Agenda item

Agenda item

21/00303/FUL - Land to the rear of 4-6 Lower Paddock Road, Watford, WD19 4DS

Minutes:

        The Development Management Manager delivered his report.

        The Chair then invited Mr Damien Sharkey of Chess Wilkinson to address the committee.

        Mr Sharkey commented that the site had already been approved for development as three generous dwellings and had been lawfully implemented as confirmed by a lawful development certificate.  The new scheme increased the scheme to four houses.  The reduced size of these better suited the scale of the surrounding dwellings and kept to the same massing as the original. 

        He went on to describe the design of the proposed dwellings as being a contemporary reflection of the design threads in the local area.  Mr Sharkey noted that the statutory consultees such as Thames Water and Highways had not objected to the proposed development. 

        He concluded by stating that the scheme brought much needed housing to the Borough. 

        The Chair thanked Mr Sharkey and invited Councillor Karen Clarke-Taylor, a Ward Councillor for Oxhey, to address the committee. 

        Councillor Clarke-Taylor emphasised the number and strength of the objections to the development.  She pointed out that some years ago a proposal was rejected as an overdevelopment, with the three house option being a compromise.  She expressed the view of the residents that to approve the four house option would be seen as backtracking.   

        The Councillor went on to say that the homes were not in keeping with the conservation area.  She pointed out that residents were not allowed to make amendments to their homes, yet this build might be approved. 

        The proposed houses were narrower and offered inadequate accommodation for families.  Further concerns were the height of the homes, with an associated negative impact on the streetscene and light levels for nearby properties. 

        Garden areas were below the minimum size of 65 square metres.  This was offset by the community garden area.  The present application had gardens as small as 48 square metres and a significant reduction in the area of communal amenity space.  This could set a precedent for sub-standard garden sizes. 

        The councillor highlighted the increase in parking spaces and that the location of these meant there was a possibility of increased light and noise pollution.  She pointed out the potential issue with access for emergency vehicles and general access problems due to the narrow access road. 

        The councillor moved on to highlight the ecological and environmental concerns, including water run-off and the potential for flooding. 

The conduct of the developers was mentioned as this had upset a number of residents.  The site had been stripped for development, but then left as an eyesore for three years.  Residents felt that the applicants were requesting increasing levels of development to enhance profits with little regard for them. 

The councillor concluded with a request for limits on timings for deliveries to the site, together with a strict prohibition on the size of vehicles and requested the application be rejected. 

The Chair asked the Development Management Manager to address some of the points raised by Councillor Clarke-Taylor. 

The Development Management Manager explained that garden sizes were often a compromise, with some meeting the requirements and some not, in such a dense urban area.  He added that it was considered that the proposed houses were in keeping with the character of the conservation area. 

He then went on to the parking spaces and parking concerns. The three parking spaces resulting in reduced communal amenity space were a compromise, but as parking is a significant issue in the Oxhey Conservation Area, it was considered this was a reasonable balance. 

The officer acknowledged there was more hard standing space as a result, but this was the compromise.  He did not consider this would cause any significant harm in terms of fumes or noise pollution to surrounding gardens. 

        With regards to the suggestion that the houses were undersized, it was pointed out that they exceeded the nationally described space standards. 

        The Chair summed up that the approved scheme for three houses and the applied for scheme for four did not raise sufficient issues to refuse.  He passed the matter over to the committee for debate.

        Councillor Bell agreed with the Chair and confirmed that he did not feel he could refuse the application, citing some of the officer’s report.  He added that it was nice to see an application for houses not flats. 

        Councillor Johnson agreed with the position that it was difficult to refuse this application and explained the difficulties facing the committee.  This stance was agreed by other members of the committee. 

        Councillor Pattinson sought clarification regarding the exact number of car parking spaces. 

        The Development Management Manager explained that there were eleven spaces applied for, with a twelfth already in existence.  This one was outside the red line on the plan. 

