Minutes of the Planning Meeting held on the 23rd November 2015
Birdham Parish Council
Minutes of the Planning Committee
held on Monday 23rd November 2015
at 7pm in Birdham Village Hall
Present: Cllr Pocock (Chairman of Council), Cllrs Hamilton, Brooks, Bird, Firmston, Campbell, Barker, Churchill and Wells
Apologies: The Clerk
In attendance: Applicants representatives from Cala Homes, Planning Consultancy Genesis & drainage consultants GTA Civils, and 10 residents.
P7-15 Declaration of interests
There were none.
P8-15 Correspondence directly related to planning – NOT previously circulated.
There were none.
P9-15 Planning.
Applications - to be decided.
BI/15/02127/REM - Tawny Nurseries , Bell Lane, Birdham,
Application for reserved matters including appearance, landscaping, layout and scale, relating to outline planning permission BI/12/04147/OUT.
The applicants representatives addressed the meeting, showing how they had modified the plans to take account of previous objection.
1. They confirmed the access road as approved.
2. Houses moved back from Bell Lane.
3. 1 Detached and 2 Semi-detached houses to front the road, rather than the large terrace of 5 houses, and give much more rural feel to streetscape.
4. Windows in lofts moved to back of houses.
5. Materials amended, with more timber boarding, flint and stock brick.
6. 40% Affordable housing to stay.
The representative from GTA Civils then explained the flood prevention strategy, which involves holding water on site, in aggregate filled, lined “tanks” under the roadway and releasing it at a controlled rate into an existing ditch. The system is designed to cope with a 100 year rainfall event, + 30%.
There was considerable disquiet expressed by both residents & councillors about the system’s capacity to cope, particularly as we seem to have had at least 4 100 year rainfall events in the last 5 years.
The position of the pond over the existing sewer was mentioned, and would be taken into account by the developers.
A request was made to ensure all construction site parking is confined within the site boundary was made.
A request was made that the developers adhere to all the conditions attached to the planning approval, and do not try to negotiate them away.
A further request to leave gaps in fences to accommodate hedgehogs was made.
A proposal of No Objection was accepted unanimously by the councillors, provided that the conditions of the appeal decision, particularly point 13 which relates to surface water drainage, are met.
Suggested Response.
Our initial objection to this application was related to the following matters:
1. Was the access road as approved?
2. The houses were too close to Bell Lane.
3. The block of 5 terraced houses along Bell Lane was unsuitable for a rural area.
4. Some houses were taller than those in the surrounding area. .
5. The materials as shown were unsuitable for a rural area, and not in keeping with the surroundings.
The developers have addressed all these issues to the satisfaction of the Parish Council, and we therefore have NO OBJECTION to the application.
However, there remains considerable local disquiet over the effect of the development on surface water flooding in the immediate area surrounding the site, both during construction, and after completion.
We request that particular is taken to meet all the conditions laid out by the Inspector in his decision, particularly Clause 13, which relates to surface water drainage, and Clause 11, the construction management plan
P10-15 Date of next meeting – TBA
There being no further business to discuss the meeting closed at 8.15pm
Signed ___________________________ Dated ____________________
Chairman