Change of use of existing car park to a holiday park of 20. no. lodges.

The Principal Planning Officer introduced the application for the change of use of existing car park to a holiday park of 20 lodges.  Members’ attention was drawn to the considerable amount of information contained within the Schedule of Additional letters, members confirmed that they had received sufficient time within which to read the additional information.  The Principal Planning Officer confirmed that the recommendation was to refuse planning permission for the reasons set out in the Schedule of Additional letters, with the inclusion of Shropshire Core Strategy Policy CS8.

Councillor Geoff Elner on behalf of Ellesmere Town Council spoke against the proposal in accordance with Shropshire Council’s Scheme for Public Speaking at Planning Committees.

Mr Stuart Thomas Agent on behalf of the applicant spoke in support of the proposal in accordance with Shropshire Council’s Scheme for Public Speaking at Planning Committees.

In accordance with Rule 6.1 of the Council Procedure Rules contained in Part 4 of Shropshire Council’s Constitution, Councillor Ann Hartley as local Member participated in the discussion but did not vote.  During her statement a number of points were raised including the following:

·         The area was highly sensitive and much used by local residents and tourists for recreation purposes;

·         The car park was very much needed and well used as there was no more room for parking within the town centre, particularly as Ellesmere was growing as a visitor destination; and

·         The Wharf was the most appropriate location for development.

Having considered the submitted plans and listened to the comments made by all of the speakers, Members unanimously expressed their support for the Officer’s recommendation to refuse the application.  The Committee whilst acknowledging the potential benefits of the proposed scheme, considered that development of this nature was not appropriate on this particular site. 

RESOLVED:

That planning permission be refused in accordance with the Officer’s recommendation for the following reasons:

1.    The proposed development site is in a sensitive location being within the Ellesmere Conservation Area, close to a Scheduled Ancient Monument and within a relatively undeveloped area which has High Level Stewardship of the land. In addition given the topography of the site the proposed lodges would be visible from outside the application site and have a significant visual impact from the adjacent footpaths and as such will detract from the overall rural landscape and the setting of the Mere and its surrounding area. There are also concerns in relation to the economic impacts with concerns about the loss of the car parking facility. Therefore the proposal is considered contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework, Policies CS5, CS6, CS8, CS16 and CS17 of the Shropshire Core Strategy and Policies and MD8, MD11, MD12 and MD13 of the Council’s emerging SAMDev.

2.    Insufficient information has been submitted with the application to comply with the requirements of the National Planning Policy Framework. This results in it not being possible to fully assess the impact of the proposal on the heritage asset and the setting of the Conservation Area.  Therefore the proposal is contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework, Policy CS17 of the Shropshire Core Strategy and Policies MD11, MD12 and MD13 of the emerging SAMDev.

3.    It is considered that the loss of and significant impact to the natural and historic environment outweighs the social and economic benefits of the proposal and as such the proposal is considered contrary to Policy CS17 of the  Shropshire Core Strategy, Policies MD11, MD12 and MD13 of the emerging SAMDev and the overall aims and objectives of the National Planning Policy Framework.