Agenda item

We considered the report of the application DM/2018/00858 that is recommended for approval subject to the six conditions outlined in the report.

The application was previously considered and approved by Planning Committee on 3rd July 2018 subject to the applicant signing a section 106 Legal Agreement requiring a commuted sum of £26,068.00 for a contribution towards affordable housing provision in the locality. The application is re-presented for consideration as the applicant has provided information to confirm that it would not be viable for the development to be constructed with the financial contribution sought. The information submitted by the applicant has been scrutinised by the Council’s Senior Housing Strategy & Policy Officer who has concluded that this particular site is not able to provide a financial contribution towards affordable housing. 

Having considered the report of the application and the views expressed by the local Member, the following points were noted:

·         Members raised concerns about the number of applications re-presented to Planning Committee where it is sought to remove the affordable housing contribution and the issue of viability needs to be addressed.  It was suggested that viability statements could be published.

·         The view was expressed that the applicant lives in the residence and would not have purchased the land therefore it was reasonable to expect a contribution as the properties in the area hold a good value when sold.

The Head of Planning Housing and Place Shaping understood the concerns and explained that there is a seminar before the December meeting to consider this matter in more depth to include viability reports.  The Committee were reminded that the Local Development Plan is reliant on small sites coming forward and there is a need to get the balance right.  Consideration is being given to publishing viability reports and it was agreed they could be shared with Committee Members confidentially in the interim.  It was agreed that what is presented to Committee in the future must be agreed with the applicant in advance.

·         It was questioned if the devaluation of the principle property was included in the viability report and confirmed that devaluation is accounted for.    

The Head of Planning, Housing and Place shaping explained that if the Section 106 is not agreed within 6 months, it is delegated to Officers to refuse planning permission.  It was added that this case should now be considered as a new application.

·         Access to the property has been revised to be separate; originally the application was for shared access. A separate driveway would be more valuable than shared access and it was questioned if this had been taken into account.

·         Changes are needed to the criteria via supplementary planning guidance.

·         There appeared to be no basis to overturn the application, but there is a need to urgently discuss viability criteria.

It was proposed by County Councillor P. Murphy and seconded by County Councillor A. Davies that application DM/2018/00858 is approved subject to the six conditions outlined in the report.

Upon being put to the vote, the following votes were recorded:

For Approval:              -           5

Against Approval:        -           8

Abstentions:                -           0

The motion to approve was defeated.

The Committee was minded to refuse application DM/2018/00858.  Planning Committee Members made clear that the decision was no reflection on Council’s Senior Housing Strategy & Policy Officer and looked forward to a seminar in December to include review of contributions for affordable housing and viability reports.

Upon being put to the vote, it was unanimously agreed to defer consideration of the application until the next meeting and to draft reasons for consideration.  The Head of Planning, Housing and Place Shaping advised that the viability information would be shared with Committee Members on a confidential basis to aid their decision making.