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Agenda item

Dun Cow Farm, Rocks Green, Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 2DS (14/05573/OUT)

Outline application for the erection of a new foodstore (Use Class A1), associated petrol filling station, and associated car parking to include access.

Minutes:

The Principal Planner introduced the application and with reference to the drawings displayed, she drew Members’ attention to the location, layout and elevations.  She confirmed that Members had attended a site visit that morning and had viewed the site and assessed the impact of the proposal on the surrounding area.  She explained that the Environment Agency had subsequently withdrawn its objection, subject to an additional condition to ensure that the above ground tank compound was appropriately bunded.  She drew Members’ attention to an extant planning permission for a hotel on this site.

 

Members noted the additional information as set out in the Schedule of Additional Letters circulated prior to the meeting.

 

Mr R Heighway, representing local residents, spoke against the proposal in accordance with the Council’s Scheme for Public Speaking at Planning Committees.

 

Ms J Rowlatt, a local business owner, spoke against the proposal in accordance with the Council’s Scheme for Public Speaking at Planning Committees.

 

Councillor J Smithers, representing Ludlow Town Council, spoke against the proposal in accordance with the Council’s Scheme for Public Speaking at Planning Committees.

 

Councillor P Lawley, representing Ludford Parish Council, spoke against the proposal in accordance with the Council’s Scheme for Public Speaking at Planning Committees.

 

With the permission of the Chairman and in response to the number of speakers, the applicant was permitted to speak for up to six minutes.  Mr S McGrath, the applicant, spoke for the proposal in accordance with the Council’s Scheme for Public Speaking at Planning Committees and responded to questions from Members.

 

(At this juncture, the meeting adjourned at 2.30 pm and reconvened at 2.44 pm.)

 

In accordance with the Local Protocol for Councillors and Officers dealing with Regulatory Matters (Part 5, Paragraph 15.1) Councillor Viv Parry, as local Ward Councillor, made a statement, took no part in the debate and did not vote on this item.  During her statement, the following points were raised:

 

·         The site was on a main busy A road where traffic did not keep to the 40mph speed limit.   There was only one small road through to Dun Cow;

·         There were other supermarkets in Ludlow so people of Ludlow did not object to supermarkets per se, but wanted them to be in the right place;

·         There was no need for another supermarket selling the same merchandise as the other supermarkets; and

·         There was no need for another petrol station and this one would cause congestion with traffic queuing onto the main road.

 

In the ensuing debate, Members considered the submitted plans and noted the comments of all speakers and Officers.  Members expressed concern with regard to the increased traffic and the detrimental impact this would have on Rocks Green.  They noted that a screening opinion had been applied for with regard to LUD017 and they considered that the Transport Assessment submitted with the outline planning application 14/05573/OUT should have taken this into account.  Some Members requested that, if approved at this stage, any future application should be considered by this Committee. 

 

In response to comments, the Area Highways Development Control Manager (South) reiterated that a traffic assessment had been undertaken and Highways England had also been consulted and had raised no objections and provided clarification on the reasons for this. She further explained that the current owner of the Dun Cow Road was Shropshire Housing Group but in the event of a Reserved Matters application being submitted consideration would be given to the adoption of the Dun Cow Road.  The A49 traffic island was well used and not just at peak times and the incremental impact of the proposed 200 homes (LUD017) on the A49 traffic island would be minimal.  The Principal Policy Specialist Officer and the Principal Planner responded to questions and provided clarification on the issues and technical details regarding highways and retail evidence.  They acknowledged that this application was for an ‘out of town’ development and fell outside the SAMDev boundary but explained that there was nothing to restrict this type of development outside the SAMDev boundary.

 

Prior to being put to the vote, the Solicitor referred Members to paragraph 17.4, Part 5, Shropshire Council’s Constitution, which stipulated that, where the Planning Committee is minded to determine an application contrary to the officer recommendation, it may not continue to determine that application at that Planning Committee meeting if the application represents a significant departure from the Development Plan or where the Committee’s resolution might not  be defensible if challenged and result in compensation or damages being available to, or claimed by, the applicant under a statutory provision.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That consideration of this planning application be deferred to a future meeting with Members minded to refuse the application for the following reasons:

 

·         The site is outside the Site Allocations and Management Development (SAMDev) boundary and the proposal will have a significant impact and will not help to maintain and enhance the vitality and viability of Ludlow Town Centre.  Accordingly, the proposal will be contrary to SAMDev S10, paragraph 27 of the National Planning Policy Framework and Core Strategy Policy CS15.  The development will be contrary to CS6 which requires that proposals likely to generate significant levels of traffic to be located in accessible locations where opportunities for walking, cycling and use of public transport can be maximised and the need for car based travel to be reduced; and any development should contribute to the health and wellbeing of communities, including safeguarding residential and local amenity; and

·         Insufficient information has been submitted relating to the traffic consequences of the scheme given other planned development in the area, including the housing site allocation LUD017.

 

(At this juncture, the meeting adjourned at 4.15 pm and reconvened at 4.24 pm.)

Supporting documents:

 

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