Agenda item

Residential Development of 46 no. affordable homes including access.

The Committee considered a report of the Senior Planning Officer regarding residential development of 46 no. affordable homes including access on land to the south of Crow Trees Lane, Bowburn (for copy see file of Minutes).

Chris Baxter, Senior Planning Officer provided the Committee with a detailed presentation which included photographs of the site and a plan of the proposed layout.  Members of the Committee had visited the site and were familiar with the location and setting.

The Senior Planning Officer informed the Committee that the Plan Reference Number in Condition 2 of the recommendation regarding External Finishes should read Revision E rather than D.  Additionally, because the surface water from the site would run off to a wetland area in an adjacent field, there was no longer a requirement for a biodiversity contribution.  The Senior Planning Officer confirmed that Ecology Officers were satisfied with this.

Councillor Blakey, local member, addressed the Committee to object to the application.  She referred the Committee to photographs which had been circulated showing the problem with parking encountered on Crow Trees Lane particularly around school starting and finishing times each day.  Traffic on the road travelled at fast speeds despite attempts to have it slowed.  There was concern that surface water from the site flowing into the wetland area situated on the adjacent field to the south east of the application site could result in homes being flooded and this site was not appropriate for development.

Mr Richard Cowan, Chairman of the Bowburn and Parkhill Community Partnership addressed the Committee to comment on the application.  He informed the Committee that he travelled Crow Trees Lane on a regular basis and had great concern at parking issues on the road and the proposed installation of double kerbing could lead to vehicles parking further on the bend on the road or towards the junction with Old Quarrington Road, which would have an impact on visibility.  Currently, vehicles parked on both sides of the road during school drop off and pick up times, which caused traffic to travel in the middle of the road.  There had been complaints about parking in this area for some time and Mr Cowan requested the Committee to consider this when determining the application.

The Senior Planning Officer informed the Committee that the County Ecologist had expressed concern that the wetland area may dry up and be lost as a result of this development.  However, following the submission of drainage details from the applicant, the County ecologist was now satisfied that this area would be retained.

John McGargill, Highway Development Manager, informed the Committee that it was proposed to displace parking from the access to the development to enable safe visibility splays.  Yellow line restrictions would still allow for dropping off and picking up of passengers, and it was therefore proposed to introduce double kerbing on a stretch of Crow Trees Lane.  Standard kerb heights were approximately 6”, whereas double kerbs were 12” in height which made it virtually impossible to pull onto the highway verge and open vehicle doors.  The installation of double kerbs was a condition attached to the planning permission.  Although it was acknowledged that the introduction of double kerbs would not reduce the number of vehicles in the location, drivers would look to park elsewhere, possibly within the proposed development itself.

Alastair Willis, agent for the applicant, addressed the Committee.  The proposed development would be of high quality and would deliver new homes with a significant emphasis on delivering affordable housing for local needs.  The developer had already secured HCA grant allocation, supported by the Council’s housing officers, for the first 20 properties to be delivered as affordable rent homes, and rents would be capped at 80% of market rents.   The development included a mixture of housing types and would contribute towards reducing the significant affordable housing requirements in the County.  It had been demonstrated through the planning submission that with all emerging site allocations and existing permissions, there was still a demonstrable shortage of affordable housing supply in all areas of the County.

In addition to the variety of property sizes, the scheme also included a number of bungalows which were in short supply and would ensure the development was accessible to a wide cross-section of society.

A number of betterments had been included in the proposed scheme following consultation with County Council officers, including the introduction of double kerbing and the provision of additional visitor parking on the access to the site.

Councillor Conway informed the Committee that he was impressed by the application and the affordability aspect attached to it.  While double kerbing may alleviate the problem of parking on Crow Trees Road, Councillor Conway asked what the construction period would be for the development and where workers would park during construction, as this could exacerbate parking problems on Crow Trees Road.  The Senior Planning Officer replied that a construction management plan could include details of on-site parking during construction of the development.  Mr Willis added that an 18 month construction period was proposed.

Councillor Robinson referred to paragraph 88 of the report and the developer’s contribution of £46,000 towards green infrastructure and public art and suggested that this also include traffic calming and highways measures.  Councillor Robinson also asked that while the proposal was for 100% affordable housing, whether the level of 20% affordable housing referred to in paragraph 87 had been secured by agreement.  The Senior Planning Officer replied that although the scheme proposed 100% affordable housing, the Council could only seek a 20% level of affordable housing by legal agreement.  Measures for double kerbing on Crow Trees Lane would be secured through a planning condition.  Councillor Robinson requested that the scope for spending the £46,000 be widened to areas other than public art.  Councillor Taylor, upon taking advice from the Planning and Development Solicitor, replied that this could be possible.

The Senior Planning Officer informed the Committee that the developer contribution was linked to Policies R1 and R2 of the City of Durham Local Plan which did not refer to highway improvements.  Any additional highway improvements to those already proposed would therefore be an additional sum to the £46,000.  Mr Willis added that while the developers were keen to work with the Local Authority he was concerned that if additional highway improvement works were included in the s106 agreement, this may not meet the Community Infrastructure Levy test.

Councillor Conway Moved approval of the application, subject to the production of a construction management plan to address the parking issue of construction works on site.

Following the discussion by Members regarding highways issues, the Senior Planning Officer proposed that condition 3 of the planning permission be amended to read ‘a detailed scheme for highway safety improvements’ rather than ‘a detailed scheme for the kerb improvements’.  The Highway Development Manager added that any additional traffic calming measures would need to be considered in detail.

Councillor Robinson Seconded approval of the application.  Upon a vote being taken it was

Resolved:

That the application be approved subject to the conditions detailed within the report with the following amendments and subject to the completion of a legal agreement pursuant to Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990:

a)    that the Plan Reference Number in Condition 2 of the recommendation regarding External Finishes read Revision E rather than D.

b)    that the requirement for a biodiversity contribution be removed

c)     that a construction management plan include details of parking for on-site workers during the period of construction

d)    that condition 3 of the planning permission be amended to read ‘a detailed scheme for highway safety improvements’ rather than ‘a detailed scheme for the kerb improvements’