Minutes of a Meeting of the Planning Committee of Wrington Parish Council held in the John Locke room on Tuesday, 24th March, 2009
| Present: |
|
1 Apologies:
|
Mr D. W. Glynn, Chairman
Mrs G. J. Bigg
Mr P. Ellis
Mrs J. Gallop
Ms E. P. Irving
Mrs P. Ledbury
|
Mrs G. Moss
Mr R. L. Thorn
Mrs C. Turton
Ms G. Wilson, Clerk |
Mr M. Berkley
Mrs C. A. Phillips
Mrs D. J. Yamanaka
|
In attendance: 12 members of the public; 2 representatives of Blue Cedar Homes |
The Chairman opened the meeting at 6.00 pm.
2. Declarations of Interest
Cllr Ledbury in relation to Brook House; Cllr Turton in relation to Ash Dale.
3. Public Participation
The representatives of Blue Cedar Homes outlined the plans which have been drawn up for a retirement scheme on the site of Brook House, commenting that:
This would consist of eleven cottage-style dwellings set within a landscaped site, with many of the existing trees being retained. The accommodation would be flexible in that it can be adapted to meet the needs of older people with reduced mobility. Residency will be restricted to people over the age of 65. The plans have been designed to overcome the problems presented by the previous failed development proposal. In particular, there will be a sustainable drainage system and a facility for underground storage of rainwater. The aim will be to avoid adding to any existing flooding problems, and to achieve a ‘flood neutral’ position. Brook House and its outbuildings are to be completely demolished.
A number of questions were raised by Councillors. It was questioned whether there was sufficient demand for further retirement accommodation in Wrington, and if the developers had considered the option of affordable housing. The developer’s view is that there will be an increasing need for such housing in the future, due to an ageing population, and this is the type of scheme they specialise in, rather than affordable housing.
The location of the site within the Conservation Area was discussed. The developers explained that they were aware of the need to take this into consideration, hence the ‘cottage style’ appearance of the dwellings.
In addition, Councillors highlighted concerns about the provision of garages and car parking; the safety of the access onto Silver Street; and whether the rainwater storage facility would be sufficient in extreme weather conditions. It was noted that the illustrations in the developer’s leaflet showed gates at the entrance to the development, and Councillors commented that a ‘gated community’ was somewhat alien to the culture of the village and open access to the site would be much more preferable. The question of lighting was raised, and it was explained that this would be at a low level and the cost of power would be the responsibility of Blue Cedar Homes, as part of their ongoing management of the site. This would include the services of a gardener, who would also provide help with putting out refuse bins, etc.
The developers were asked when they expected to be submitting a planning application to North Somerset Council. This is likely to be within two weeks. Councillors felt this did not allow very much time for comments and observations; however they were assured that these could be taken into account within the anticipated timescale.
The Chairman thanked the representatives of Blue Cedar Homes for attending the meeting. They then left the meeting, along with all except two members of the public.
4. Minutes of previous meeting
The minutes of the meeting held on 3rd March were reviewed and signed as a correct record.
Cllr Irving gave her apologies and left the meeting at this point.
5. Matters arising
09/P/0291/F – application for a waste composting facility at Brockley Wood. The comments submitted to NSC had been circulated to members, and the Chairman said that the way had been left open for further comment. The Clerk stated that the copies of the comments of other Parish Councils had been received, and this had been reciprocated with the comments of Wrington Parish Council. Cllr Turton said that she had attended the meeting of Brockley Parish Council the previous evening, and they had decided to object to the proposed development.
6. NSC South Area Planning Committee
The minutes received recently were for the January meeting, as there had been no meeting in February.
7. Decisions Notices issued by NSC
It was noted that NSC had declined to determine the car parking application at Silver Ridge on the grounds that it was substantially the same as that dismissed on 18th April 2008.
8. Planning Applications
09/P/0300/F - Ash Dale, Downside Road: erection of 4 holiday chalets. It was agreed that there was no objection in principle to the development, but there was doubt as to whether the drawings provided were correct, as no kitchen provision is included. It was agreed to submit a query to NSC on this point.
09/P/0051/F – Land adjacent to 10 Old Station Close, Wrington: amendments to previous application for a detached dwelling with B1 work unit – increase in size of the workspace and provision of an additional car parking space. It was noted that the amendments still did not include a separate kitchen facility, and therefore seemed not to comply with the requirements of policy H/7. It was agreed to comment accordingly, and to maintain the previous objections to the development, as these had not been addressed by the proposed amendments.
9. Other Planning Issues
a. The Clerk read out a letter received from Mr Robert Sinclair of BIA, inviting Councillors to attend a meeting on Monday 6th April at the airport. This would provide details of the results of the recent pre-application consultation and the mitigation measures and controls that BIA anticipate proposing as part of their forthcoming planning application.
b. Plush Hotel (Redhill House): the Clerk read out an email received from Mrs Cheesley, one of the proprietors of the Plush Hotel, inviting members of the Parish Council to visit the hotel and to be informed of their development plans. It was agreed that the Clerk would contact Mrs Cheesley to accept this invitation.
c. Enforcements: the Chairman mentioned two recent cases – one at the Plush Hotel and one in relation to the Airport Tavern.
d. There was a brief discussion on the earlier presentation by Blue Cedar Homes. It was agreed to contact the developers to suggest that they should consider deferring a planning application until there had been more opportunity for local residents to see details of the plans, perhaps by placing them on view in the Memorial Hall. The Clerk will contact Mr Cooper of Blue Cedar Homes accordingly.
There being no other business the meeting closed at 7.40 pm. |
Mr. D W Glynn
Chairman
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
