To authorise the Chairman to sign the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 17 December 2020 as a correct record of the proceedings.

The Chairman was authorised to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 17 December 2020 at a later date as a correct record of the proceedings.

There were no apologies for absence.

To receive any disclosure by Members of personal and disclosable pecuniary interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the Member regards the personal interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct.  Members are reminded of the need to repeat their declaration immediately prior to the commencement of the item in question.

Declarations of interest were made by Councillors in the Minutes as indicated below:

Prochak          Agenda Item 7 – Personal Interest in so far as her husband was Chairman of the local Campaign to Protect Rural England who made comments on the application and she was acquainted with an objector to the application as they had worked on the “REMAIN Campaign”.

Outline planning permissions are granted subject to approval by the Council of reserved matters before any development is commenced, which are layout, scale, appearance, access and landscaping.  Unless otherwise stated, every planning permission or outline planning permission is granted subject to the development beginning within three years from the date of the permission.  In regard to outline permissions, reserved matters application for approval must be made within three years from the date of the grant of outline permission; and the development to which the permission relates must begin no later than whichever is the later of the following dates: the expiration of three years from the date of the grant of outline permission or, the expiration of two years from the final approval of the reserved matters, or in the case of approval on different dates, the final approval of the last such matters to be approved.

In certain circumstances the Planning Committee will indicate that it is only prepared to grant or refuse planning permission if, or unless, certain amendments to a proposal are undertaken or subject to completion of outstanding consultations.  In these circumstances the Head of Service Strategy and Planning can be given delegated authority to issue the decision of the Planning Committee once the requirements of the Committee have been satisfactorily complied with.  A delegated decision does not mean that planning permission or refusal will automatically be issued.  If there are consultation objections, difficulties, or negotiations are not satisfactorily concluded, then the application will have to be reported back to the Planning Committee.  This delegation also allows the Head of Service Strategy and Planning to negotiate and amend applications, conditions, reasons for refusal and notes commensurate with the instructions of the Committee.  Any applications which are considered prior to the expiry of the consultation reply period are automatically delegated for a decision.

RESOLVED: That the Planning Applications be determined as detailed below.

DECISION: It be RESOLVED to GRANT (FULL PLANNING)

CONDITIONS:

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

Reason: In accordance with section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended by section 51 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004). 

2.   The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved plans described as:   

      6236/19/10/LP/B, dated September 20  

6236/19/10/2/D, dated September 20  

6236/19/10/1/C, dated December 20  

6236/10/3, dated October 2020  

Reason: For the avoidance of doubt and in the interests of proper planning. 

3.   The materials to be used in the construction of the development hereby permitted shall be as described within the application, with bricks to match the existing buildings, timber left to weather naturally and roof sheeting to reflect the natural colours of grey/green as set out in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Colour Study unless otherwise agreed in writing by the local planning authority. 

Reason: To maintain the characteristics of the existing farmyard buildings and its appearance within the High Weald AONB in accordance with Policies OSS4 (iii), EN1 (i) of the Rother Local Plan Core Strategy (2014) and Policies DEN1 and DEN2 of the Development and Site Allocations Local Plan (2019). 

4.   The building hereby permitted shall only be used for the purposes of storage associated with agriculture and/or forestry, as defined in Section 336 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and for the storage of hay for use with the Applicant’s equestrian business and for no other purpose.

Reason: To ensure that only buildings essential to the running of an agricultural unit and associated rural business on the site are provided in the countryside in accordance with Policies RA2 and RA3 of the Rother Local Plan Core Strategy

5.    All hard and soft landscape works shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details. The works shall be carried out prior to the occupation of any part of the barn development or in accordance with the programme agreed with the local planning authority and if within a period of five years from the date of the planting any tree or plant is removed, uprooted, destroyed or dies, [or becomes, in the opinion of the local planning authority, seriously damaged or defective] another tree or plant of the same species and size as that originally planted shall be planted at the same place, unless the local planning authority gives its written consent to any variation.

Reason: To maintain the visual amenities of the surrounding area in accordance with Policies OSS4 (iii) and EN1 (i) of the Rother Local Plan Core Strategy (2014) and Policies DEN1 and DEN2 of the Development and Site Allocations Local Plan (2019).

6.   No floodlighting or other external means of illumination of the barn shall be provided, installed or operated at the site without a further planning permission. 

Reason: To  ...  view the full minutes text for item PL20/74.

DECISION: It be RESOLVED to GRANT (FULL PLANNING)

CONDITIONS:

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

Reason: In accordance with section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended by section 51 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004).

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

5490-20-LPB Location Block Plan

5490-20-1-C Proposed Development Block Plan 07 01 2021

5490/20/2/A Proposed Semi-Detached Houses 07 01 2021

5490/20/3/B Street-Scene 07 01 2021

5490/V3 - 3D View 17 11 2020

Reason: For the avoidance of doubt and in the interests of proper planning.

