Agenda item

To consider the above application.

Consideration was given to the above planning application.

The following attended and spoke in relation to the application;

Sarah Boslover (Agent)

Members noted the content of the update report.

A motion was put to the committee to defer the application. This motion was lost.

RESOLVED:

That the application be REFUSED as detailed in the Officer recommendation for the following reasons;

1.    Inappropriate development within the Green Belt: The proposals represent inappropriate development within the Green Belt. The development fail to meet the exceptional development criteria for grey belt land as the proposals include development on land that would result in less than substantial harm to a designated heritage asset, is in an unsustainable location and does not provide on-site green space with existing nearby green space too far away to seek improvement. The development does not meet the criterion for limited infilling in a village within the Green Belt, as the site lies far beyond the defined infill village settlement boundaries for Styal. The development does not meet the criterion for complete redevelopment of previously developed land. There are no very special circumstances or material considerations that outweigh the defined harm. The proposals therefore represent unsustainable development. The proposals are considered to be contrary to policies SD1, SD2 and PG3 of the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy 2017 and paragraphs 110, 115, 154(e), 154 (g) 155 (a), (c) and (d), 156 (c) and 159 of the National Planning Policy Framework.

2.    Inappropriate mix, tenure, size and type of housing. The development would fail to present a mixture of housing in terms of type, size and tenure that would support and encourage the creation of a sustainable and mixed community. The development would fail to provide housing that meets the minimum internal size requirements as set within the Nationally Described Space Standards and would provide insufficient internal living space for future occupants and to allow for different life stages. The proposals are considered to be contrary to SD1, SC4 and SC5 of the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy 2017 and HOU1 and HOU8 of the Site Allocations and Development Policies Document 2022, the Nationally Described Space Standards, the National Planning Policy Framework and the Housing SPD.

3.    Design, scale, siting and layout out of keeping with immediate area: The proposals fail to provide a development that reflects the architectural character, density, layout, plot sizes and scale within the immediate rural area, which as a result is considered to appear overdeveloped, overly urban and visually prominent as such detrimental to the character of its rural setting. The proposals are considered to be contrary to policies and guidance: SD1, SD2 and SE1 of the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy 2017, GEN1 and HOU8 of the Site Allocations and Development Policies Document 2022, S1 and the Design Code of the Styal Neighbourhood Development Plan, Cheshire East Design Guide SPD, Housing SPD, Nationally Described Space Standards and the National Planning Policy Framework.

4.    Detrimental impacts on built heritage: The proposals result in less than substantial harm to the setting of a designated heritage asset where public benefits to outweigh such defined harm have not been demonstrated. The proposals are considered to be contrary to policies and guidance: SD1, SD2 and SE7 of the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy 2017 and HER1 and HER4 of the Site Allocations and Development Policies Document 2022.

5.    Detrimental impacts on residential amenity due to lack of internal space within dwellings, lack of adaptable dwellings, lack of spatial distancing between form resulting in overbearing impacts and overshadowing of amenity areas and habitable rooms. The proposals are considered to have detrimental impacts on the residential amenity of future occupants of the development and neighbouring occupants with regards to overbearing impacts and loss of privacy as a result of the orientation, scale and distance between new dwellings within the site and existing neighbouring form. The proposals are considered to be contrary to policies SE1 of the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy 2017, HOU12 and HOU13 of the Site Allocations and Development Policies Document 2022 and the National Planning Policy Framework.

6.    Unsustainable location. The development is considered to be unsustainably sited with regards to sustainable transport connections, lack of existing walking infrastructure and distances to the closest existing facilities, infrastructure and services. The proposals are considered to be contrary to SD1, SD2 and CO1 of the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy 2017, GEN1 and INF3 of the Site Allocations and Development Policies Document 2022, Code B of the Styal Neighbourhood Development Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework.

7.    Detrimental impacts on existing known flood risk and water management issues. There is insufficient information to ensure that there is sufficient space within the development to accommodate necessary surface and foul water drainage to support the proposals without detrimentally impacting the immediate area. The proposals are considered to be contrary to policies and guidance SD1, SD2, SE12 and SE13 of the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy 2017, ENV16 and ENV17 of the Site Allocations and Development Policies Document 2022, the SuDS SPD and paragraphs 173, 174, 175, 181 and 182 of the National Planning Policy Framework.

8.    Insufficient on-site provision of public open space, allotments and green infrastructure. The development provides insufficient on-site public open space, allotments and green infrastructure, in terms of siting, size and quality, which cannot be dealt with via developer contributions towards off-site projects due to the distance from the nearest facilities and lack of connectivity from the site to access them. The development is considered to be contrary to policies and guidance SD1, SD2, SC1 and SC3 of the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy 2017, REC3 of the Site Allocations and Development Policies Document 2022 and the Developer Contributions SPD.

In the event of any changes being needed to the wording of the Committee’s decision (such as to delete, vary or add conditions / informatives / planning obligations or reasons for approval/refusal) prior to the decision being issued, the Head of Planning has delegated authority to do so in consultation with the Chairman of the Northern Planning Committee provided that the changes do not exceed the substantive nature of the Committee’s decision.

Should the application be the subject of an appeal, approval is given to enter into a S106 Agreement with the following Heads of Terms: