There was a change of membership for this meeting: Councillor Taylor replaced Councillor Johnson.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 September 2013 to be submitted and signed.  (All minutes are available on the Council’s website.)

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 September 2013 were submitted and signed.

A list of outstanding planning applications as at 1 October 2013

The Committee received a report setting out the outstanding planning applications as at 1 October 2013.

RESOLVED –

that the report be noted.

Application for the demolition of existing house and erection of new dwelling

The Committee received a report of the Development Management Section Head including details of six letters of objection from local residents.  An update was circulated to the Committee, explaining that following amended plans being submitted, a further six letters of objection had been received.  Officer’s responses to the additional comments were included in the document.

The Chair invited Mr Alan Munro to speak to the Committee on behalf of the Applicant.

Mr Munro explained to the Committee that the application was for a replacement family home for the Applicant.  The Applicant had purchased the property and wished to make it suitable for his needs.  The current property was between 70 and 80 years old and was in need of refurbishment as it was substandard for modern living.  He had chosen this house due to its potential for redevelopment to suit his growing family. 

Mr Munro informed the Committee that at an early stage he and the Applicant had engaged with the planning authority and sought pre-application advice.  They had listened to the officer’s advice and adapted the design appropriately.  The proposal fitted in with the street scene.  It reflected the scale of buildings in the local area.  The proposal featured a two-storey five bedroom house which was similar in scale to others in the vicinity.  The white rendered walls were also similar to others.  The design was a contemporary style with clean lines.  The building would be highly energy efficient with good sustainability.  The eaves level had been reduced from the height shown in the earlier proposal.  The scale of the gable feature had been amended to reflect other the scale of others in the area and the glazing was more proportionate.  The new house would be set appropriately within the site.  He accepted that there would be an increase in the footprint from the original building; however the property at 140 Cassiobury Drive was on a similar size plot.  The proposed development would not cause a reduction in the view from the neighbouring property.

Mr Munro finished by stating that the Applicant wished to make his home at the property and would try to minimise disruption to his neighbours.  Considerable amendments had been made to the design to resolve any areas of concern.  He added that they wished to thank the officer for his advice throughout the process.

The Chair thanked Mr Munro.  He then informed the Committee that Councillor Jeffree had asked to speak about the application.  The Committee agreed to the request.

Councillor Jeffree informed the Committee that he was speaking against the application following several residents contacting him.  He advised that there were two aspects that had significant planning issues and he would be explaining this in more detail.  The issues were the scale and impact of the development on the character of the area and the adverse impact on neighbouring properties.

Councillor Jeffree referred to Policies U2 (design and layout) and U3 (integration of character) and General Principles 2 and 3 in the Residential Design  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.