Agenda item

The Case Officer, Martin Stickley, introduced the report to Members and said that the application had been referred to the Committee as it had been called in by Councillor Christopher Townsend.

Simon Gilbert and Ian Hines spoke in objection to the application.

Councillor Christopher Townsend spoke in objection to the application.

Emma Guy spoke in support of the application.

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

Vote:

For: 10                        Against: 2                    Abstained: 1

Resolved: That planning permission be GRANTED subject to the following 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 (excluding demolition/ground investigations) shall take place until details of the materials to be used in the construction of the external surfaces of the development hereby permitted have been submitted and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.  Development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details.  Please do not send materials to the Council offices.  Materials should be kept on site and arrangements made with the Planning Officer for inspection.

            Reason:  To ensure satisfactory appearance to the development and to safeguard the visual character of the area in accordance with Policies CS11 and CS12 of the Dacorum Borough Core Strategy (2013).

 3.        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; and

            o          minor artefacts and structures (e.g. sheds/outbuildings, refuse or other storage units, etc.).

            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).

 4.        Should any ground contamination be encountered during the construction of the development hereby approved (including groundworks) works shall be temporarily suspended, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority, and a Contamination Remediation Scheme shall be submitted to (as soon as practically possible) and approved in writing by, the Local Planning Authority.  The Contamination Remediation Scheme shall detail all measures required to render this contamination harmless and all approved measures shall subsequently be fully implemented prior to the first occupation of the development hereby approved.

            Should no ground contamination be encountered or suspected upon the completion of the groundworks, a statement to that effect shall be submitted in writing to the Local Planning Authority prior to the first occupation of the development hereby approved.

            Reason:  To ensure that the issue of contamination is adequately addressed and to ensure a satisfactory development, in accordance with Policy CS32 of the Dacorum Borough Core Strategy (2013). The safe and secure occupancy of the site, in respect of land contamination, lies with the developer.

 5.        Prior to the first occupation of the development hereby permitted the proposed access, on-site car and cycle parking area shall be laid out, demarcated, levelled, surfaced and drained in accordance with the approved plan drawing no 1906_GA_02_A and retained thereafter available for that specific use. No buildings and/or structures shall be erected in these areas.

            Reason: To ensure the permanent availability of the parking/manoeuvring area, in the interests of highway safety in accordance with Policies 51 and 54 of the Dacorum Borough Local Plan (2004), Policy CS8 of the Dacorum Borough Core Strategy (2013), Policy 5 of Hertfordshire's Local Transport Plan (2018) and Paragraphs 108 and 110 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2019).

 6.        Vehicular visibility splays of 2.4m x 43m shall be provided, and thereafter maintained, in both directions from the access, within which there shall be no obstruction to visibility between a height of 0.6m and 2m above the carriageway.

            Reason: In order to protect highway safety and the amenity of other users of the public highway and rights of way, in accordance with Policies 51 and 54 of the Dacorum Borough Local Plan (2004), Policy CS8 of the Dacorum Borough Core Strategy (2013), Policy 5 of Hertfordshire's Local Transport Plan (2018) and Paragraphs 108 and 110 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2019).

 7.        Pedestrian visibility splays of .65m x .65m shall be provided, and thereafter maintained, on both sides of the new vehicle crossover, within which there shall be no obstruction to visibility between 0.6m and 2m above the carriageway.

            Reason: In order to protect highway safety and the amenity of other users of the public highway and rights of way, in accordance with Policies 51 and 54 of the Dacorum Borough Local Plan (2004), Policy CS8 of the Dacorum Borough Core Strategy (2013), Policy 5 of Hertfordshire's Local Transport Plan (2018) and Paragraphs 108 and 110 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2019).

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

            1906_GA_01_A

            1906_GA_02_B

            1906_GA_03_C

            1906_GA_04_B

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

Informatives:

 1.        Planning permission has been granted for this proposal. The Council acted pro-actively through positive engagement with the applicant at the pre-application stage and during the determination process which lead 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.

 2.        It is an offence under section 137 of the Highways Act 1980 for any person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way to wilfully obstruct the free passage along a highway or public right of way. If this development is likely to result in the public highway or public right of way network becoming routinely blocked (fully or partly) the applicant must contact the Highway Authority to obtain their permission and requirements before construction works commence.

 3.        It is an offence under section 148 of the Highways Act 1980 to deposit mud or other debris on the public highway, and section 149 of the same Act gives the Highway Authority powers to remove such material at the expense of the party responsible. Therefore, best practical means shall be taken at all times to ensure that all vehicles leaving the site during construction of the development are in a condition such as not to emit dust or deposit mud, slurry or other debris on the highway.

 4.        The applicant is advised that the storage of materials associated with the construction of this development should be provided within the site on land which is not public highway, and the use of such areas must not interfere with the public highway. If this is not possible, authorisation should be sought from the Highway Authority before construction works commence.

 5.        The Highway Authority requires the alterations to or the construction of the vehicle crossovers to be undertaken such that the works are carried out to their specification and by a contractor who is authorised to work in the public highway. If any of the works associated with the construction of the access affects or requires the removal and/or the relocation of any equipment, apparatus or structures (e.g. street name plates, bus stop signs or shelters, statutory authority equipment etc.), the applicant will be required to bear the cost of such removal or alteration. Before works commence the applicant will need to apply to the Highway Authority to obtain their permission and requirements. The applicant may need to apply to Highways (Telephone 0300 1234047) to arrange this, or use link:- https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/droppedkerbs/

6.        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 and I would be grateful if this fact could be passed on to the developers.