Agenda item

Conversion of redundant storage/workshop building to form a single dwelling (resubmission of DM/15/01122/FPA)

Consideration was given to the report of the Planning Officer regarding an application for the conversion of redundant storage/workshop building to form a single dwelling.

The Senior Planning Officer gave a detailed presentation which included plans and photographs of the site.

A late representation had been received from Sedgefield Town Council and Councillor A Wills had attended to put forward representations on their behalf.  He referred to the previous application which had been refused and the subsequent appeal which had been dismissed by the Planning Inspector.  With regards to Paragraph 55 of the NPPF, no special circumstances had been presented by the applicant to satisfy that the building was capable of conversion or reuse without substantial or complete rebuilding, and no structural assessments or building surveys had been carried out to establish whether the building was safe to be converted.  The only addition to the original application was a visual assessment by a chartered building engineer and chartered surveyor, however this had still not determined that the building was sound or capable of conversion.  He referred to the outcome of the appeal which had concluded that the development was unacceptable as it would be in an isolated, and thereby unsustainable, location.  He advised that any business which had previously been carried out at the site, had ceased in 1993 and the building had not been used since, nor had there been any attempt to clean up the site.  The appeal was dismissed on the basis that it did not satisfy the criteria of the NPPF - it did not amount to a sustainable form of development, contrary to the overarching sustainability objectives of the Framework.  Therefore on behalf of the Town Council, he reiterated their opposition to the application and urged the Committee to refuse it.

Councillor Tinsley advised that the Committee could not support the application on the sole basis that the site would be cleaned up and considering there had been no material change since the original application, he moved the recommendation to refuse.

Councillor Davidson agreed that there was nothing contained in the report which would overturn the original decision and that of the Planning Inspector and seconded the recommendation.

In response to a query from Councillor Wilson, the Senior Planning Officer confirmed that the site was subject to a standard contaminated land condition, however there had been no issues raised with regards to contamination and there had been some work undertaken to remove waste from the site.

Resolved

That the application be refused on the grounds outlined in the report.