The White Hart, Nayland Road

b) Decide who will be attending from the Planning Committee to “Issues & Options Consultation” – Local Plan

Cllr Stevenson is happy to attend one of the dates of the Consultation, along with Cllr Tyrrell and possibly Cllr Savage.

ACTION – Clerk to circulate dates and venues.