Outline application (access for approval) for residential development

The Principal Planning Officer introduced the outline application. She drew Members’ attention to the schedule of additional lettersand confirmed that Members had attended a site visit on Monday 22^nd September 2014 to assess the impact of the proposed development on neighbouring properties and the surrounding area.The Principal Planning Officer explained that following the reduction of houses from 37 to 12 and the offers of funds to provide a footpath, Officers were now recommending approval of the application and advised that an additional condition to limit the number of houses to no more than 12 be added to any permission granted.  She also confirmed that the Highways Agency had confirmed that 12 dwellings would have no detrimental impact on the A5 and had removed their holding objection.

Mr Stephen Haworth, representing West Felton Parish Plan Committee, spoke against the proposal in accordance with Shropshire Council’s Scheme for Public Speaking at Planning Committees during which the following points were raised:

·         Why did the report refer to 32 houses and not 12 as stated by the Principal Planning Officer;

·         It was not clear from the Officers report whether the boundary was the fence or the stonewall;

·         West Felton did not want any private market housing in the parish;

·         SAMDev should be given substantial weight;

·         Why did the Planning Authority not know agricultural land classifications;

·         The development would impact on listed buildings; and

·         There had been no arboricultural assessment in relation to the proposed footpath through Orchard Drive and Dovaston Court.

Mr Ian Hutchinson, representing West Felton Parish Council, spoke against the proposal in accordance with Shropshire Council’s Scheme for Public Speaking at Planning Committees during which the following points were raised:

·         Six months ago the Committee approved an application for 35 houses in West Felton against the community’s wishes;

·         The Government had since confirmed that inappropriate developments could be refused;

·         The site was classed as open countryside in SAMDev;

·         The Parish Council did not consider the application to be democratic, sensible or necessary; and

·         He urged the Committee to refuse the application.

Mr Martin Parish, agent for the applicant, spoke for the proposal in accordance with Shropshire Council’s Scheme for Public Speaking at Planning Committees during which the following points were raised:

·         The proposal had been reduced to 12 dwellings;

·         The application would not cause any ecological harm;

·         The application preserved a grade 2 listed structure; and

·         The application would not require Holyhead Road to be narrowed and included a footpath.

In accordance with Rule 6.1 of the Council Procedure Rules contained in Part 4 of Shropshire Council’s Constitution, Councillor Steve Charmley addressed the Committee as the Local Member, during which the following points were raised:

·         There had been no assessment of the woodland area;

·         The application would result in the overdevelopment of West Felton; and

·         He asked the Committee to uphold the wishes of the residents.

In response to questions raised by speakers and Members of the Committee, the Principal Planning Officer confirmed:

·      The application had been reduced in scale and an additional condition was advised to limit the number of houses to no more than 12;

·      The boundary was the stonewall as shown on the plan;

·      The grading of agricultural land was a matter for Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food(MAFF)and not the Council;

·      There was no proposal to have a footpath through Dovaston Court;

·      There was no detail at present in relation to the off-site footpath;

·      The developer had agreed to put forward a financial contribution towards the footpath;

·      There was no detail at present in relation to the sandstone wall, however, Officers would like to see the wall retained or repaired; and

·      There was a requirement to retain the cider press but the arch was outside the application site.

During the ensuing debate Members of the Committee raised concern in relation to the cumulative impact of the development and considered the development would cause harm to the character of the village. It was also stated that the Oswestry Local Plan and Site Allocations and Management of Development DPD (SAMDev) classed the site as being within open countryside although it was acknowledged that full weight could not be given to these policies in view of the age of the Oswestry Local Plan and the fact that the SAMDev had not been through its examination in public and been adopted.

Having considered the submitted plans for the proposal, the majority of Membersindicated that the harm resulting from the development would significantly outweigh the benefits of the proposed development and expressed their objection to the proposal.

RESOLVED:

That planning permission be refused contrary to the Officer’s recommendation for the following reason:

1.    It was acknowledged that the housing proposed by the development would contribute economically and socially by boosting the housing supply including open market and affordable housing to which weight was given. However it was considered that this was outweighed by the harm identified. The Committee were concerned that the development would result in visual harm to the character of the rural village and would result in the loss of agricultural land.  Furthermore weight was given to the fact that the proposed development was not plan led being contrary to both current saved policies of the Oswestry Local Plan and emerging policies in the Site Allocations and Management of Development DPD, which classified the site as being within open countryside and that the development, cumulatively with the approved site off Tedsmore Road and the significant amount of new housing which had been built in the village during the period of the Oswestry Local Plan, would result in a significant increase in the number of new dwellings to the detriment of community cohesion.