Agenda item

Conversion of coach house to provide a single dwellinghouse with external alterations including porch, new rooflights and solar panels and alterations to windows and doors. [Guildhall Ward]

Members considered a full application by Mr John Edwards for the conversion of a coach house to provide a single dwellinghouse with external alterations including porch, new rooflights and solar panels and alterations to windows and doors. Members agreed to consider the application for Listed Building Consent (Minute 28b refers) alongside this application.

Officers circulated a letter (including photographs) from O’Neill Associates, on behalf of clients who live at 8 Chapter House Street, which raised no objections to the revised external alterations but maintained their objection to the proposed extent of the car parking area which, they stated, has been created accommodating potentially 5 cars contrary to national and local sustainability policies.  Officers also advised that they had received a letter from 2 Ogleforth Mews objecting to any vehicle access via Monkbar Court and stating that previous concerns they had raised were still valid.

Officers advised that draft conditions 2 and 7 should be revised, that draft condition 6 be deleted as it was not longer needed due to the surface treatment being shown on the submitted drawing and draft condition 10 deleted as it was covered more fully by condition 7 of the Listed Building Consent application.

Representations were received from O’Neill Associates on behalf of clients in objection to the application. The speaker advised that her clients did not object to the change of use of the building to a dwellinghouse but stated that the external treatments were not fit for context in the location it was. She expressed their concerns that too much space had been allocated for parking which in their opinion was not suitable in such a sensitive, historic location in York and along one of the best stretches of the City walls. She stated that 5 spaces could not be justified for one property and voiced concerns that these could be used for business purposes of Grays Court rather than domestic use. 

Representations were received by the applicant in support of the application. He stated that he had worked with the conservation officer and planning officer who were happy with the revised design of the building. With regard to the proposals for parking and landscaping, he stressed that there were no alternative locations for parking on the site. He explained that the access to the garage was difficult which made manoeuvring in and out tortuous so not practical on a day to day basis therefore the intention was to use the garage for the storage of bikes etc instead. He stated that the space identified for parking was enough for two cars plus one space for visitors, not five as suggested. He advised that the parking area would be surfaced with reinforced grass which would have the appearance of a lawn and that a new planting bed would be introduced which would be planted with fruit trees which would be trained along the walls to soften the parking area and two further beds which would enhance the conservation area.

Members raised concerns that the parking area appeared to be too large for two to three cars and that the intended reinforced grass surface  was not ideal and could become scruffy with use. They accepted the offer made by the applicant to extend landscaping beyond the parking area.

Officers advised that the only way to control the number of parking spaces would be to limit the size of the parking area. They noted that revised condition 7 required landscaping to be shown on the plan and therefore a further revised plan would be required if the size of the parking area were to be reduced by introducing additional landscaping.

Members agreed to give officers delegated authority to approve the application once they have received and agreed revised plans showing changes to parking/landscaping as agreed at the meeting.

RESOLVED:             That delegated authority be given to officers to approve the application subject to:

(i)                 the conditions listed in the report;

(ii)               draft conditions 6 and 10, as listed in the report, being deleted;

(iii)             the revised conditions 2 and 7 as detailed below;

(iv)              a revised drawing being received and agreed showing changes to the landscaping and car parking areas agreed at the meeting (the drawing numbers referred to in conditions 2 and 7 will change as a result of this)

(v)                there being no further objections raising new issues as a result of the re-consultation exercise which was being carried out following receipt of revised plans. (The consultation period expires on 27 October 2010).

Revised Condition 2

The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following plans and other submitted details:-

Drawing No. GC1/02/03  Revision D, Received 11 October 2010

Drawing no. GC1/02/03 Revision F dated 19.10.10.

Reason: For the avoidance of doubt and to ensure that the development is carried out only as approved by the Local Planning Authority.

Revised Condition 7

The landscaping and car parking areas shall be implemented and retained in accordance with layout shown on drawing GC1/02/03 Revision F.  

Furthermore no development shall take place until there has been submitted and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority a detailed landscaping scheme which shall illustrate the number, species, height and position of trees and shrubs.  This scheme shall be implemented within a period of six months of the completion of the development.  Any trees or plants which within a period of five years from the completion of the development die, are removed or become seriously damaged or diseased shall be replaced in the next planting season with others of a similar size and species, unless alternatives are agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

Reason: To ensure that external car parking does not compromise the amenity of the limited openness of the site and its tight relationship with Scheduled Monument of the City Walls and the wider conservation area.

REASON:                  The proposal, subject to the conditions listed in the report and the amended and deleted conditions details above, would not cause undue harm to interests of acknowledged importance, with particular reference to the special historic interest of the adjacent listed buildings, the character and appearance of the conservation area, visual and residential amenity.  As such the proposal complies with Policies GP1, HE2, HE3, HE4, H3, HE9, HE10, HE11, GP15a, H4 and L1c of the City of York Development Control Local Plan- Incorporating the Proposed 4th Set of Changes and related national guidance contained in Planning Policy Guidance Notes No 3 " Housing " and No. 15 "Planning and the Historic Environment" and Planning Policy Statement No. 1 "