Agenda item

Construction of 18no. Starter Units

Factory D , Ennerdale Road, Riverside Business Park, Blyth NE24 4RG

Construction of 18no. Starter Units

Factory D , Ennerdale Road, Riverside Business Park, Blyth NE24 4RG

J Murphy, Planning Area Manager - Development Management provided an introduction to the report with the aid of a power point presentation.  Updates were provided as follows:-

·       Paragraph 1.1 should refer to the Strategic Planning Committee and not the Castle Morpeth Local Area Council as stated.

·       Condition 12 refers to condition 9 and it should state condition 11.

A Franklin, Hedley Planning Services addressed the Committee speaking in support of the application on behalf of the applicant.  His comments included the following:

·       The applicant had worked closely with the Council at every stage in order to deliver 18 high quality business units within a sustainable location which would create an additional 1,600 sqm of floorspace and an estimated 92 jobs for local people.

·       As evidenced, the proposed development made effective use of previously developed land within an established business park benefitting from existing infrastructure and provided suitable access to the shops and services which Blyth Centre had to offer.

·       The principle of construction 18 high quality units was acceptable within an allocated industrial estate and policies within the emerging Northumberland Local Plan (NLP) also supported proposals for economic growth especially in main towns such as Blyth.

·       The principle of development was considered acceptable with other material considerations having been assessed. The proposed units matched the building materials to that of adjacent units and would integrate with its surroundings. The design and scale of each unit was considered appropriate for the end commercial use.

·       There had been public comments with regard to highway safety, in particular the internal road network within the business park. The proposal would create a new site entrance off Coniston Road along the eastern edge of the proposed site and detailed consideration had been given towards the design of a functional highways access which would be safe for all users. The applicant had worked in co-operation with the Council to evidence these measures within the Transport Statement submitted in support of the application.

·        An additional road safety assessment had been undertaken to determine the safety of the access point in relation to the adjacent road network and had been assessed by an independent party.

·       The detailed plans and assessments concluded that a safe and suitable site access had been achieved off Coniston Road which would not adversely impact the adjacent road network.  Therefore the comments regarding road safety had been resolved following collaboration between the applicant and the Council’s Highways Team.

·       The Officer’s recommendation was welcomed and the Committee were requested to endorse this recommendation and grant planning permission.

In response to questions from Members of the Committee the following information was provided:-

·       The site was not complex and was allocated for business use.  Additional assessments and scrutiny had been undertaken due to concerns of highway safety following the history of the road with a fatal collision occurring. For this reason a Highway Safety Audit had been undertaken prior to the scheme being recommended for approval, which was beyond what would normally be required.  The independent Road Safety Audit had not found anything unsafe and the visibility at the proposed access met technical specifications. 

·       The proposed units could be used for a number of businesses uses including storage or office space.

·       There were no plans by the Local Authority to change the existing or provide additional road signage.  

·       The Road Safety Audit had looked at the totality of the road network including signage and speed limits and had concluded that the fatal accident was not connected to the road layout and had not recommended any interventions. 

·       Monitoring of the road network would not form part of one development, however it would be looked at as a matter of course over time.

Councillor Dodd proposed that the application be granted in line with the Officer’s recommendation with the amended condition 9 as outlined above, which was seconded by Councillor Stewart.

It was highlighted that there were two 90º bends on the road in close proximity and that cars should not be travelling in excess of 30 mph in that location.  In respect of the safety of users of the centre for adults with learning disabilities it was confirmed that the centre had barriers to gain entrance to/from the site with all doors locked and all service users escorted on and off the site.  There had in the past been larger factories in the area with a large number of HGV vehicles servicing these and there was now less traffic than had previously been the case.

A vote was taken on the proposal to grant permission in line with the Officer’s report with the amendment to Condition 9 as outlined and it was unanimously:

RESOLVED that the application be GRANTED for the reasons and subject to the conditions as outlined in the report and amended Condition 9.