Agenda item

            That planning permission be granted subject to the conditions detailed in the report of the Head of Planning and subject to the applicant entering into a Section 106 Obligation/Unilateral Undertaking to provide the following:-

(a)       payment of £47,802 towards educational provision/improvements at St. Anthony’s RC primary school.  The timing of such payment to be agreed with the Director of Lifelong Learning 

(b)       Payment of a 10 year maintenance commuted sum to be agreedby the Public Open Spaces Manager

(c)        The provision of 4 no. homes (Plots 47,48, 49, 50) to be presented to the Council as gifted units and allocated in accordance with the local lettings policy. 

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 12 May 2014.  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 which included four gifted properties and an area of public open space for a village green.  A similar application for 58 units with 17 affordable homes had been granted in April 2013.  He highlighted the late observations where the education contribution of £47,802.00 for St. Anthony’s RC primary school was reported.  On the issue of affordable housing, Councillor Richard Lloyd had requested that the four gifted properties not be split and remain in their original position which the Housing Strategy Manager found acceptable.  The density of the site equated to 36 dwellings per hectare. 

                        Mr. S. Jones spoke in support of the application.  He welcomed the positive report and reiterated that an extant permission was in place and therefore the principle of development had been established.  He commented on the suggestion that a second access to the site could be created through St. David’s Retail Park but it was felt that this would create a rat run; he reminded the Committee that the extant permission had been granted with only one access.  The number of dwellings had been reduced from 58 to 54 to allow the creation of an informal public open space to complement the play area.  He commended the report to the Committee.  

            Councillor Richard Lloyd proposed the recommendation for approval which was duly seconded.  He welcomed the proposal which would improve the central area of Saltney and would allow four families to be housed in the gifted properties.  He preferred the gifted units to remain in their original position and not be split, as grouping them together would make future maintenance easier.  He sought clarification that tenants of the four gifted properties would not be permitted to buy the dwellings.  He spoke of concern raised about access to the site and hoped that this could be resolved by Highways in the future.  The village green would provide open space and the school would benefit from the educational contributions.  He asked that the local history group be involved in the naming of streets on the site. 

            Councillor Chris Bithell felt that it was a good development.  He raised concern about the affordable housing being grouped as it was normal practice to spread them across a development and sought clarification about paragraph 7.21 on the positioning of the dwellings. 

            The adjacent Ward Member, Councillor Veronica Gay, said that the proposal was welcomed by Saltney residents but raised concern about the extra pressure that the access would put on the high street.  There were currently no restrictions on where vehicles could park and this created a problem as several properties in the area did not have off street parking.  Problems would occur near Park Avenue which was almost opposite the access to the site and a high hedge and parked vehicles already reduced visibility when vehicles were turning left onto the high street.  Buses had to cross the main carriageway and as the road served as an access to the A55 and Broughton RetailPark, it was extremely busy.  Councillor Gay referred to the Highway Code, codes 221, 223 and 238 to 244, which she did not feel were being complied with and asked that stricter rules be enforced and yellow lines be provided.  She felt that a full traffic management assessment was needed and suggested that a pedestrian crossing in addition to the one on Bridge Street be provided to make access to the two nearby schools safer.

            Councillor Owen Thomas concurred that the gifted units should remain together and welcomed the suggestion for a further pedestrian crossing. 

            In response to the comments made, the officer provided details of where the gifted units would be situated based on the advice of the Housing Strategy Manager which was reported in paragraph 7.21 and said that the grouping meant that they would be delivered at the same time thus making the handover easier. 

            The Head of Planning said that the applicant could not be asked to provide a pedestrian crossing but he could write to Highways on behalf of the Committee to ask them to assess the need for a crossing. 

            In summing up, Councillor Richard Lloyd said that the positioning of a crossing was important and even though adding another crossing in the area could be difficult, the safety of the children was paramount.  He reiterated his comments that plots 47 to 50 not be split. 

            RESOLVED:

            That planning permission be granted subject to the conditions detailed in the report of the Head of Planning and subject to the applicant entering into a Section 106 Obligation/Unilateral Undertaking to provide the following:-

(a)       payment of £47,802 towards educational provision/improvements at St. Anthony’s RC primary school.  The timing of such payment to be agreed with the Director of Lifelong Learning 

(b)       Payment of a 10 year maintenance commuted sum to be agreedby the Public Open Spaces Manager

(c)        The provision of 4 no. homes (Plots 47,48, 49, 50) to be presented to the Council as gifted units and allocated in accordance with the local lettings policy.