Agenda item

Strood Rural

 

Outline planning permission with some matters reserved (appearance landscaping layout and scale) for up to 225 residential dwellings including up to 25% affordable housing, introduction of structural planting and landscaping, informal public open space and children's play area, surface water flood mitigation and attenuation, vehicular access point from Town Road and associated ancillary works.

Discussion:

 

The Head of Planning outlined the application in detail. The application was for outline planning permission with some matters reserved (appearance landscaping layout and scale) for up to 225 residential dwellings including up to 25% affordable housing, introduction of structural planting and landscaping, informal public open space and children's play area, surface water flood mitigation and attenuation, vehicular access point from Town Road and associated ancillary works.

 

As set out in the supplementary advice sheet, further representations had been made as follows:

 

• Letters from SAVE Cliffe Woods Community, Higham Parish Council and also Cliffe and Cliffe Woods Parish Council (attached in full to the supplementary agenda)
• A supplementary note from Gladmans (attached in full to the supplementary agenda).
• Gravesend MP Adam Holloway had written in support of objections from Gravesend local residents that objected to the proposed development.

• 8 further letters of representations had been received expressing concern about the impact of the proposed development on the existing infrastructure, school, doctor surgery, community facilities and capacity of the highway network to cope with additional demand resulting from the future occupiers of the proposed development.

 

In May 2017 the Committee had refused Gladman’s application for the development of the application site for the erection of up to 225 residential dwellings.

 

Following a public inquiry, the planning inspector recommended that the appeal be allowed. However, in September 2017 the appeal was recovered by the Secretary of State (SoS) for determination. The SoS concluded that the proposed scheme was not in accordance with policies BNE25, S1 and S2 of the local plan. The SoS considered these local Plan Policies were not fully consistent with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and that Policies S1 and S2 ran counter to the objectives of the Framework to significantly boost the supply of homes, and that the weight that should be attached to Policies BNE25, S1and S2 should be reduced to moderate weight and that the conflict with them in terms of protection of the countryside also carried moderate weight.

 

The SoS dismissed the appeal on 2 grounds. Firstly, that although Medway could not demonstrate a 5 years housing land supply, the presumption in favour of sustainable development did not apply because of the effect of paragraph 177 of the NPPF and the need for an assessment to consider the impacts on nearby Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and European protection areas.

 

Secondly, the SoS considered that the local bus service operated within hours that started too late and ended too early to make the bus service usable for potential commuters for work to the main town and London whether part-time or full time and therefore did not offer a sustainable alternative to the private car. He did not feel that the Arriva click proposal put forward by the appellants at appeal had been fully thought through to deliver a workable solution.

 

The SoS concluded that planning permission should be refused.

 

Since then the revised NPPF had been amended to say that the presumption in favour of sustainable development did not apply where the plan or project was likely to have a significant effect on a habitat’s site unless an assessment had concluded that it would not adversely affect the integrity of the habitats site. Following such an assessment, Natural England had no objection subject to the financial contribution being made by the applicant to carry out mitigation measures to protect the habitat sites. The applicant had agreed to the contribution.

 

This therefore removed the first reason for the SoS dismissing the appeal leaving the second reason relating to sustainability and appropriate alternative to the private car through the provision of a bus service as the only issue for the Committee to address.

 

With the permission of the Committee Councillors Mrs Turpin and Williams addressed the Committee as ward councillors.

 

Councillor Williams objected to the loss of 10.9ha of agricultural land, that the application was contrary to the Local Plan (development in the countryside), an increase in congestion and deterioration in air quality and that the proposed shuttle bus did not address the issue of the poor bus service in the area and would only be in place for five years.

 

Councillor Mrs Turpin objected on the basis that the development was not sustainable and would lead to a dependence on private cars. Also, the proposed shuttle service would only assist commuters and would only be in place for 5 years.

 

Some Members considered the application should be refused on the grounds that the development was not sustainable. The Head of Planning advised that the Council’s external legal advisor considered that the shuttle bus proposal largely, if not entirely, overcame the Council’s argument at the appeal stage that the transport element of the scheme was not sustainable. If the application was refused, there was no likelihood of the Council winning any appeal and significant costs may be awarded against the authority. The proposal that the application be refused was put to the vote but not agreed  by the Committee.

