Agenda item

To consider the above planning application.

Note: Having declared his membership of Mill Lane Action Group, Councillor A Kolker exercised his separate speaking rights as a Ward Councillor and withdrew from the meeting during consideration of this item.

Note:Councillor M Nicholls (on behalf of Goostrey Parish Council), Mrs C McCubbin (on behalf of Mill Lane Action Group) and Mr J Ashall (agent on behalf of the applicant) attended the meeting and addressed the Committee on this matter.

The Committee considered a report regarding the above planning application, a written update, an oral report of the site inspection and an oral update by the Principal Planning Officer.

RESOLVED – That, contrary to the planning officer’s recommendation for refusal, the application be APPROVED subject to the following conditions:

1. The development hereby approved shall commence within three years of the date of this permission.

2. In accordance with plans.

3. This permission relates only to the conversion of the barn indicated on the drawings hereby approved.  It does not grant or convey any consent or permission for any works of demolition, reconstruction, construction or alteration affecting the external appearance of the building, except where such works are indicated in the submitted plans/structural report or are otherwise first approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

4. Prior to commencement of development, all external materials to be submitted and approved.

5. The material and colour of all rainwater goods shall be cast iron, painted black unless otherwise agreed in writing.  The rainwater goods shall be retained thereafter.

6. All fenestration shall be set behind a reveal of 100mm unless otherwise agreed in writing.

7. All windows and doors in the external elevations of the proposed development shall be fabricated in timber and shall be retained in such a form thereafter.  The windows and doors shall be painted in a colour, details of which shall be first approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority and retained thereafter.

8. The roof lights in the development hereby approved shall be set flush with the angle of the surrounding roof slope.  If this cannot be achieved, the degree of projection from the plane of the roof pitch shall be first agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

9. Prior to the commencement of development:

(a)   A contaminated land Phase I report to assess the actual/potential contamination risks at the site shall be submitted to, and approved in writing by, the Local Planning Authority.

(b)   Should the Phase I report recommend that a Phase II investigation is required, a Phase II investigation shall be carried out and the results submitted to, and approved in writing by, the Local Planning Authority.

(c)   Should the Phase II investigations indicate that remediation is necessary, a Remediation Statement shall be submitted to, and approved in writing, by the Local Planning Authority.  The remedial scheme in the approved Remediation Statement shall then be carried out.

(d)   Should remediation be required, a Site Completion Report detailing the conclusions and actions taken at each stage of the works, including validation works, shall be submitted to, and approved in writing by, the Local Planning Authority prior to the first use or occupation of any part of the development hereby approved.

10. Prior to the commencement of development, a scheme for the landscaping of the site shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.  The landscaping scheme shall include details of hard landscaping, planting plans, written specifications (including cultivation and other operations associated with tree, shrub, hedge or grass establishment.), schedules of plants noting species, plant sizes, the proposed numbers and densities and an implementation programme.

11. The approved landscaping plan shall be completed in accordance with the following:

(a) All hard and soft landscaping works shall be completed in full accordance with the approved scheme, within the first planting season following completion of the development hereby approved, or in accordance with a programme agreed with the Local Planning Authority.

(b) All trees, shrubs and hedge plants supplied shall comply with the requirements of British Standard 3936, Specification for Nursery Stock.  All pre-planting site preparation, planting and post-planting maintenance works shall be carried out in accordance with the requirements of British Standard 4428(1989) Code of Practice for General Landscape Operations (excluding hard surfaces).

(c) All new tree plantings shall be positioned in accordance with the requirements of Table 3 of British Standard BS5837: 2005 Trees in Relation to Construction: Recommendations.

(d) Any trees, shrubs or hedges planted in accordance with this condition which are removed, die, become severely damaged or become seriously diseased within five years of planting shall be replaced within the next planting season by trees, shrubs or hedging plants of similar size and species to those originally required to be planted.

12. Prior to the commencement of development a plan indicating the positions, design, materials and type of boundary treatment to be erected shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.  The boundary treatment shall be completed before the dwellings are first occupied.  The boundary treatment shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details and permanently retained unless otherwise first approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

13. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (or any order revoking or re-enacting that order), no development (as defined by Section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990) as may otherwise be permitted by virtue of Class(es) A-G of Part 1 Schedule 2, Class A of Part 2 Schedule 2, or Class A, B, or E of Part 40 Schedule 2 of the Order shall be carried out.

14. Prior to the commencement of development the applicant to submit detailed proposals for the incorporation of features into the scheme suitable for use by roosting bats.  Such proposals to be agreed by the Local Planning Authority.  The proposals shall be permanently installed in accordance with approved details.

The Committee was of the opinion that sufficient marketing information had been submitted with the application to demonstrate that every reasonable attempt had been made to secure suitable business re-use of the site. In addition, the proposal demonstrated that the location and the character of the site were such that residential use was the only appropriate use.  The proposal was therefore in accordance with Planning Policy BH16 of the adopted Congleton Borough Local Plan First Review 2005.