Agenda and minutes

To determine the application.

Gavin Taylor presented the report to members.

Members received a presentation, in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure, from County Councillor John Gowing.

Councillor Gowing stated that he is the County Councillor for the March South and Rural area, with Wimblington being in this division, and over the last few years he has seen the growth of new housing in Wimblington and the impact that it has had on the village. He stated that extra housing brings the already overstretched services such as schools and medical provision to breaking point and that although the advice is given that schools have capacity, it is often the case that parents have to transport their children to other schools in the area, being aware of families who have primary aged children who are enrolled in different schools, due to class sizes, which is not acceptable and more houses in Wimblington will only exacerbate the situation.

Councillor Gowing stated that by providing bus shelters and electronic real time data displays will not guarantee the use of public transport and parents will still use their own vehicles to transport their children to and from school, and in his report the applicant is just trying to demonstrate that less vehicles will be needed. He expressed the view that the bus service in Wimblington cannot be compared to that of Cambridge City centre where the bus service is far more frequent than that in Wimblingon.

Councillor Gowing expressed the view that it is already very difficult to obtain an appointment with a doctor and it is likely that if the proposal was approved there would be the need to travel to a different surgery to see a doctor. He made the point that residents have raised concerns with regard to speeding through the village and the number of cars and traffic has become far more noticeable with the addition of recent housing.

Councillor Gowing expressed the opinion that the access for the proposed new development is on a dangerous bend and, in his view, traffic calming measures need to be considered taking into account the impact that the development in Nursery Gardens is already having on the village, questioning who would pay for this. He stated that more importantly is the strain on the infrastructure to prevent flooding and he recalled the impact of the flooding events that took place last year which were both stressful and costly to residents.

Councillor Gowing added that Anglian Water have stated following the flooding episodes that they are obliged to accept foul water flows from the development and would, therefore, take the necessary steps to ensure sufficient treatment capacity was in place should planning permission be granted. He added that Anglian Water have now stated that Doddington Water Recycling Centre will have available capacity for the flow, but he questioned this as, at the time of the flooding, he asked why there was only one pump operating at a time in the Bridge Lane area when there was another pump  ...  view the full minutes text for item P22/21

To determine the application

Gavin Taylor presented the report to members.

Members asked officers the following questions:

·         Councillor Mrs French stated that after reading many letters of objection it does need to be made very clear that the Broad Concept Plan (BCP) does form part of the Local Plan and it was also included in the 1993 Development Area Boundaries document.

·         Councillor Mrs French asked Gavin Taylor to clarify that he had stated that in the future Knights End Road and Burrowmoor Road would be closed. Gavin Taylor stated that it is something that is being discussed as background in order to try and focus access to the A141. He added that it is something that needs to be worked on in terms of modelling and transport assessment as to whether that would be appropriate and achievable. Councillor Mrs French added that since 2017, the March Area Transport Strategy (MATS), has been in place and officers have worked with Persimmon Homes for over 2 years and she is concerned that officers have not taken into consideration the strategy. She added that lengthy discussions have taken place with regard to the possibility of installing some type of lighting at the top of Burrowmoor Road, but was advised that only one red light could be installed due to the residency of bats and it was then decided that this would not happen until the long term issues of Burrowmoor Road were resolved. Councillor Mrs French expressed the view that MATS would not support the closure of those roads and whilst she appreciates that it is only an outline application at this stage, she would be concerned that when the application is submitted that the access would be off Knights End and Burrowmoor Road. She stated that there is a proposed new access and, in her opinion, that should be used in the first instance and added that she believes that there is also a proposed new roundabout. Councillor Mrs French referred to the officer’s report at 6.29 where Highways have indicated that they will not be in a position to determine what mitigation is required until an application is submitted. She expressed the opinion that when the bypass was introduced in the 1970’s, it was to reduce the congestion in the town and the committee involved with the MATS will not support the closure of the two roads.