        Councillor Grimston asked if the parking spaces could be constructed with “grasscrete” to improve appearance and drainage.  She also suggested a prohibition on all weekend work and a ban on heavy vehicles between 10am and 3pm. 

        The Development Management Manager explained that in his experience, “grasscrete” never looked very nice.  He suggested permeable block paving as a more attractive option with good drainage.  He added that controlling access on a public road was something that planning could not really enforce, but the council could ensure that any access condition was carried over to the new permission. 

        The Chair moved the officer’s recommendation that planning permission be granted, subject to conditions as set out in Section 8 of the officer’s report.

        RESOLVED –

That planning permission be granted subject to conditions as set out in Section 8 of the officer’s report.

        Conditions

        1.         The development to which this permission relates shall be begun within a period of three years commencing on the date of this permission.

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

PGA00_01_Rev A – Proposed Ground Floor Plan / Site Layout Plan

PGA00_02_Rev A – Proposed General Arrangement

EGA00_03_Rev A – Proposed Front and Rear Elevations

EGA00_04_Rev A – Proposed Entrance Elevation (showing side elevations)

PGA00_07_Rev A – Proposed Roof Plan

PGA00_08_Rev A – Proposed First Floor Plan

PGA00_09_Rev A – Proposed Second Floor Plan

3.     No development shall commence until a construction management plan setting out details of any demolition works, removal of materials from site, parking for all contractors, subcontractors, visitors and delivery vehicles, storage of materials has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The approved plan shall be implemented throughout the development works.

4.        No development shall commence until details of the external materials to be used for the development have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall be carried out only in accordance with the approved materials.

5.        No development shall commence until an Arboricultural Impact Assessment and an Arboricultural Method Statement in respect of tree protection measures (including ground protection) relating to trees located within the site have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The tree protection measures approved under this condition shall be implemented prior to the commencement of any works and shall be maintained as such at all times whilst the construction works take place.

6.        No removal of trees, scrub or hedges shall be carried out on the site between 1st March and 31st August in any year unless a suitably qualified ecologist has previously searched the trees, scrub or hedges and certified in writing to the Local Planning Authority that such works of removal may proceed.

7.    No dwelling shall be occupied until full details of a soft landscaping scheme have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The approved landscaping scheme shall be carried out not later than the first available planting and seeding season after completion of the development.  Any trees or plants whether new or existing which within a period of five years die, are removed or become seriously damaged or diseased shall be replaced in the next planting season with others of similar size and species, or in accordance with details approved by the Local Planning Authority.  

8.     No dwelling shall be occupied until details of the cycle stores and refuse stores have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority and have been constructed in accordance with the approved drawings. The stores shall be retained as approved at all times thereafter.  

9.     Prior to occupation of the proposed dwellings, a 2mx2m pedestrian visibility sight splay, free from obstruction between a height of 600mm and 2.0m and relative to the back of the footway shall be provided on both sides of the vehicular access, and retained thereafter.

10.   No dwelling shall be occupied until full details of the hard surfacing materials have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority and installed in accordance with the details approved. The development shall be constructed of permeable surfacing for the access road and car parking spaces..

11.   The two roof level conservation-type velux windows to each flank side elevation (as annotated on plan ref: EGA00_04_Rev A) shall be installed and retained with obscure-glazing prior to first occupation and retained for the lifetime of the development.

12.  Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 3 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (or any modification or re-enactment thereof), no development permitted under Schedule 2, Part 1, Classes A, B, C or D of the Order shall be carried out to the new houses without the prior written permission of the Local Planning Authority.

                   Informatives

1.  IN907 - Positive and proactive statement - GRANT

                   2.  IN910 - Building Regulations

                   3.  IN912 - Hours of Construction

                   4.  IN909 - Street Name and Numbering

                   5.  IN913 - Community Infrastructure Level Liability

                   6.  IN808 – Vehicular Crossover

                    7.  HIGH – Storage of Materials – Highway

                   8.  OBSHIG – Obstruction of the Highway

                   9.  MUD – Mud on highway

 

Supporting documents:

 

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