Agenda item

Erect 4 no 3 bedroom houses with garages and parking; demolish existing dwelling

RECOMMENDED:

Chief Planning Officer to authorised to grant permission subject to the completion of a Section 106 agreement and conditions.

Details:

Erect 4 no 3 bedroom houses with garages and parking; demolish existing dwelling

Public Participants:

Paul Miller (Objector)

Cllr Keith Craze, New Milton Town Council

Additional Representations:

The Case Officer reported that two additional representations had been received from 40 and 46 Barton Common Lane, details of which had been included in the update note circulated prior to the meeting.

A statement was read out on behalf of Dan Wilden, Pure Town Planning (Agent).

Comment:

Cllr Hawkins disclosed a non-pecuniary interest as a member of the Planning Committee of New Milton Town Council which had commented on the application. Cllr Hawkins did not participate or vote on the application but was present during the consideration of the item.

Cllr Ward disclosed a non-pecuniary interest as a member of New Milton Town Council which had commented on the application. She concluded that there were no grounds under common law to prevent her from remaining in the meeting to speak and to vote.

The Case Officer reported that notice had been served on New Milton Town Council and an additional condition relating to construction of surfaces within the root protection area.  This had been included in the update note circulated prior to the meeting.

Members noted the concerns raised by New Milton Town Council and the objections raised both in the meeting and cited in the report.  Support was expressed for the Town Council’s reasons for objection, which included overdevelopment, the access road not being wide enough for two way traffic, loss of trees and contrary to policy.

Cllr Hopkins was not present for this item.

Decision:

Refuse

Conditions / Reasons:

1.            The proposed development of the site for 4 dwellings would result in the loss of spatial gaps between buildings which play a significant role in contributing to the character of the area. The loss of gaps will result in a form of development that is out of keeping with the area and as such would be contrary to New Milton Local Distinctiveness Document Supplementary Planning Document.

2.            The proposed development, due to it’s scale and form would result in an overdevelopment of the site contrary to Policy ENV3 of the Local Plan Part 1 Planning Strategy 2016-2036.

3.            The access arrangement to serve the proposed development would be unsatisfactory as it would be of insufficient width to allow for two-way traffic or emergency vehicles to conveniently reach the site.  As such it would be contrary to Policy ENV3 of the Local Plan Part 1 Planning Strategy 2016-2036.

4.            The proposed development would result in the loss of trees on the site to the detriment of the area and contrary to Policy ENV3 of the Local Plan Part 1 Planning Strategy 2016-2036.

5.            The scale and character of the proposed development would be out of keeping with character of the surrounding area contrary to Policy NM4 Design Quality of the New Milton Neighbourhood Plan.

6.            The recreational and air quality impacts of the proposed development on the New Forest Special Area of Conservation, the New Forest Special Protection Area, the New Forest Ramsar site, the Solent and Southampton Water Special Protection Area, the Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site, and the Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation would not be adequately mitigated, and the proposed development would therefore be likely to unacceptably increase recreational and air quality pressures on these sensitive European nature conservation sites, contrary to Policy ENV1 of the New Forest District Local Plan Part 1 2016-2036 and Policy DM2 of the Local Plan Part 2 Sites and Development Management Development Plan Document and the SPD - Mitigation Strategy for European Site.