·         Councillor Cornwell asked whether there will be a more detailed consultation exercise carried out on the more detailed elements of the BCP as most of the comments appear to focus on the highway aspects rather than the actual detail of the overall plan. He expressed the opinion that most people will support it, as it avoids the smaller piecemeal developments, and it is something that has everybody working towards the proposals that meets development of the whole of the area. Gavin Taylor stated that it is a concept and with any planning application that comes forward of a substantial impact and size, would need to be supported  ...  view the full minutes text for item P23/21

To determine the application

Nikki Carter presented the report to Members.

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

·         Councillor Cornwell stated that the site is beside the lake and he is surprised that the layout appears to be back to front. He added that, in his opinion, it would be more appropriate for the use of the lake if it was bounded mostly by paddock as opposed to buildings.

·         Councillor Benney stated that the applicant has chosen their layout and there is no objection from officers.

·         Councillor Mrs Davis stated that it her understanding that under equestrian rules, there needs to be enough paddock space to accommodate horses and she asked how many horses are likely to be kept. Nikki Carter stated that she has referred to the DEFRA Code of Practice for the welfare of horses and there are recommended sizes of fields per horse. She advised members that the applicant also owns further paddock land to the north of the site.

Proposed by Councillor Benney, seconded by Councillor Skoulding and agreed that the application be APPROVED as per the officer’s recommendation.

To determine the application

David Rowen presented the report to Members.

Members received a written representation, under the Public Participation Procedure, from Matt Gosling, the Agent, which was read out by Member Services. 

Mr Gosling apologised for not being able to attend in person, but thanked committee for the opportunity tosubmit thesupporting statement for theirconsideration.  He stated that the applicant previously redeveloped the donor site known as Magnolia Cottage back in2013/14 by replacing a rundown cottage with a purpose built modern dwellingto suit their housing needs and, having now lived in the village for around 7 years, they find themselvesoutgrowing their present home with limited opportunity to extend and achieve their requiredlevel of accommodation.

Mr Gosling stated the applicant does not want to leave the village and having not been able to find a  suitablesized property forsale elsewhere in thevillage has proposed the scheme before the committee today, which provides the level of accommodation they require fortheir expandingfamily andthe caseofficer’s considerationstates thedesign, scaleand appearance isdeemed acceptable.  He referred to the sequential test and the sites with permissions listed by the case officer,further considerationhas beengiven tothese sites and,whilst theyhave validplanning permissions, a search of the land agents websites reveals that none of the single plots areavailable for sale.

Mr Gosling stated that contact has been made with the owner of the site for the four dwellings west  of Magnolia Cottage and they have an email confirmation that all these plots are allocated, one bytheir daughter and the other three have been sold to individuals. He expressed the view that the other site in the sameflood risk area for a development of four comprising two detached dwellings and a pair of semi-detached dwellings is a) not for sale and b) not comparable with the application for a large, detacheddwelling.

Mr Gosling referred to Paragraph 158 of the NPPF, which states ‘development should not be allocated or permitted if thereare reasonably available sites appropriate for development in areas of lower risk of flooding” and, in his view, itseems unfair that the authority are considering sites preferable that are in the same flood riskarea when theyare notfor sale which mustrender themunavailable.  He expressed the opinion, as stated in the Flood Risk Assessment, the site is considered ‘very low long term flood risk for surface water’compared toother approvedsites whichare ‘lowrisk’ inthe sameregard and itappears unreasonable that they are considered preferable just because they have a valid permission inplace yetthe applicationsite has alower probabilityof flooding.

Mr Gosling stated, with regard to the concerns of overlooking from the owners of Ivy cottage, the applicants areprepared to obscure glaze the two small first floor side windows and provide privacy screeningto the side wall of the balcony by way of  ...  view the full minutes text for item P25/21

To consider the appeals report

David Rowen presented the appeals report to Members.

Members considered and noted the appeals report.