Issue - meetings

            That planning permission be refused due to the proposal not satisfactorily addressing concerns over stability/integrity of the slope to the south of the site. 

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Planning in respect of this application which had been the subject of a site visit on 17 June 2013.  The usual consultations had been undertaken and the responses received detailed in the report.

                        The Development Manager detailed the background to the report explaining that the main issue was the site’s structural integrity.  Information had been submitted with the application and an assessment had been undertaken by the Council’s structural engineer of the excavations and structures on site.  He had confirmed that the gabions and fences were sufficient for the purpose intended and therefore the application did not warrant refusal.  Consultation had also taken place with Drainage Engineers and they had not made any objections to the application.  It was reported that planning permission had been granted for the erection of the dwelling under reference 038572 before the Unitary Development Plan boundary was changed and the gabion wall and fencing were within the plot.  The Development Manager explained that the site had been the subject of coal mining in the past but any problems for the site relating to this would have been encountered at the time the dwelling was erected.  He added that as the land comprised in the application lay within the residential plot and was effectively garden area, any ecological impact was minimal, despite the application being partly retrospective. 

                        Mr. E. Newell spoke against the application.  He explained that he was the resident of the adjacent property and that part of the site was not owned by the applicant and had encroached onto Mr. Newell’s land, which had been confirmed.  He said that on the issue of the site’s structural integrity he did not understand how gabion walls were suitable for part of the site with fencing being put in place for the remainder of the bank.  On the issue of coal mining he said that a report had been provided by a mining engineer which indicated that there was one shaft in the bank and a further six or seven on the land.  Mr. Newell said that no assessments had been carried out on the ecological damage to the site which included the removal of bluebells.  He said that the applicant had claimed that there was no water course within 20 metres of the site when in fact it was only three metres away.  He concluded that he had sought the protection of the land through its removal from the Unitary Development Plan boundary.

                        Mr. F. Taylor, the applicant, spoke in support of the application.  He welcomed the report and the recommendation by the officer for approval of the application.  He said that he had not been aware of the concerns raised by Mostyn Town Council until he had seen the report and said that he was disappointed that this was based on a single objection and they had acted in a non-democratic way and had not sought to obtain the facts.  He said that the report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28