Agenda item

Full Application - Proposed Change of House Type Position on Plots 40 to 46 Inclusive at Cae Eithin, Village Road, Northop Hall (053496)

Decision:

            That planning permission be granted subject to the conditions detailed in the report of the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) and subject to the applicant entering into a supplementary Section 106 agreement or unilateral undertaking to link this development with the requirement for the affordable housing provision and the open space and education contributions as required by 048855. 

 

If the obligation pursuant to Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as outlined above) is not completed within six months of the date of the committee resolution, the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) be given delegated authority to REFUSE the application. 

 

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) 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 and explained that the dwellings on plots 40 to 46 had been built 950mm further south than had previously been approved and were further away from the existing properties on Village Road.  This would have implications for the parking and footway in front of properties on plots 40 to 43 from 1.8 metres to 1.3 metres and to 1 metre along the frontage of plots 44 to 45.  It was also proposed to change the house types to allow for roller doors on the garages.  There had been no objections from Highways on the proposals.          

 

            Councillor Chris Bithell proposed the recommendation for approval which was duly seconded.  He raised concern that this was not the first application for amendments to layouts or house types that had been submitted due to errors by the company.  Councillor Derek Butler queried whether the dwellings being sited in the wrong place should have been raised by the Council’s Building Regulations Department.  Councillor Marion Bateman concurred and highlighted a similar problem that had occurred on a site in her ward.  In response, the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) explained that not all developers used the Council’s Building Control Service and therefore the error may not have been brought to the Council’s attention.  Councillor Richard Jones suggested that the dwellings would need to be demolished if they had been built one metre closer to the properties on Village Road rather than further away from them.  He asked that a letter be sent to the applicants to advise that the Committee may not be minded to approve such applications easily in the future. 

 

            The Development Manager explained that it was the owner’s responsibility to build dwellings in the correct place to comply with planning permissions.  This was not the Building Regulations function and their officers did not have the resources to check that all developments were built in accordance with the planning permission granted.  If the properties had been built one metre closer to the dwellings on Village Road, the impact of the error would have needed to be considered and may have warranted refusal of the application.  He added that developers needed to take their responsibility seriously.              

 

            RESOLVED:

 

            That planning permission be granted subject to the conditions detailed in the report of the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) and subject to the applicant entering into a supplementary Section 106 agreement or unilateral undertaking to link this development with the requirement for the affordable housing provision and the open space and education contributions as required by 048855. 

 

If the obligation pursuant to Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as outlined above) is not completed within six months of the date of the committee resolution, the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) be given delegated authority to REFUSE the application. 

 

 

Supporting documents: