Agenda item

Hempstead and Wigmore

Construction of a five bed detached dwelling house with attached garage and associated parking together with a new access road.

Discussion:   

In the absence of the Chairman, the Vice Chairman chaired the meeting for this planning application.

The Head of Planning outlined the planning application in detail and suggested that if the Committee was minded to approve the application, the wording of proposed condition 3 be amended, details of which were set out on the supplementary agenda advice sheet.

With the agreement of the Committee, Councillor Rodney Chambers OBE addressed the Committee as Ward Councillor and raised the following concerns:

·         Whilst the application states that it is adjacent to 11 Honeysuckle Close, this is misleading as it has no frontage onto Honeysuckle Close and will be a property in Claridge Court.

·         Residents in Claridge Court are opposed to this planning application for the reasons set out on page 48 of the agenda and are concerned as to the impact that this development will have upon their quality of life, particularly in respect of overdevelopment and access and the possible precedent that this could create if approved.

·         If the application is approved, the revised wording of proposed condition 3 is welcomed.

The Committee discussed the application and sought further information as to the concerns from residents of overshadowing.

In response, the Head of Planning advised that when assessing an application, officers were required to have regard to BSE Guidelines relating to overshadowing. He confirmed that an assessment of overshadowing for this development indicated that overshadowing at No. 5 Claridge Court would only affect the front garden but not at a level that would render it unusable and there would be no impact on the rear garden of this property. Overshadowing at no.s 296 and 298 Hempstead Road would be in the afternoon but not at a level to justify refusal.

Decision:

Approved with conditions 1 – 2 and 4 - 11 as set out in the report for the reasons stated in the report and condition 3 amended as follows:

3          No development shall take place until a Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) that describes measures to control, amongst other matters, hours of working, noise, dust, access for construction traffic into the site and lighting arising from the construction phase of the development has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.  The construction works shall be undertaken in accordance with this approved plan.

Reason: Required before commencement of development in order to minimise the impact of the construction period on the amenities of local residents with regard to Policy BNE2 of the Medway Local Plan 2003.