Agenda item

Councillor Riddick declared that the application site was in his ward but that he had an open mind.

The Case Officer, Elspeth Palmer, introduced the report to Members and said that the application had been referred to the Committee as it had been called in by Councillor Riddick.

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

Vote:

For: 10                        Against: 0                    Abstained: 1     

Resolved: That planning permission be GRANTED subject to the following conditions:

Conditions:

 1.        The development hereby permitted shall begin before the expiration of three years from the date of this permission.

            Reason:  To comply with the requirements of Section 91 (1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, as amended by Section 51 (1) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

2.         No development, or works associated to the development that are likely to disturb the ground, approved by this permission shall be commenced until a Remediation Method Statement report, including a remedial options appraisal, has been submitted to and approved by the Local Planning Authority.

            Reason: To ensure that the issue of contamination is adequately addressed and to ensure a satisfactory development, in accordance with Core Strategy (2013) Policy CS32.

 3.        This site shall not be occupied, or brought into use, until:

            (i)         All works which form part of the Remediation Method Statement report pursuant to the discharge of condition 1 above have been fully completed and if required a formal agreement is submitted that commits to ongoing monitoring and/or maintenance of the remediation scheme.

            (ii)        A Remediation Verification Report confirming that the site is suitable for use has been submitted to, and agreed by, the Local Planning Authority.

            Reason: To ensure that the issue of contamination is adequately addressed and to ensure a satisfactory development, in accordance with Core Strategy (2013) Policy CS32.

 4.        Any contamination, other than that reported by the ST Consult Contamination Investigation Report (September 2019 - ref: JT0264) encountered during the development of this site shall be brought to the attention of the Local Planning Authority as soon as practically possible; a scheme to render this contamination harmless shall be submitted to and agreed by, the Local Planning Authority and subsequently fully implemented prior to the occupation of this site. Works shall be temporarily suspended, unless otherwise agreed in writing during this process because the safe development and secure occupancy of the site lies with the developer.

            Reason: To ensure that the issue of contamination is adequately addressed and to ensure a satisfactory development, in accordance with Core Strategy (2013) Policy CS32.

INFORMATIVES

            The above conditions are considered to be in line with paragraphs 170 (e) & (f) and 178 and 179 of the NPPF 2019.

            (I) The Environmental Health Team has a web-page that aims to provide advice to potential developers, which includes a copy of a Planning Advice Note on "Development on Potentially Contaminated Land and/or for a Sensitive Land Use" in use across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. This can be found on www.dacorum.gov.uk by searching for contaminated land.

            (II) for the attention of the developer's environmental consultant in relation to the preparation of the Remediation Method Statement:

            -           To date there has been no consideration of a maximum permissible or advisable concentration for the presence of asbestos in relation to the proposed end use. This is something that will need to be directly addressed within the Remediation Method Statement.

            -           The Remediation Method Statement must demonstrate due regard to the health and safety of site workers and the prevention of the migration of contamination within the site and off-site during its implementation.

            -           The Remediation Method Statement must specify how it will comply with waste management duty of care and if necessary waste management license requirements. Additionally if the CL:AIRE Code of Practice is to be utilised the Remediation Method Statement must be explicit about its applicability in the circumstances specific to this site. It is recognised that these issues are mentioned in the submitted Contamination Investigation Report, but they are not applied directly to the outline remediation that has been provisionally proposed. 

 5.        No construction of the superstructure shall take place until full details of both hard and soft landscape works has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.  These details shall include:

            o          all external hard surfaces within the site;

            o          other surfacing materials;

            o          means of enclosure;

            o          soft landscape works including a planting scheme with the number, size, species and position of trees, plants and shrubs;

            The planting must be carried out within one planting season of completing the development.

            Any tree or shrub which forms part of the approved landscaping scheme which within a period of 3 years from planting fails to become established, becomes seriously damaged or diseased, dies or for any reason is removed shall be replaced in the next planting season by a tree or shrub of a species, size and maturity.

            Reason:  To improve the appearance of the development and its contribution to biodiversity and the local environment, as required by saved Policy 99 of the Dacorum Borough Local Plan (2004) and Policy CS12 (e) of the Dacorum Borough Council Core Strategy (2013).

 6.        The development hereby permitted shall be constructed in accordance with the materials specified on the approved plans.

            Reason:  To make sure that the appearance of the building is suitable and that it contributes to the character of the area in accordance with Policies CS5, CS11 and CS12 of the Dacorum Borough Core Strategy (2013).

 7.        The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved plans/documents:

            Elevations and Floor Plans 1759/4/5909 Rev A

            layout plan - proposed site plan 1759/2/5874 Rev B

            Reason:  For the avoidance of doubt and in the interests of proper planning.

Article 35 Statement

Planning permission has been granted for this proposal. The Council acted pro-actively through positive engagement with the applicant during the determination process which led to improvements to the scheme. The Council has therefore acted pro-actively in line with the requirements of the Framework (paragraph 38) and in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) (Amendment No. 2) Order 2015.