Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Principal Planning Officer regarding an outline application for residential development with access to be considered (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Principal Planning Officer gave a detailed presentation on the application which included photographs of the site. Members had visited the site that day and were familiar with the location and setting.

With the agreement of the Chairman, the Applicant’s Agent Mr J Lavender provided a plan showing the location of the proposed development, other development sites in the village, facilities, bus routes and the village green.

In addressing the Committee J Lavender stated that there had been no objections to the proposals from statutory consultees and in his opinion the main barrier to the development was local planning policy. The report made reference to the NPPF, and that the Wear Valley Local Plan was the starting point for consideration, however J Lavender stated that this Plan was now 20 years old. He considered that the emerging County Durham Plan paid little regard to the future of villages. Sustainable communities could only develop from the bottom upwards and if planning applications such as this were refused then the village would continue to be unsustainable.

Witton Park used to be a Category D village and was now classed as a Tier 6 settlement with poor sustainability credentials. As such developments which would bring about the regeneration of Witton Park should be encouraged. He believed that if this application were to go ahead then other developments would follow.     

The focal point of the village was the recently registered village green and this development would consolidate the fragmented structure of the settlement around that green. It would also deliver much needed new housing, would adjoin the Park Road site, thereby adding cohesion and connectivity to the structure of Witton Park, and would represent a positive contribution towards building a sustainable community.

Councillor Richardson commented that other areas of land in the village had been granted planning permission but remained undeveloped. However the proposals would help to regenerate the area and whilst residents mainly travelled by car there was a bus service through the village with access to a range of shopping and other facilities.

Councillor Davidson, having listened to the views of the Agent, advised that he was not persuaded that this was a sustainable development. There were no proposals for the provision of further infrastructure in the village and he agreed with the reasons for refusal of the application which were outlined in the report.

In response to a query from Councillor Boyes about a rail halt shown on the plan circulated by the Agent, Members were informed that this had not come forward to date, and was not a material planning consideration to which any weight should be afforded in this instance.

The Chairman considered that a key issue for Members was that planning permission had been granted for other sites in the village, one of which included a retail unit. If these other sites were completed there may be a case for further developments in Witton Park.

In referring to the Agent’s presentation Councillor Clare agreed with J Lavender that if a community was not allowed to grow it would not become sustainable. However he concurred with the comments of the Chairman about the undeveloped sites and stated that if the village started to grow there may be an argument that more housing capacity was needed in Witton Park.

Resolved:

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