 

Decision:

 

Approved subject to:

 

a)         A Section 106 agreement being entered into to secure the following:

 

i)        A minimum of 25% (equal to 56) affordable dwelling houses.

 

ii)        A contribution of £302,757.75 towards nursery school provision Cliffe Woods independent pre-school (on the site of Cliffe Woods Primary School) and/or Temple Mill Primary School

 

iii)       A contribution of £743,132.25 towards Cliffe Woods Primary and/or St Helens Primary and/or Temple Mill and/or a new free school in the area.

 

iv)       A contribution of £471,047.40 towards Hundred of Hoo Academy and/or a new free school in the area

 

v)       A contribution of £138,836.25 towards the provision of a community healthy living centre in the Hoo/Isle of grain area.

 

vi)       A contribution of £17,194.50 towards the provision of Youth Service to offer support for young people in the Cliff woods area.

 

vii)      A contribution of £53,455.50 towards improvements to sports centre provision on Hoo Peninsula

 

viii)     A contribution of £8,900 towards mitigation and signage on the PROW network in Cliffe Woods only and to contribute towards measures to reduce illegal use of PROW measures for Bingham Boughs, Ratly Hills and Chattenden Woods.

 

ix)       A contribution of £37,993.5 towards Waste and recycling to provide household containers for the collection of Recycling – use once bags and 240ltr wheeled brown bins to each property for the collection of food and garden waste.

 

x)       A contribution of £229,055.16 to improve open space facilities within the vicinity of the development including improvement of Cliffe Woods Recreation Ground, sports provision in the area. As well as Great Lines Heritage Park to enhance open space facilities.

 

xi)       A contribution of £574,692.00 to provide a new bus shuttle service between the development site, Strood Railway station and Strood Town centre from the date of occupation of the 25^th dwelling for 5 years post commencement of the bus service. Representing cost per annum for the year 1 to 5 as follows

          Y1- £109,333; Y2- £112,067; Y3- £114,868; Y4- £117,740 and Y5- £120,684.

 

xii)      Provision of payment of £50 of Arriva bus service credit to each household upon the first occupation of each dwelling by the first occupier.

 

xiii)     A contribution of £10,000.00 toward bus shelter and associated seating and real-time information board improvement at Cliff Woods in the southern end of View Road (Chatham bound).

 

xiv)     A contribution of up to £5,000 for an investigation into the possibility of reducing traffic speed on B2000 through Cliffe Woods village to 20mph.

 

xv)      A contribution of £5,000 towards safer routes to schools initiatives in Cliffe Woods and updating the school travel plan

 

xvi)     Provision of land for an allotment with associated hard-surfaced parking spaces covering an area not less than 0.9 hectares within the northern section of the landmarked blue. The allotment to include provision of the following;

 

·       Provision for up to 8 car parking spaces and turning area close to the vehicular access point to the allotment site from Buckland Road.

·       Provision of security fence enclosure comprising 1.8m high palisade fence with associated vehicular access gates from Buckland Road and pedestrian access gate(s) from the south.

·       Provision of water and electricity supplies for the use by the future users of the allotment site.

·       The freehold ownership and management of the allotment land shall be transfer the Cliffe and Cliffe Woods Parish Council.

·       The above steps shall be completed no later than the occupation of the 100^th dwellings. 

 

xvii)    The amenity area within the blue land measuring no less than 1.68 ha shall be provided no later than the occupation of 100^th dwellings and be retained and maintained in perpetuity by the management company as part of wider public open space associated with this development.

 

xviii)    Contribution of £53,455.50 towards improvements to Cliffe Woods Community Centre.

 

(xix)    Contribution of £35,000 towards improvement of the local cycle provision.

 

b)         Conditions 1 – 29 as set out in the report for the reasons stated in the report

 

c)          An additional Condition 30 as follows:

 

Details of a cycle path connecting from the application site to Buckland Road shall be provided prior to the occupation of the 50th dwelling. The cycle path shall thereafter be maintained.

 

Reason: In the interests of highway safety and enhancement of cycle provision and in compliance with Policy T4 of the Medway Local Plan 2003.