Agenda item

Hybrid application for the erection of a 57 bed care home, community hub/retail units, 20 affordable bungalows and outline permission for 61 residential units

The Committee considered a report of the Senior Planning Officer regarding a hybrid application for the erection of a 57 bed care home, community hub/retail units, 20 affordable bungalows and outline permission for 61 residential units on land near to Hargill Road And Railway Street, Howden-le-Wear (for copy see file of Minutes)

S Pilkington, Senior Planning Officer gave a detailed presentation on the application which included a site location plan, photographs of the site and setting and proposed layout.  Members of the Committee had visited the site the previous day and were familiar with the location and setting.

Councillor A Patterson, local Member, addressed the Committee to object to the application.  Councillor Patterson informed the Committee that she was representing all three Councillors for the Crook electoral division as well as the residents of Howden-le-Wear.

There had been over 170 objections to this application from residents in Howden-le-Wear which represented nearly ¹/₄  of households in the village.  The proposed scheme was proposing a new care home and retail units and was too big which would result in it having an adverse effect on the community.  The site was not in a sustainable location and there was a lack of need for the development, as well as a lack of an access road.

The development was proposing a community hub, however, such facilities already existed in the village, with the Victoria Centre, the Methodist Community Room and also the village hall which had recently undergone a £¹/₄ m refurbishment.  The proposed retail units would not be sustainable with some shops in the village centre being empty for a number of years.  The proposed access was along a lane with one way in and one way out which could lead to parking, obstruction and speeding problems.  There was direct access onto the lane from the local primary school and concerns had been expressed that road safety measures would be needed if the application was to be approved.

The local school was already oversubscribed and the neighbouring school in Crook was not on a direct bus route, which would lead to an increased use of cars to transport pupils to school.  The proposed development would include a 57 bed care home, yet a care home already existed in Crook which was 1 mile away.

The proposed development was outside the development plan limits for the village and was in open countryside.  It would lead to the loss of mature trees and the adverse effects to the community were too great.  Councillor Patterson asked the Committee to refuse the application.

Mr M Allen, local resident, addressed the Committee to object to the application.  There was united opposition to the scheme in Howden-le-Wear and residents considered the proposed development to be out of scale, unwanted, unacceptable and deeply flawed.  There had been over 170 objections to the development which represented nearly ¹/₄  of households in the village.  There was a level and united nature of disapproval for the scheme by residents in Howden-le-Wear.

The proposed development would have a negative transformational effect on Howden-le-Wear which would change the village feel which currently existed.  While the need for development was recognised, any development should be appropriate and scaled in consultation with the local community.  Mr Allen asked the Committee to reject the application.

Mr Twyman, representative of the applicant, addressed the Committee in support of the application.

Paragraphs 100, 132 and 137 in the report all related to the design of the proposed buildings.  However, feedback from residents was that they did not want the character of the village to change and so the development had been designed to blend in with the village.

The settlement plan of Howden-le-Wear was extending along the roads and therefore any new houses which were built would follow along the roads.  Phase 1 of the development would be in a in secluded core area and the visual impact would be reduced, with trees will obscuring the view of the buildings.

Paragraph 78 in the report referred to the proposed development having no direct links into the centre of Howden-le-Wear, yet this applied to many streets in the village.  Paragraphs 96 and 97 of the report referred again to the design of the proposed buildings being poor, yet they had a high degree of resemblance to the local village pattern.

Referring to public transport, Mr Twyman informed the Committee that Howden-le-Wear was a village in a rural location and as such many residents chose to walk rather than use a bus.

The proposed development would have low pitched roofs, the properties were not over embellished and reflected the local build vernacular.  Existing trees and ecology would be protected.

Mr Twyman asked the Committee to approve the application.

Councillor Jewell informed the Committee that the application was unusual in that it was two separate developments on two different sites.  The development would encroach onto open countryside and was not fully sustainable and appeared to be a development within a community without support from the community.  He considered it would have a negative effect on the area as a whole and moved that the application be refused.

Councillor P Taylor praised the representations put forward by the local Member and local resident.  The concerns of local residents were massive and the application was a poor and unacceptable development on green and agricultural land.  It was a fragmented development which was away from the community and Councillor Taylor seconded refusal of the application.

Upon a vote being taken it was

Resolved:

That the application be refused for the reasons contained in the report.