Agenda and minutes

None received.

The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting dated 1^st March 2022 were confirmed and signed by the Chair.

We considered the report of the application and late correspondence, which was presented for refusal for one reason, as follows:

·         The construction of two dwellings at this site does not constitute infill development as it is not a small gap between existing dwellings and therefore the development would be contrary to Policy H3 of the Monmouthshire Local Development Plan.

The application had been approved by Planning Committee on 2nd February 2021. The consent was for the demolition of an existing bungalow with outbuildings and the erection of the two detached dwellings.  The decision was subsequently subject to a Judicial Review by a local resident, the single ground of challenge to the grant of the permission being that part of the officer’s report was substantially misleading in relation to foul drainage, in that there is guidance within approved document H2 that suggests that drainage fields should be at least 15 metres from a building. If that had been applied in this case, the effect would be that each of the proposed drainage fields would be required to be five metres further away from Ty Cwtch and from the proposed buildings.

The judge had concluded the following:

“Reading the officer’s report as a whole, which incorporated a previous report, the concerns in relation to foul drainage from objectors and the local community council are noted and these include references to the history of drainage issues in the area and to the site being predominantly on clay. In dealing with amenity, the report deals only with visual amenity and privacy. In my judgment, by not referring to the Circular or the Approved Document H2, the members, even as informed readers, are likely to have been left with the impression that as the building control officers were satisfied that the drainage proposals satisfied the requirements of the 2010 Regulations, that was the end of the matter in respect of such proposals. In the planning context, in my judgment, it was not. To leave it there without fully dealing with the adequacy of the drainage proposals in that context was in my judgment significantly misleading”.

On this basis, the decision was quashed and therefore the application is re- presented to the Planning Committee for consideration.  The Local Planning Authority has conducted a complete re-appraisal of the development proposal in light of this judgement and conducted further consultation in the form of the erection of a site notice at the site and consultation with the local community council, neighbouring parties and statutory consultees.

The local Member for Llanbadoc, attending the meeting by invitation of the Chair, outlined the following points:

·         The local Member had spoken against this application at previous Planning Committee meetings and is now pleased that officers are now recommending refusal of the application.

·         Infill on the site has already occurred with the development of Ty Cwtch, with no further room within the site for an additional infill dwelling.

·         The current proposal does not comply with Planning Policy H3.

·         Ty Cwtch’s ridge is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

We considered the report of the application and late correspondence which was recommended for approval subject to the conditions outlined in the report and subject to a Section 106 Agreement.

This application had been presented to Planning Committee on 1^st March 2022 for consideration.  However, the Committee had been minded to defer consideration of the application to allow officers to negotiate with the applicant with a view to identifying the number of parking spaces available and where they will be located on the site. The application is therefore re-presented to Committee for consideration.

The local Member for St. Arvans, also a Planning Committee, outlined the following points:

·         Tintern Community Council’s objections to the application have made the Press.  Details of which were read to the Committee.

·         Community Council’s comments should be taken into consideration when determining planning applications.

·         The local Member is representing the strong feelings of local residents who object to the application. In particular, the issues regarding the parking arrangements on the hotel site and the concerns raised regarding lack of parking provision.

·         Nearby car parks are often full at weekends and during the week which are used by walkers and tourists on a regular basis.  Tourism is adversely affected in Tintern due to the lack of parking provision in the village generally. Tintern is the most popular tourist venue in the County.

·         Photographs have been submitted to support the parking issues.

·         The local Member cannot equate the parking spaces with the numbers required for day visitors, residents and staff.

·         The owners wish to live on the site and manage the hotel.

·         Concern was expressed regarding the agent’s comments.

·         If the application was approved, a further condition was requested that the new property be tied to the hotel and not treated as a separate application.

·         Forge Road is narrow with a small pavement.  Emergency vehicles would have difficulty accessing this route.  The parking issue has not been resolved and no internal site visit has taken place.

·         The local Member does not accept the officer’s recommendation as outlined in the report and asked that the Committee consider refusal of the application.

Having considered the report and the views expressed, the following points were noted:

·         The area containing the 12 parking spaces is owned by the applicant, the hotel owners.

·         Parking provision provided with the proposed development would be for the sole use of the occupiers of the house and not for use by the hotel.

·         The car parking plan for the hotel and chalet accommodations is sufficient for the use of the hotel with the addition of the dwelling as outlined in the report. The Highways department has also confirmed that the car parking plan is compliant with appropriate guidelines. 34 parking spaces would be sufficient to provide 16/17 bedrooms and also provide three staff parking spaces. Additional parking can also serve the other functions such as the Coffee shop and the lounge bar eating area.

