Hart Borough Council Development Management Committee Meeting

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2023 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Apologies had been received from Cllrs Makepeace-Browne and Radley.

No declarations of interest were declared.

The Chairman had no announcements.

Councillor Oliver as Chair of the QEB Transport Steering Group reported the following:

The Steering Group had met for the first time in nearly 5 years following Hampshire County Council (HCC) allocation of resources to support investigation of Transport Infrastructure schemes to alleviate issues from Crookham Park development (QEB). Almost £3 million remains unspent. This money has ‘use by dates’ otherwise it will be returned to the developer (Taylor Wimpey). All parties at the Steering Group meeting (HCC, HDC, Officers and Councillors) agreed this would be a very unsatisfactory outcome. The Steering Group agreed to meet again in September.

Meeting notes would be made public when draft status was removed by the parties and would be attached to minutes of a future Planning Committee meeting.

A list of priority schemes had been agreed by the parties for HCC officers to investigate and propose solutions and indicative cost profiles.

1. Two new pedestrian crossings on Reading Road South to assist with walking to school from Crookham Park. In this case it would primarily be for journeys to Court Moor School from the south.

2. A new mini roundabout on the B3013 Beacon Hill Road with Tweseldown Road and Bourley Road, near the Tweseldown public house.

3. Banning right hand turns from Tesco (Reading Road South) and Aldi (Beacon Hill Road) to stop congestion.

4. Improvements to planned basic crossing in Hitches Lane (already to be funded by a revised application at Grove Farm) between Calthorpe Park School and Hart Leisure Centre from refuge to a lit zebra crossing.

5. Improvements from Crookham Park to Calthorpe Park to provide a safe walking and cycling route for school children.

6. New pedestrian crossing in Crookham village (possibly halfway along the Street) to assist children getting to Calthorpe Park School.

7. Traffic improvements at Malthouse bridge to ease flow and to prevent vehicles hitting the structure and its surroundings.

Other schemes were discussed and nothing had been rejected, or would be rejected if it met the criteria of the legal s106 agreement and sufficient funds were available, but HCC officers needed guidance on the priority investigative work to be undertaken this year. HCC will be formalising the schemes to be investigated at an Executive Decision day in March.

The Steering Group also recognised the ongoing work on the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) - part of Hart District Council's Green Grid - and wanted to ensure the two workstreams complemented each other and did not duplicate work.

It was confirmed that all of the schemes on HCC’s priority list had been approved except the changes to the roundabout adjacent to Fleet Railway Station, which may be looked at by the Steering Group at a future meeting.

Councillor Southern as the Chairman of the Planning Enforcement Sub-Committee reported that the meeting held on 30 January 2023 had held a long discussion on the listed barn on West Minley Farm and had agreed to proceed with the enforcement action plan.

The forthcoming departure of the Planning Enforcement Team Leader had been noted by the Sub-Committee, who wished to thank her for her excellent work.

The planning reports from the Executive Director, Place were considered and the updates via the Addendum were accepted.

The Development Management & Building Control Manager summarised the application as being a change of use, with the erection of a single storey rear extension forming staff rest area/storage. There would also be installation of kitchen extraction ducting to the rear and alterations to the ground floor shopfront.

Members noted:

• That the change of use was from an existing use as a hairdressers to a proposed use for a takeaway establishment.
• There was car parking to the rear of the premises.
• There had been no neighbouring residents or public objections to the proposals.
• The application had been brought to Planning Committee due to the agent being a District Councillor.

The Chairman proposed the Officer’s recommendation to grant, subject to conditions which was seconded by Councillor Southern. The recommendation was unanimously carried.

DECISION – GRANTED, SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS

Notes:

No site visit was carried out and there was no public speaking.

The Principal Planner summarised the application as being the erection of a detached single storey building for use as cellar door facility to accommodate wine tours and associated wine sales.

Members noted and discussed:

• Whether there would be any impact on the local countryside.
• The building would be single storey with wooden cladding.
• That the site already has 2 buildings that host wine tours and associated wine sales but wished to expand.
• There were already up to 2 wine tours a day for up to 20 people each and it was not proposed that this would change in the foreseeable future.
• The proposed building would be sited on hardstanding on the existing site.
• There had been no objections from the Parish Council or the Highways Agency although there had been objections received from other individuals.
• A recommendation to grant the application was subject to 11 separate conditions.
• Condition 3 was to be updated, as outlined in the Addendum, to limit the use to wine tours and sales in connection with the Winery operation on the site and that alcohol sold at the site would be limited to wine produced at the Penn Croft Winery.

