Agenda item

To determine the application.

Gavin Taylor presented the report to members.

Members received a presentation, in accordance with the public participation procedure from Shanna Jackson, the agent. Mrs Jackson stated that the application is for a barn conversion in Manea and the principle of development is acceptable in accordance with policy LP3. She explained that she has worked closely with officers to achieve the scheme before the committee which has a recommendation for approval.

Mrs Jackson explained that the character of the existing barn has been respected and all external alterations have been kept to a minimum and, therefore, the visual impact of the works will be negligible. She explained that the ground floor windows will be obscured by the existing and proposed boundary treatments and the proposed first floor windows which directly face neighbouring properties will also be obscure glazed.

Mrs Jackson stated that the officer’s report states that there will be no overlooking or loss of privacy as a result of the development. She expressed the view that the proposal will provide a generous garden and has ample parking and turning space and there have been no objections received from any statutory consultees including the Parish Council and the application is also acceptable in policy terms and she asked the committee to support the proposal.

Members asked Mrs Jackson the following questions:

·         Councillor Marks stated that the word reinstate has been used and, in his opinion, double glazed doors are not something which are reinstated, and he asked for clarification. Mrs Jackson stated that it has not been a house previously but there were existing openings there which are being reintroduced as part of the proposal. She referred to the front elevation drawing and explained that there is small amount of boarding that is being introduced to facilitate the door and the window next to it.

·         Councillor Gerstner asked for the detail with regards to bin collection arrangements. Mrs Jackson stated that she is unaware of the distance, however, the residents will be able to wheel the bins down the private driveway in order for them to be collected from the back edge of the highway. She referred to a previous appeal decision where it was discussed that if the bins need to be wheeled more than 30 metres then that is not something that would be supported by the Planning Inspector and she added that she is comfortable that adequate amenity is in place to comply with case law and the appeal decisions received. Councillor Gerstner stated that his concern is that he has seen other developments where bins can be left out early and collected days later after bin collection causing issues for pedestrians, wheelchair and pram users. Mrs Jackson made the point that nobody can control the behaviour of those residents and she added that all she can do is to ensure that there is space on the site for the bins to be stored which there is.

·         Councillor Connor questioned whether the applicant would consider entering into a private bin collection service to alleviate the concerns of the committee? Mrs Jackson stated that if that was an essential requirement in order to gain approval it could be something to be given consideration, however, she added that she would question whether it would be reasonable to expect that given the fact that the application is acceptable in policy terms.

·         Councillor Hicks expressed the opinion that he does not feel that the distance that the residents need to take their bins to the collection point is an excessive distance. Mrs Jackson expressed the view that she does not think that the distance is excessive either and there are so many cases in Fenland where residents are wheeling their bins further than that to be collected.

·         Councillor Marks stated that he knows School Lane well and it does have a narrow footpath. He asked Mrs Jackson whether there was the possibility of incorporating a bin storage point by the entrance gate to the dwelling rather than a private bin collection which he does not feel is a good idea. Mrs Jackson stated that she has control over the land to the west and, therefore, a little pocket of land could be included for bin storage.

·         Councillor Benney asked whether the building has ever had any connection with agriculture as the application description is a barn conversion but when looking at the houses in the vicinity some of them in School Lane appear to look quite old and the building looks more like a brick shed, in his opinion, rather than a barn. Mrs Jackson stated that she is not aware of the history of the building which she stated was historic and is reasonably attractive as it includes some old features on it.

Members asked officers the following questions:

·         Councillor Connor asked for clarification over the definition of a barn? Gavin Taylor stated that there is no definition in planning terms as to what constitutes a barn.

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

·         Councillor Hicks expressed the opinion the officers have made the correct recommendation of approval, with it being a building which definitely needs to be put back into use and at the current time it looks like a house with bricked up windows rather than a barn. He made the point that there is very good access to the site and, in his view, the bins can easily be walked out for collection, and he will fully support the proposal.

·         Councillor Marks stated that he does not see any issue with the bins being left for collection, adding that School Lane can be busy at school time with traffic and pedestrians. He expressed the view that he is pleased to see the building being brought back into use although he does find the definition of a barn to be somewhat unusual. Councillor Marks added that his only concern is the centre of the village of Manea does appear to be suffering from major flooding issues which he hopes can be overcome, however, he will fully support the application.