·         A Member considered whether a hybrid parking standard should be applied in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

We considered the report of the application and late correspondence which was recommended for approval subject to the conditions outlined in the report.

The local Member for Larkfield, Chepstow, attending the meeting by invitation of the Chair, outlined the following points:

·         Problems commonly associated with a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) include damage to social cohesion with higher levels of transient residents and fewer long term households and established families.

·         Increases in anti-social behaviour, noise and other potentially associated crime.

·         Reduction in the quality of the local environment and street scene due to increased litter refuse, fly tipping and increased levels of disrepair.

·         A change of character in the area.

·         Increased pressure on parking.

·         A reduction in provision of community facilities for families and children.

·         In 2017, Welsh Government conceded in its guidance on HMOs that due to the nature of HMOs, residents on low incomes and vulnerable groups are likely to be unrelated and they can be more intensive than single use households.

·         Welsh Government has encouraged local authorities to move away from HMOs to more self-contained.  The original applications for all the properties on this site were for family residential dwellings.

·         More family accommodation is needed in Chepstow.

·         The site already has access challenges in terms of accessing Hardwick Hill Lane off the A48 and into the site itself.  Highways concerns have been highlighted by the Highways Department which includes parking stress that will be caused on adjacent streets if the application is approved.

·         The application is for five bedrooms but there are only three parking spaces. Realistically, there will be more than three cars being parked in the driveway with significantly increased traffic movement in Hardwick Hill Lane.

·         As there is no one way system along Hardwick Hill Lane, the challenges of ingress / egress car manoeuvres are extreme.

·         The site is logistically impractical for this application as it will compromise highway safety.

·         The application is located within an air quality management zone and the access point to Hardwick Hill Lane is opposite the diffusion tube which measures the levels of pollution in that area of the zone. This measuring point has the highest levels of nitrogen dioxide in the entire zone since the removal of the bridge tolls which has resulted in more traffic movement and more pollution.

·         Monmouthshire County Council has called a climate emergency. Planning Policy has a significant role to play in assisting the Authority to deal with that critical incident warning.

·         The local Member enquired as to what consultation had been undertaken with Environmental Health and Welsh Government to oversee the management of the zone.

·         Approval of this application would go against the management air quality zone and the calling of a climate emergency.

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

·         Housing provision needs to be properly managed.  A Member expressed concern that anti-social behaviour can occur within HMOs if not managed properly.

·         HMOs also play a role for providing accommodation for professional  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

We considered the report of the application and late correspondence which was recommended for approval subject to the conditions outlined in the report.

The local Member for Larkfield, Chepstow, attending the meeting by invitation of the Chair, outlined the following points:

·         There is a different access point at the other side of Hardwick Hill onto Steep Street with the ingress / egress and parking challenges at this location.

·         The Highways Department has objected to the application on highways safety grounds.

·         To manage HMO development and prevent proliferation, authorities should not have HMOs ‘sandwiched’ together.

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

·         The internal structure of the house would be subject to building regulations approval and is not a planning consideration.

·         The proposed HMO would have a communal area consisting of a kitchen diner to be used by residents.  There would also be a garden at the rear of the property for use by all residents.

The local Member summed up as follows:

·         If the application is approved a condition could be added to limit the number of rooms which would improve living amenity and also limit the impact on the area in relation to traffic and parking provision.

It was proposed by County Councillor J. Higginson and seconded by County Councillor M. Powell that application DM/2021/01623 be approved subject to the conditions outlined in the report and that condition three be amended as follows:

The property shall not be occupied by more than six persons at any one time within use Class C4 (a House in Multiple Occupation).

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

For approval             -           10

Against approval      -           1

Abstentions               -           1

The proposition was carried.

We resolved that application DM/2021/01623 be approved subject to the conditions outlined in the report and that condition three be amended as follows:

The property shall not be occupied by more than six persons at any one time within use Class C4 (a House in Multiple Occupation).

We considered the report of the application and late correspondence which was recommended for approval subject to the conditions outlined in the report and that an additional condition be added to ensure compliance with the submitted Construction Environment Management Plan (CEMP).

In noting the detail of the application, it was proposed by County Councillor J. Higginson and seconded by County Councillor D. Evans that application DM/2022/00241 be approved subject to the conditions outlined in the report and that an additional condition be added to ensure compliance with the submitted Construction Environment Management Plan (CEMP).

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

For approval             -           12

Against approval      -           0

Abstentions               -           0

The proposition was carried.

We resolved that application DM/2022/00241 be approved subject to the conditions outlined in the report and that an additional condition be added to ensure compliance with the submitted Construction Environment Management Plan (CEMP).