It was questioned what the licences held by the site already were for. It was confirmed that these were premises licences for the two existing buildings.  A member asked whether the application would allow for music to be played in the proposed building. The Development Management & Building Control Manager confirmed that the licenses were not for playing music and did not permit events.

Members debated:

• Whether it would be possible for another winery would be able to sell their wines at the site.
• Whether there would be a substantial increase in traffic to the site.
• Whether there was a requirement for bat or swift boxes or any other means of making a biodiversity net gain.
• Rural diversification
• Good accessibility of the site for those with a disability.

The Chairman proposed the Officer’s recommendation to grant, subject to conditions which was seconded by Councillor Worlock.  The recommendation was unanimously carried.

DECISION – GRANTED, SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS

Notes:

No site visit took place.

Ms Elizabeth Harrison-Butler spoke for the application.

The Development Management & Building Control Manager summarised the application as being the demolition of the existing garage and the erection of a two storey front extension, two storey side extension, two storey rear extension and front port.  Also, alternations to windows and doors.

Members noted and discussed:

• That the application allowed for 4 parking spaces to the front of the property.
• There had been more than 5 objections to the application and the Chairman had agreed the referral.
• Objectors had voiced concerns over flood risk and the street scene impact.
• Condition 3 had been updated following the site visit to reflect discussions held regarding drainage and talks with the Environment Agency on the previous application.
• Two new conditions would be added as outlined in the Addendum documentation.

Members debated:

• Whether a soft landscaping scheme had been submitted or should be required, as part of the conditions.
• Whether the development would exacerbate any flooding issues for the locality given its location in a flood zone.
• The boundary screening.
• That whilst the proposed two storey property was on a road of bungalows, it was in keeping with other properties in the locality such as Byron Close to the rear of the property in question, which is visible in the Street scene.
• That it would be prudent to add a further condition to remove any development rights for loft conversions or dormer windows for the lifetime of the property to ensure that neighbours had privacy
• That the granting of the application would be subject to proposals for hard and soft landscaping details being submitted before completion of the external works to aid with screening.
• That the site has an existing residential use so flood risk level unchanged.
• That the proposal wouldn’t be out of scale.

The Chairman proposed the Officer’s recommendation to grant, subject to conditions which was seconded by Councillor Forster.  The recommendation was unanimously carried.

Notes

A site visit was undertaken on Tuesday 14 February 2023 as set out in the Addendum paper.

Kyle Lewington spoke for the application.

The Development Management & Building Control Manager summarised the application as being the erection of a detached dwelling with associated parking and amenity space.

Members noted and discussed:

• That a construction management plan had been submitted.
• That there was a requirement for the Committee to vote on two recommendations – the first had been amended as per the Addendum document. The second recommendation outlined what would happen if the applicant failed to secure SANG access within the given timescales.
• Whether there was a need for a traffic regulation order (TRO) to be put in place to disallow on-street parking.  It was confirmed by the Development Management & Building Control Manager that this would not be required as this was a single dwelling on a residential road with allocated on-site parking and TROs would sit outside of the planning system.
• Whether it was possible to enforce the use of the public car park by construction vehicles during the construction process. 
• Whether the Construction Method Statement/Plan would be enforceable.
• That there had been no objections from the Town Council as long as the conditions were observed.

Members debated:

• The findings of the site visit in relation to the size of the plot and the remaining plot at the existing dwelling at No 52 being sizeable.
• The scheme and that it was well designed and in keeping with other dwellings in the locality.
• Whether there would be a need to move a streetlight to allow access to the property (it had been indicated during the site visit that this would not be required). This was planning to be outside of the control of the planning system.
• Whether there should be a requirement to remove any permitted development rights for dormer windows, additional windows or loft conversion to protect privacy for neighbouring properties.
• The acceptability of this scheme compared to backland proposals elsewhere which had been unacceptable due to remaining gardens.
• That the design was appropriate for the context.
• Whether there was a need for the driveway to be extended to accommodate construction vehicles, but this was confirmed to be addressed within the construction management plan

The Chairman proposed the Officer’s recommendation to grant, subject to conditions Recommendation A, as updated in the Addendum, plus updated Condition 1 and the extra condition regarding the removal of development rights for dormer windows or loft conversions, which was seconded by Councillor Southern. The recommendation was unanimously carried.

The Chairman proposed the Officer’s recommendation to grant Recommendation B, that should access to SANG not be arranged within the agreed timelines, then delegated authority was granted to Officers to refuse the application, which was seconded by Councillor Worlock. The recommendation was unanimously carried.