Agenda item

Councillor Oguchi arrived at 7:29pm and, therefore, did not participate or vote on Item 5b.

The Case Officer, Robert Freeman, introduced the report to Members and said that the application had been referred to committee in view of the objections of Berkhamsted Town Council.

Berkhamsted Town Councillor Anthony Armytage spoke in objection of the application.

Alun Evans spoke in support of the application.

It was proposed by Councillor Uttley and seconded by Councillor Beauchamp to GRANT the application in line with the officer’s recommendation.

Vote:

For: 2                           Against: 4                    Abstained: 3

Councillor Guest noted that the motion fell and asked for a motion to REFUSE.

It was proposed by Councillor Riddick and seconded by Councillor Symington to REFUSE the application on the grounds that the application site forms part of the wider housing allocation of LA4 within the Core Strategy which, together with other matters, requires the delivery of 40% affordable housing. The proposed development does not make any provision for the delivery of affordable housing either upon the site or as part of the comprehensive development of the Site Allocation. As such the proposed development would be contrary to Policies CS19 and LA4 of the Dacorum Borough Core Strategy (September 2013), the Site Allocations Development Plan Document and the Local Allocation LA4 Masterplan SPD (July 2017).

The proposed access and parking arrangements/provision for the site would be inadequate to provide for safe and inclusive access to the site, taking into account the distance of the site to public transport connections and the town centre. Furthermore, the location of the access onto Shootersway is not considered to be practical or safe, especially when taken together with the cumulative arrangement of site accesses and recent development in the locality, and as such would result in significant harm to matters of highways safety. As such the proposals would be contrary to Policies CS8 (f) and (h), CS9 and CS12 (a) and (b) of the Dacorum Borough Core Strategy (September 2013), Saved Policy 51 and Appendix 5 of the Dacorum Borough Local Plan (1991-2011) and the Local Allocation LA4 Masterplan SPD (July 2017).

The proposed development, in view of its scale, bulk, density and design, in particular its three-storey height and coverage across the site, is considered to result in the over development of the site. The resulting building would be harmful to the character and appearance of the site and would dominate and be out of character with the area in which it would be situated. As such the proposals would be contrary to Policies CS10, CS11 and CS12 (f) and (g) of the Dacorum Borough Core Strategy (September 2013), and the Supplementary Planning Guidance ‘Area Based Policies’ (May 2004) for Residential Character Area BCA 12: Shootersway.

Vote:

For: 4                           Against: 1                    Abstained: 4

Resolved: That planning permission be REFUSED.

Item 5e and Item 5f were heard next as they had members of the public speaking on the applications.

The meeting adjourned at 9:00pm.

The meeting reconvened at 9:08pm.