Agenda item

Resubmission: Re-development of a brown fried site to create 30 new homes. A mix of apartments houses.
Land East of Lifeboat House, Dock Road, Tweedmouth, Northumberland

D. Love – Senior Planning Officer introduced the application with the aid of a PowerPoint presentation. After showing the site videos, D. Love gave the following updates:

·       The report should have consistently read: “That this application be approved, subject to conditions and section a s106 agreement to secure affordable housing, open space, healthcare contribution and coastal mitigation strategy payments

·       Paragraph 7.92 in the report should have read £615 not £600.

·       Advice from the Housing Enabling Officer indicated that the tenure mix, and type of housing should have been flexible, the offer of four onside flats could have been amended to include a single house, the committee would be asked to authorise delegation to negotiate the make-up of the affordable housing contribution.

·       There was an addition of two conditions covering consistency with the submitted Flood Risk Assessment and a suspensive condition for a CEMP.

·       The Lead Local Flood Authority and the EA agent had agreed their respective positions and there had not been anything missed in the assessment.

N. Craig, spoke in support of this application and gave the following information:

·       GMC were a family run business based in Berwick, and had previously developed 150 homes in the town, using local workforce and supply chain.

·       GMC had previously acquired brown field sites and turned them into successful properties, including the former council officers.

·       The development would complement the area, and had been designed with Historic England, the Conservation Officer, and the Lead Planner. They had confirmed that the design complied with planning legislation and was appropriate for the area.

·       The project would include job stability for the GMC team and local network, including sub-contractors, suppliers, and professionals, keeping money within the micro-economy of Berwick Upon Tweed.

·       The site would include river defenders, which would require maintenance and some rebuilding, the defences were secured for the life of the development with the homeowners paying for the upkeep and maintenance of the river defence.

·       There had been a flood risk report and a contamination report, these had been scrutinised by Public Health, LLFA and Environmental Agency and had been approved by the statutory consultees.

Following questions from Members to the planning officers, the following information was provided:

·       The site was a brownfield site, and that the Building Conservation Officer considered that the impact from the proposed development would cause less than substantial harm.

·       There would be 27 conditions on the development which would be rigorously monitored. 

·       The materials that would be used in the development were stone and zinc, however there was a condition in the report to agree materials in line with the local vernacular.

·       The application included breaking up the original big block development into three separate blocks with different heights, which would suit the vernacular of the town.

·       The site could potentially be used as a storage facility if the application were to be refused.

·       There was a condition for EV charging points, but the number had not been confirmed at the time of the application.

Councillor Renner-Thompson proposed to approve the application, with the conditions set out in the report, including the two additional conditions with specific wording directed to the director of planning in consultation with the chair and subject to a section 106 agreement to secure contributions totalling £79,705.47 towards healthcare contribution, open space, affordable housing, and coastal service mitigation contribution. This was seconded by Councillor Watson.

The committee agreed that the area needed aspirational housing, the application including breaking up the original large block into separate units and the developer had submitted a quality development, the committee agreed that it would be a fantastic addition to the town.

A vote was taken as follows: FOR; 8, AGAINST; 0, ABSTIAN;2

RESOLVED that the application be GRANTED subject the conditions outlined in the report and the additional conditions proposed by officers along with a section 106 agreement as set out in the report.