3.      No development above ground level shall take place until 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.

Reason: To ensure that the development reflects the character and/or appearance of the existing building and to preserve the visual amenities of the area in accordance with Policy OSS4(iii) of the Rother Local Plan Core Strategy.

4.        The dwellings hereby permitted shall not be occupied until the parking spaces to serve the new properties, as shown on approved Drawing No. 5490/20/1/C, have been provided to the satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority. The approved parking shall be permanently retained thereafter to serve the properties and shall not be used for any other purpose.

Reason: To provide on-site parking to the standards adopted by the Local Planning Authority, to avoid on-street parking and, thereby, to ensure that the development does not impede the free-slow of traffic on the highway, to the detriment of highway safety and visual amenity.

5.      No development shall commence until a scheme of foul water drainage works (which shall be designed in accordance with sustainable drainage principles) has been submitted to and agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority, in consultation with the Local Lead Flood Authority.  The dwellings hereby permitted shall not be occupied until the approved foul water drainage works to serve the development have been implemented and are operational in accordance with the approved details and to the satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority.

Reason: The details required are integral to the whole development to ensure the satisfactory handling/disposal of foul-water generated by the development and to prevent water pollution in accordance with Policies OSS4 (iii), SRM2 and EN7 of the Rother Local Plan Core Strategy.

6.        No development shall commence until a detailed surface water drainage system (SUDS) has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority, the SUDS details shall include:

a)    detailed drawings and hydraulic calculations, which shall take account of the connectivity of the different surface-water drainage features and shall demonstrate that surface-water run-off can be managed without increasing flood-risk for all rainfall events, including  ...  view the full minutes text for item PL20/75.

The Housing Land Supply Position Statement (HLSPS) identified the supply of dwellings on sites that were allocated or had planning permission and allocations and, showed the extent to which existing plans fulfilled the requirement to maintain a rolling 5-year supply of deliverable land in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).  In November 2020, the Council’s latest HLSPS was published which detailed its Housing Land Supply (HLS) position as at 1 April 2020.

As the adopted Local Plan Core Strategy (CS) was now more than five years old, in accordance with the NPPF, the Council was required to measure the 5-year HLS position against its minimum local housing need (LHN) using the new standard method calculation detailed in the Planning Practice Guidance.  As at 1 April 2020, the LHN figure for Rother was 736 dwellings per annum.  This was based on household projections, affordability and any appropriate cap to the LHN and a sharp contrast to 484 dwellings per annum identified in the CS.

As of April 2020, the number of outstanding dwellings with planning permission was 2,823; an increase in permitted sites since the beginning of the Local Plan (LP) timeframe.  From April 2011, 1,826 net additional dwellings had been completed; an average of 203 per annum.  It was noted that the annual housing requirement had not yet been achieved during the plan period.  Due to the considerable uplift in the housing figure from the adopted CS target to the LHN figure, the Council was only able to identify 2.87 years of housing supply.

The absence of a 5-year supply of deliverable housing sites meant that the development boundaries and related restrictions on development in the countryside would need to be acknowledged as being ‘out-of-date’.  As the Council could no longer demonstrate a 3-year supply, the general presumption in favour of sustainable development would now be a critical reference point when determining planning applications involving the provision of housing in neighbourhood areas that had a made Neighbourhood Plan (NP) e.g. Crowhurst, Rye, Salehurst and Robertsbridge, Sedlescombe and Ticehurst.  Therefore, development was no longer constrained by policies in the adopted NP.

Members noted that work had commenced on developing the Council’s new LP in conjunction with the Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment.  A new housing target for the District would be established within the new LP and a timetable to produce the document would be published in early 2021.

During discussion the following salient points were noted:

·         The new LHN figure (736 units per annum) did not take account of local circumstances; a significant percentage of the District was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).  The Council had a duty to protect and enhance the natural beauty of the AONB, as well as RAMSAR (wetlands of importance) and green spaces across the District.

·         Disappointing that the Council was expected to achieve unrealistic targets set by the Government (not evidence based).  Important to lobby both MPs to address set targets.

·         Targets should reflect and meet the  ...  view the full minutes text for item PL20/76.

Members noted the report on Appeals that had been started, allowed or dismissed since the Committee’s last meeting, together with the list of forthcoming Hearings and Inquiries. 

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

Tuesday 16 February 2021 at 8:30am departing from the Town Hall, Bexhill - TBC.

Due to the current national pandemic situation, site inspections would only be held, if necessary.  The next site inspection was scheduled to be held on Tuesday 16 February 2021 at 8:30am departing from the Town Hall, Bexhill.  Members would be notified should site inspections be held.