Agenda item

Change of use of amenity field to temporary (3 years) seasonal (November and December) overflow car park for the use of employees only. [Fulford and Heslington Ward]

Members considered a Major Full Application by the DROC York Limited Partnership for the change of use of amenity field to temporary (3 years) seasonal (November and December) overflow car park for the use of employees only.

The Development Manager gave a presentation on the plans and noted the proposed application was inside the greenbelt. It was reported that National Highways had concerns over the application and therefore the options open to the committee with regard to approval would be to refer the application for approval by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. The Development Manager concluded by confirming their recommendation to reject the application due to the reasons outlined in the report.

An update to the published report was provided by the Principal Development Projects Officer, this covered the concerns raised by National Highways and additional information received by the Applicant which was shared with members at the meeting.

It was reported that the final sentence of paragraph 5.24 on page 89 of the agenda needed amending to read:

“A holding direction such as the one issues by National Highways prevents the Local Planning Authority from granting planning permission without first referring the matter to the Secretary of State”.

Public Speakers

Janet O’Neill, the Agent acting for the Applicant, spoke in support of the application. She stated that York Designer Outlet provided good employment for York and contributed a lot in business rates to City of York Council. It was highlighted that their original planning application granted the premises 2700 parking spaces, with York and Ride Car Park, owned by the Applicant and used by York Park and Ride as one of the most used car parks in York, held over 1000 spaces. In the Autumn and Winter periods both car parks became very busy and could often cause congestion on the roads.

In response to questions from members, Janet stated that:

·       As opposed to Park and Ride spaces where one space could be used by one car all day, the parking spaces at the Designer Outler could often be used by multiple cars in one day.

·       Approval of the application would grant more spaces to be used by customers which would support the ease of congestion on the roads and those in getting to work.

·       York Designer Outler provided parking wardens at busy times.

·       Community engagement had taken place with the York Designer Outler and: The Executive Member for Transport, the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, and local Members of Parliament (MPs).

Paul Tyler, on behalf of the Applicant as the Centre Manager for York Designer Outler, spoke in support of the application. He highlighted that we had been Centre Manager at York Designer Outlet for the past five years and that the Outlet provided employment for 1600 people and contributed £4 million in business rates to CYC. He reported that the Applicant hosted the Designer Outler Park and Ride and that this worked well throughout the year up to Autumn and Winter where congestion increased for commuters, visitors, and Park and Ride busses.

In response to questions from members Paul stated that:

·       The purpose of the application was to deal with the problem of congestion on the roads due to a lack of and pressure on parking spaces. Approval would free up an extra 350 parking spaces to be used.

·       Many staff members are encouraged to walk, cycle, use public transport, or to car share, but many staff members were not in positions to do this and therefore staff parking spaces were still required.

·       Some parking spaces have previously been encroached upon such as due to the installation of a car wash (four spaces), but actions which took place as a result from this allowed extra spaces to be made by turning the route effected into a one-way system.

·       The Designer Outlet hosted a fair during the winter on behalf of the city for no cost.

·       The Travel Plan for the Designer Outler needed to be drafted in consultation with CYC.

In response to questions from members, the Principal Development Projects Officer confirmed that the written information submitted by the Applicant had been considered and the recommendations had been made with sight of the information.

Following debate, the Chair proposed the officer recommendation to reject the application, this was seconded by Councillor Cullwick. On being put to a vote, members voted four in favour, one against, and one abstention It was therefore:

Resolved: That the application be refused.

Reason: The proposed development is an inappropriate development in the Green Belt and should not be approved unless very special circumstances exist. The NPPF at paragraph 153 of the agenda stated that very special circumstances would not exist unless this potential harm to the Green Belt by inappropriateness, and any other harm resulting from the proposal was clearly outweighed by other considerations. In view of the assessment above on whether very special circumstances exist, it was considered that very special circumstances do not exist to justify the proposed development in the Green Belt. As such the principle of the proposed development in this Green Belt location is not acceptable as it conflicts with Policy GB1 of the Local Plan and with National Green Belt Policy as contained within the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

The meeting adjourned at 6:01pm and reconvened at 6:10pm.