Agenda item

To determine the application.

Tom Donnelly presented the report to members.

Members asked questions of officers, including Andrew Connelly from Cambridgeshire County Council’s Transport Assessment Team, as follows:

·       Councillor Mrs French stated that she was Chairman of MATs at the County Council from 2017 to 2025 where it was discussed for many years about a roundabout at Hostmoor and she also understands that around £350,000 was received from the Aldi site. She made the point that this site is in the middle of an industrial estate and if industrial units cannot be built here where can they be built. Andrew Connelly responded that he is not involved with the MATs scheme, but he does know they have moved away from the roundabout and are now looking for an all-movement signal junction as this requires less land and deals with the issue a bit easier and it is easier for the authority to deliver on the ground.

·       Councillor Mrs French asked what is the position with the traffic lights as this has been discussed for 8 years and she understands there is an issue with somebody who owns a strip of land and she does not know if this has been resolved? Andrew Connolly responded that to deliver an improvement here there is third party land that is needed and there would have to be a CPO at some point. He believes the issue currently is regarding funding, there was an initial pot of funding received and that has been spent elsewhere because these two junctions, Hostmoor and Peas Hill, are going to cost £8 million to deliver.

·       Councillor Marks asked with regard to the highways is it felt that the issue is traffic coming out of the end of the junction turning left or right or is it more of a bigger problem further along past the Aldi to the A141? Andrew Connolly responded that the issue is vehicles coming out of Hostmoor Avenue onto the A141, at the minute vehicles have to go south, it is not an all-movement junction and this puts a lot of U-turners at the Peas Hill roundabout and U-turners create a lot of capacity issues because they cut off all other arms.

·       Councillor Marks questioned that the capacity is there on the Hostmoor/Peas Hill roundabout? Andrew Connolly responded that the capacity is not there, otherwise they would not be objecting and there is a lot of committed development coming forward that puts a lot of pressure there, Aldi are looking to deliver a set of signals there and it is a very constrained part of the network. He stated that whilst there is a solution, the MATs scheme, that is underfunded currently and it is not known timescale wise when that will be funded.

·       Councillor Connor referred to the strip of land mentioned by Councillor Mrs French, which is probably a ransom strip and this issue has been in existence a long time now so asked why a CPO has not been submitted on this piece of land, being proactive rather than reactive? Andrew Connolly responded that he was unable to answer this as it is not a scheme he is involved with as he deals with planning applications rather than projects but would assume it comes down to funding and they would not look to secure third party land until there is adequate funding to deliver the scheme.

·       Councillor Connor expressed the view that Andrew Connolly’s comments curtail any more development in Hostmoor until such time as improvements can be made? Andrew Connolly confirmed this to be correct. He added in the past there was a roundabout solution, a planning application for Westry which was approved which would have resolved a lot of issues because it allowed all movement on the junction but that is over 10 years old now and has not come forward so the County has had to look at developing its own solution.

·       Councillor Mrs French stated that the person who owns the strip of land got the permission for a retail park across the road and he had permission to put a roundabout in. She continued that the argument between the County Council Highways and the owner of this strip of land is the size of the roundabout, he wants to put a bigger one in and County Council do not. Councillor Mrs French stated that what is being talked about is a left hand turn only, it is still no turn right out of this junction and that left hand turn only was put in around 2003. She made the point that Highways have known about the problems on this junction for years, so she feels it is unfair to refuse an application on industrial land because Highways have not undertaken what they are supposed to.

·       Councillor Marks requested clarity in whether it is a safety issue or due to capacity? Andrew Connolly responded that it is mainly a capacity issue but if there are lots of vehicles queuing and people getting frustrated it can sometimes lead to safety issues so they would not want to allow something that would potentially cause a safety issue at a later date.

Members made comments, asked questions and received responses as follows:

·       Councillor Marks made the point that this is an industrial area, and Fenland is Open for Business and it now seems to him that it is not open for business because Highways have not got their act together. He continued that it is not the developer that has got the issue, it is Highways that have not got the budget or have not undertaken the work so questioned is development just going to be stopped here and where else would this development be placed? Councillor Marks stated that it is known that industrial units are sought after, with 4-5 recent applications, so this is needed and it is within an industrial area. He referred to it being a capacity issue more than a safety issue and, in his view, this proposal should be approved and then hopefully Highways will get their act together, find some money from somewhere and either put traffic lights or a roundabout at the junction.

·       Councillor Benney agreed with the comments of Councillor Marks, if this is turned down County will not do anything about the issues and this will push it up the list, it may be a short-term loss for a long-term gain. He made the point that it is industrial land, and he fully supports the application.

·       Councillor Mrs French stated that the capacity issue is not just the junction of Hostmoor but it is Peas Hill roundabout. She continued that when she was Chairman of MATs they decided to pull Peas Hill because it wanted major investment, with the problem here being that most people turn left when they are supposed to and then they go around the roundabout, with this roundabout costing Highways a fortune to repair every couple of months because of the way the lorries are going around to go the opposite way. Councillor Mrs French stated that she agrees with the comments of the other councillors, this is industrial land and the Council needs to be supporting local businesses.

·       Councillor Benney stated that he understands that the turn left was a temporary measure. Councillor Mrs French indicated that this was correct. Councillor Benny continued that if this was the case this should have been resolved and it shows the longer the County Council can put off doing the work the more they will and when it gets to the point when there is a real crunch then the work will be undertaken. He feels it will be better for March if this is approved rather than not.

·       Councillor Marks made the point that an Aldi has just been built in this location which they paid towards having the road improved and questioned why at that point did they not pay enough to have traffic lights installed. He expressed the view that it was known this was going to be an issue and thinks it should be approved for Highways to then sort out the road.

·       Councillor Mrs French made the point that Aldi did pay £325,000 towards road improvements and there was funding available from the Combined Authority, but it is up to the County Council and the MATs team to reapply for funding, and, in her view, it is not down to local businesses to suffer because of it.

·       Councillor Purser stated that approving this shows that Fenland is Open for Business and he is in support of it.

·       Councillor Marks made the point that officers have been correct with the recommendation they have put forward but it comes down to County who have tried to be the problem in this application, and, in his view, it looks to be a good proposal.

·       Councillor Mrs French asked that, if this is approved, can it be made sure that the developers are aware of the 9 metre strip for access to the dykes around the site. Councillor Connor agreed that it is in the report and the applicant will have to deal with Middle Level Commissioners to make sure that happens.

Proposed by Councillor Mrs French, seconded by Councillor Imafidon and agreed that the application be GRANTED against officer’s recommendation, with conditions delegated to the Head of Planning to apply in consultation with the Chairman, including entering into a legal agreement for highway works.

Members do not support officer’s recommendation of refusal of planning permission as they feel that the location is industrial land in an industrial area and the Council should be supporting local business.

(Councillors Mrs French and Purser registered, in accordance with Paragraph 14 of the Code of Conduct on Planning Matters, that they are members of March Town Council but take no part in planning)