Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare:

·        any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests

·        any prejudicial interests or

·        any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

At this point in the meeting, Members were asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on the agenda.

Councillor Doughty declared a personal interest in agenda item 4a as a former pupil of Our Lady’s Primary School.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 24^th October 2013.

Resolved:           That the minutes of the last Planning Committee held on 24^th October 2013 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record subject to the following:

Councillor D’Agorne asked that minute item 26 be amended to reflect that he had left the meeting for consideration of that item.

Councillor Ayre moved a recommendation to amend the minutes as being incomplete in relation to minute item 25 as no reference was made to his comments that officers had confirmed that a management plan existed but had not explained why policy H16 was not referred to in the report and that Members were incorrectly advised that the management of the site was not a planning matter.  This was seconded by Councillor Galvin. When put to the vote, the motion was lost and the amendment suggested by Cllr Ayre was not made.

It is at this point in the meeting that members of the public who have registered their wish to speak can do so. The deadline for registering is by 5pm on Wednesday 20^th November 2013.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

A major full application for the erection of 56 new two storey dwellings and associated works. [Westfield Ward] [Site Visit]

Consideration was given to a major full application by Mr. Joel Owen for the erection of 56 new two storey dwellings and associated works at the Our Lady’s Primary School site, Windsor Garth, York.

Officers provided an update to the committee report, full details of which are attached to the online agenda for information. Details included:

·        Further comments on the density of the proposed development. The density was considered acceptable when compared with nearby existing development and the proposed level in the existing and draft Local Plan.

·        The impact of small domestic animals in the area and confirmation that the countryside officer did not consider this to be material.

·        Site access and confirmation that Highways Officers consider the current proposed arrangement to be acceptable.

·        Sustainability, in particular that the applicant is exploring ways to move the rating up to BREEAM Code for Sustainable Homes level 4.

·        Paragraph 1.1 of the Committee Report contains a typing error. “46 for social rent... should read 41 for social rent....”

·        A further comment had been received from Hob Moor Residents expressing concern at the removal of the existing security railings at the site.

·        Yorkshire Wildlife Trust object to the proposal the grounds of the increased intensity of use on the site and the significant  potential harm to the Designated Local Nature Reserve through increased, noise, light and usage by domestic animals. They asked for a range of measures to address their concerns.

Peter Green had registered to speak as Chair of Friends of Hob Moor and as a Local Resident. He queried if the site was the right place for a development of 56 houses. He also raised concern at the developer’s apparent lack of knowledge on the adjoining nature reserve. He questioned if Natural England knew about the proposals as they had funded the reserve in the past. He asked that the application be resubmitted with fewer houses, a better sustainability rating and with more respect for the nature reserve and local residents.

Joel Owen had registered to speak on behalf of Yorkshire Housing. He highlighted the need for affordable housing in York and considered the scheme to be highly deliverable. He acknowledged that the sustainability level proposed was the minimum but Yorkshire Housing would work to improve the sustainability credentials of the site.

Members had concerns about the lack of a play area on the site, the application only achieving the minimum BREEAM Code 3 and the use of a boundary fence.

In answer to a number of questions, Mr. Owen and Planning Officers made the following points:

·        BREEAM code level 3 is the accepted minimum level in line with Council policy.

·        In response to comments by the Friends of Hob Moor, a condition to keep the current railings around the site would be acceptable. However, a boundary fence would still be placed within the railings.

·        It was not considered necessary to include play area provision due to the proximity to Hob Moor and the associated maintenance costs to tenants.

Councillor Simpson  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

A major full application for the erection of a two storey building accommodating research, development and production laboratories and offices (use class B1), ancillary car parking and landscaping works. [Rural West York Ward] [Site Visit].

Consideration was given to a major full application by Mr. George Burgess for the erection of a two storey building accommodating research, development and production laboratories and offices (use class B1, ancillary car parking and landscaping works.

Alistair Gill had registered to speak on behalf of the applicant. He advised that following expansion, Regenex were looking for new premises to accommodate new facilities that couldn’t be sourced at the current location at York Science Park. Northminster Business Park provided the ideal location due to good transport links and it was hoped the development would be delivered by the last quarter of 2014.

Some Members queried the use of Green Belt land and the cycle access to the site. Officers confirmed that the site was considered safe for cyclists and as the site was neighbouring existing development in the Green Belt it was considered a logical location for expansion.

Following further discussion it was:

Resolved:           That the application be approved subject to the imposition of conditions listed in the Officers report.

Reason:              Although the site is in the green belt, it is has been identified for future development in the 2005 Local Plan and in the preferred options version of the new Local Plan.  Due to the scale of the building and given the development to the north and to the east, there would be no undue impact on the openness of the green belt, and a lower impact than if the development were to other sides of the business park that have been identified for development (those to the north and to the west).  It is therefore considered there are very special circumstances to outweigh the normal presumption against inappropriate development in the green belt.