·         Councillor Benney stated that he will support the application which has an officer recommendation for approval, however, in his opinion, the access to the site is terrible but the committee have determined other applications which have been refused where the access point is worse than the current application. He made the point that the access is poor, and the proposal will be detrimental to the house or bungalow which is next door and he does not consider the application to be a barn as, in his view, it is a brick building, however, as it is policy compliant, he will approve it. Councillor Benney referred to the previous application where the officers stated that it would be detrimental to the character of the area, but, in his opinion, the current application appears to be cramming a dwelling into where residents are going to be coming in and out of an access and he questioned whether that is going to cause more harm than the previous application in Murrow. He expressed the view that the proposal appears to have less qualities than the previous application which had a recommendation for refusal and reiterated the point that he will support the proposal because it meets with planning policy.

·         Councillor Hicks stated that he would rather reuse the building than redevelop on the site.

·         Councillor Imafidon expressed the view that it is a beautiful historic building already on site and, therefore, the footprint will not be affected, along with flooding and traffic concerns. He made the point that the access is a bit narrow, and he does have concern with regards to bin collection day and whether pedestrians and wheelchair users will be impacted if they have to negotiate bins left on the pavement. Councillor Imafidon stated that he believes that those persons may have to use the road, however, it is his belief that it may already be happening, but he welcomes the proposal, and he will support it as it will ensure a beautiful old building is brough back into use. He expressed the opinion that is a solid building and does not look to be an abandoned barn and whilst it is his understanding that it is currently being used to store items, he welcomes the fact that it should be brought back into proper residential use.

·         Councillor Marks stated that he welcomes the fact that the proposal is only for a small dwelling and, therefore, the number of vehicle movements will not be significant. He added that he agrees that the access is not ideal, however, had the proposal been for a far larger dwelling then he would have had far more concerns. Councillor Marks made the point that he will support the proposal as long as the issue with regards to the bin storage point can be resolved.

·         Councillor Gerstner stated that it would appear that there are interested parties stating that there are bats living within the current barn and asked whether there could be a condition added that the applicant mitigates the issue by installing bat boxes in the near vicinity and they have also raised concerns that there will be trees removed and, therefore, he would also like to see a condition for those trees removed to be replaced.

·         Gavin Taylor stated that with regards to the point raised with regards to the concerns over the bin collection, the County Council are the Waste and Mineral Authority and they have an adopted RECAP guidance which is a document that outlines how dwellings should be arranged in relation to bin collections and the guidance suggests that residents should not have to move their bins more than 30 metres to a collection point and that refuse operatives should not have to travel more than 25 metres to wheel the bin to the point of disposal. He added that he has undertaken an estimated measurement on the site plan, and it would appear that the distance is approximately 38 to 40 metres from the building to the pavement and officers would not recommend a refusal of the application due to the fact that the RECAP guidance has only been exceeded by 8 metres. Gavin Taylor made the point that he has considered the points raised with regards to collection and as the agent alluded to officers cannot dictate as to the behaviour of residents in their own environments including the possibility that they may block pavements with their bins, however, he advised the committee that to obstruct the pavement is a breach of the Highway Act. He made the point that if members wish to include a bin collection strategy with the scheme as has been done before where applications have been considered to be problematic, should members feel that it meets the test of planning condition so that it is reasonable, necessary and proportionately related then a condition could be secured to that effect, however, in his opinion, given the scale of the development he feels that it is not necessary. Gavin Taylor referred to the point made by Councillor Gerstner with regards to bats and birds and explained that condition 3 requires a bat survey to be undertaken if development has not commenced by July 2024 and condition 5 requires a scheme of bird and bat boxes which is recommended in the protected species survey report which is to be submitted. He explained that it would appear that there appears to be a good indication of what can be achieved with the scheme in terms of biodiversity enhancement and mitigation measures. Gavin Taylor added that with regards to appearance, the application proposes the conversion of an existing building which already sits within the street scene within the urban environment whereas the previous application was for a brand-new dwelling and, therefore, the two applications are distinctly different in terms of how they are assessed. He explained that national policy tries to endorse the effective reuse of existing buildings and the reuse of the embodied carbon which is in it and to not extend into the countryside and that is the assessment which has been undertaken in terms of an effective reuse of an existing building.

·         Councillor Connor stated that Mrs Jackson did state that some mitigation could be implemented in terms of a bin storage area and that should be followed up.

Proposed by Councillor Mrs French, seconded by Councillor Hicks and agreed that the application be GRANTED as per the officer’s recommendation.