Agenda item

            That the condition be discharged in accordance with the submitted details. 

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Planning in respect of this application.  The usual consultations had been undertaken and the responses received detailed in the report.  Additional comments received since the preparation of the report were circulated at the meeting. 

The officer detailed the background to the report explaining that the application was seeking to discharge condition 6 of permission 049320 which was granted in January 2013 to deliver an employment-led mixed use regeneration scheme, comprising a range of employment generating uses, local shops, residential development, public open space, surface water drainage improvements and new site access arrangements as part of the strategic development allocated in the Unitary Development Plan (UDP) under policy HSG2a known as The Northern Gateway.  All matters were reserved for future consideration and the outline permission was subject to a number of conditionsrelating to principles of how the site would be developed.  Applications were now coming forward to discharge the pre-commencement conditions prior to the submission of reserved matters applications to bring the site forward for development.  It was agreed at the consideration of the outline application by this Committee that the discharge of condition applications which dealt with the Masterplan of the site should come before the Committee.  She also explained the requirements of condition 6.

The discharge of pre-commencement conditions was the first stage in the process that would feed into and inform the detailed design of the first phases of development which would be the subject of subsequent reserved matters applications.  This process complied with the requirements of Policy HSG2A of the UDP.  The Design Statement set the principles for the illustrative land use Masterplan with subdivision of the site into proposed land uses in a series of plots and pods.  The officer reminded Members that the Masterplan dealt with on site issues and that off site issues would be part of any reserved matters applications.  Whilst the Design Statement and Masterplan set out the phasing in general terms, the detailed phasing of each parcel was required to be submitted under condition 5 prior to the development of that phase.  The level of detail provided as part of this application was therefore deemed sufficient at this stage. 

The Flood Mitigation Plan submitted as part of the application to discharge condition 6 was part of the overall site Flood Consequences Assessment (FCA) submitted to discharge condition 12.  Natural Resources Wales in their assessment of the Flood Mitigation Plan element of this application had therefore also assessed the FCA as a whole.  However, they had highlighted that the FCA had not shown the site was fully compliant with TAN15 with respect to off-site flooding.  These conditions would need to be addressed as FCAs were produced for individual phases of the development in accordance with condition 12 of permission 049320. 

The Masterplan provided for five hectares of public open space.  The Council’s requirement in terms of Local Planning Guidance Note 13 Open Space was four hectares.  However, the designation of this, as required by the Public Open Spaces Manager, was in a more formalised way than that proposed.  The details of the open space provision for each phase of the development were controlled by a further condition on the outline permission. 

The officer said that the details submitted to discharge condition 6 were sufficient and met the requirements of the condition.     

            Councillor Alison Halford proposed the recommendation to discharge the condition in accordance with the submitted details, which was duly seconded.

                        The local Member, Councillor Christine Jones, thanked the officer for her report and the work that she had undertaken.  She welcomed the exciting development but sought assurance that a footway/cycleway on Sealand Avenue would be provided, even though paragraph 7.34 reported it as being financially unviable at this stage.  She felt that it could be a bus route and cycle/footway but did not want it to become a rat run.  Councillor Jones also requested that the area be landscaped and that signage be provided at the top of Welsh Road.  The Principal Solicitor advised that the officer had earlier indicated that off site requirements could not be specifically addressed at this stage.    

            RESOLVED:

            That the condition be discharged in accordance with the submitted details.