Agenda item

Retrospective application for alteration/re profiling to land levels related to residential development.

Hepscott Park, Stannington, Northumberland

Retrospective application for alteration/re profiling to land levels related to residential development.

Hepscott Park, Stannington, Northumberland

T Wood, Principal Planning Officer provided an introduction to the application with the aid of a power point presentation.

Mrs C Knowles addressed the Committee speaking in objection to the application.  Her comments included the following:-

·       She was concerned that the report focussed on the flooding issues within the nursery and her formal objection had been ignored.

·       The land had been raised 1.25m alongside her property and previous to this there had been no issues with water retention on her property.  The water now came off the higher levels and into her garden.  There was no drainage at the lower end of the site.

·       The raised level of the site now meant that the previous height of her fence of 1.8m was now reduced to 60cm allowing no privacy to her own and neighbouring properties when people were using the site to walk dogs etc. 

·       There was now a security issue as the land in question was not secured and allowed greater access to all the properties.

H Wafer, planning consultant addressed the Committee also speaking in objection to the application.  Her comments included the following:-

·       Her client was an adjacent landowner who had objected to the application.

·       The works had created issues with drainage and increased flooding risks with flooding now being seen on previously agricultural land.  There were still concerns that the additional information provided and works to be undertaken to address the problem were insufficient and would still not resolve the current issues being encountered.

·       There should be a condition imposed which would allow the regular monitoring of the site over an 18 month period, provide additional security and allow defects to be rectified within a timely manner.

E Moon, addressed the Committee speaking in support of the application on behalf of the applicant, Bellway Homes.  Her comments included the following:-

·            This application came about following discussions with the adjacent children’s Nursey, which had been subject to historic surface water flooding. They approached Bellway Homes to seek to take advantage of the works being carried out on site to help alleviate this issue.

·            The land was used as a compound during the construction of the new houses and during restoration the opportunity was taken, following discussions with the Nursery and the Council’s Flood Officers, to create a flood alleviation scheme to help provide protection for the Nursery.

·            The work resulted in a number of issues off-site as it was discovered that the existing culvert was blocked. This resulted in ponding on the site and impacted on a number of surrounding properties which gave rise to the objections.  The problem was resolved as soon as possible with the use of pumps on site. While the temporary measures were in place a more permanent solution was discussed and agreed with the Council’s Flood Officers including :

o      Creation of a new outfall into a low water flow channel ‘swale’.

o      New 600mm deep drainage ditch and new connection to private drainage network via a silt trap along the northern boundary.

o      Additional field drainage along the southern boundary.

This was fully in accordance with the Water policies in the Local Plan, specifically WAT3 and WAT4. The approach had been fully agreed with by the Flood Office and conditions proposed to require a verification report to be submitted to confirm that the work has been carried out.

·            In addition, the need to update the approved landscaping plan provided an opportunity to create additional habitats on the site. In addition to the 10m landscaping buffer the site previously proposed, the swale and grassland were proposed to be planted with an appropriate wildflower mix to improve the biodiversity of the site, in accordance with Policy ENV2.

·            In relation to the concerns about ‘overlooking’, there was no public access to the site and there were no formal or informal footpaths that would provide a vantage point for overlooking. The site has been profiled so that the ground level has been maintained where it meets the gardens so there are no security issues. Officers were thanked for working proactively with Bellway throughout the determination process and she respectfully requested that Members support the Officer’s recommendation for approval, advising it was the intention that the additional flood alleviation measures would be carried out as soon as possible should permission be granted.

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

·       There was no information on the previous land levels, however the application had been considered by the Local Lead Flood Authority (LLFA) who had requested condition 3 to be attached to any permission granted to ensure that the system had been constructed in line with the proposed scheme.

·       The application allowed the LLFA to assess the approach to be undertaken to ensure that the flood risk was not increased elsewhere.  Blockages had been found and the applicant had undertaken work to rectify this and introduce flood alleviation measures with the LLFA.  A huge amount of work had been undertaken to get the application to this stage.

·       The case officer had looked at the position of the bund and found it to be acceptable and it would be a decision for Members to take on whether they found it acceptable.

·       Legislatively retrospective applications were allowed and Members were reminded that the fact that this was a retrospective application was not a material planning consideration.

·       It was possible that additional landscaping could be provided to enhance the privacy of residents, however privacy in planning terms referred to the separation distances between habitable rooms and  public footpaths at the rear of the property.  A condition related to the boundary treatments to improve privacy to all the home owners adjacent to the bund could be included.

·       If Members wished to change the wording of condition 3 then it was suggested that the application could be deferred to allow a LLFA Officer to attend a future meeting or that delegated authority could be given to the Director of Planning in conjunction with the Chair to agree the wording following consultation with the LLFA.

·       It was clarified that whilst the verification report would most likely be provided by a suitably qualified drainage engineer employed by Bellway, this would be reviewed and agreed by the LLFA.

Councillor Wearmouth proposed acceptance of the recommendation to approve the application with a revision to condition 3 to reflect a longer time period of 12 months for monitoring purposes and any remedial works necessary to be undertaken by Bellway, and an additional condition to be attached related to the privacy of residents along the southern boundary, with delegated authority to the Director of Planning and Chair and Vice-Chair Planning of this Committee to agree the wording.   This proposal was seconded by Councillor Towns.

A vote was taken on the above proposal and it was unanimously:-

RESOLVED that the application be GRANTED for the reasons and with the conditions outlined in the report with a revision to  condition 3 to reflect a longer time period of 12 months for monitoring purposes and any remedial works necessary to be undertaken by Bellway, and an additional condition related to the privacy of residents along the southern boundary, with delegated authority to the Director of Planning and Chair and Vice-Chair Planning of this Committee to agree the wording.  

Councillor Foster returned to the room and took the Chair and Councillor Dickinson left the meeting at this point.