Havant Borough Council Planning Committee Meeting

Apologies for absence has been received from Councillor Fairhurst who attended as a Ward Councillor as she has made a conclusive view against this application considered at minute 10.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Site Viewing Working Party held on 16 February 2023 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

There were no declarations of interests relating to matters on the agenda.

There were no matters to be considered for site viewing and deferment.

(The site was viewed by the Site Viewing Working Party)

Proposal:      Outline planning application for up to 43 dwellings, with access from Lower Road and associated landscaping, open space and allotments, and all other matters reserved.

The Committee considered the written report and recommendation from the Head of Planning that if an appeal had not been lodged in respect to this application, the Committee would have been minded to refuse outline planning permission.

The Committee received supplementary information, circulated prior to the

meeting, which included:

1.     Written deputations submitted by Mr Tate, Ms Brooks and Councillor Fairhurst, and

2.     An update sheet

The Committee was addressed by:

Mr Tate, who reiterated the issues set out in the written deputation submitted on behalf of Bedhampton Heritage Alliance.

Councillor Fairhurst, who reiterated the issues set out in her submitted written deputation.

The officers commented on the issues raised by public speakers and in the written submissions as follows:

1.     The deputations have been understood and shared with the Hampshire County Council.

2.     The Highway Authority maintained their position that they did not object to the application as 43 extra dwellings would in their opinion, not affect the safe operation of Lower Road.

3.     Environmental Health had not raised objections in principle regarding the development of the site.

4.     The scale of the development would not result in substantial harm to the area as it retained a large area of open space around the site, and maintained a satisfactory distance between the site’s entry road and Old Manor Farm.

In response to questions from members of the Committee, officers stated that:

1.     the proposed use of deep-bore soakaways had a high risk of contamination and would be difficult to maintain;

2.     a system of deep-bore soakaways was not considered suitable for this site as it would increase the risk of flooding; and

3.     the applicants had not sufficiently investigated the possibility of employing alternate drainage systems.

The Committee discussed the application and agreed with the conclusions set out in the officer report.

It was therefore

RESOLVED that had an appeal not been lodged, the Council would have been minded to refuse outline planning permission for Application APP/21/01071 for the following reasons:

1.     The surface water drainage strategy relies on deep-bore soakaways as final discharge points, that will be saturated by high groundwater levels for significant periods. Deep-bore soakaways are considered to be an option of last resort by the Lead Local Flood Authority and given the high water table, it is not considered appropriate in this location. More consideration of alternatives needs to be provided. In light of these concerns, it is considered that the proposals conflict with Policies CS15 and CS19 of the Havant Borough Local Plan (Core Strategy) 2011, Decision Making Principle 4 of the Housing Delivery Position Statement, and Paragraph 167 of the National Planning Policy Framework as without a suitable drainage scheme, flood risk will be increased. In addition, the submitted Flood Risk Assessment is not considered to be compliant with Paragraphs 049, 055 – 059 of the associated Flood Risk and Coastal Change guidance nor S7, S8 or S9 of the Non-statutory technical standards for sustainable drainage systems;

and

2.     Binding arrangements are not in place to secure the following aspects of the development, as a result of which it is not considered that the development could be undertaken in a satisfactory manner:

                           i.          Affordable Housing;

                          ii.          Open Space, Allotments and associated infrastructure;

                        iii.          Solent Recreation Mitigation Strategy;

                        iv.          Highway/Travel Plan requirements;

                         v.          Public Access;

                        vi.          Site Management;

                      vii.          Drainage;

                     viii.          Community Worker provision; and

                        ix.          Associated monitoring fees.

The carrying out of the development in the absence of such provision would result in an unsatisfactory and unsustainable form of development having due regard to Policies CS1, CS9, CS11, CS15, CS16, CS19, CS20, CS21, DM8, DM10, DM11 and DM12 of the Havant Borough Local Plan (Core Strategy) 2011; Policy DM24 of the Havant Borough Local Plan (Allocations) 2014; the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended); and the National Planning Policy Framework.