Agenda, decisions and minutes

When the continuous alarm sounds you must evacuate the building by the nearest available fire exit. Members and visitors should proceed to the visitors’ car park at the front of the building and await further instructions (during office hours staff should proceed to their usual assembly point; outside of office hours proceed to the visitors’ car park). Please do not re-enter the building unless instructed to do so.

In the event of a fire any person with a disability should be assisted in leaving the building.   

40.1          The evacuation procedure, as noted on the Agenda, was advised to those present.

40.2           The Chair gave a brief outline of the procedure for this special Planning Committee meeting. 

41.1          Apologies for absence were received from Councillors G F Blackwell, M L Jordan, J R Mason and P D Surman.  Councillors K Berliner and J W Murphy would be substitutes for the meeting. 

42.1           The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council on 26 June 2012 and took effect from 1 July 2012.

42.2           There were no declarations made on this occasion.

43.1          The objections to, support for, and observations upon the application as referred to in Appendix 1 attached to these Minutes were presented to the Committee and duly taken into consideration by Members prior to a decision being made on the application.

PROPOSAL: Outline application for residential development (up to 460 dwellings), a primary school, associated works, ancillary facilities and infrastructure, open space, recreation facilities and landscaping.  Vehicular access from the A46 (T) and Fiddington Lane.

OFFICER RECOMMENDATION: To follow.

A non-determination appeal has been submitted in respect of the above application; therefore, the Council must advise the Planning Inspectorate as to how it would have determined the application, had it remained the decision-maker.

43.2          This was an outline application for residential development (up to 460 dwellings), a primary school, associated works, ancillary facilities and infrastructure, open space, recreation facilities and landscaping.  Vehicular access from the A46 (T) and Fiddington Lane.  The Planning Committee had visited the application site on 30 November 2021 prior to the meeting.

43.3          The Development Management Team Leader (North) advised that the appeal site was a 52 hectare parcel of land which lay to the south of the A46(T) and the east of the M5.  The majority of the site lay immediately south of the recently approved ‘Land at Fiddington’ where a mixed use development including up to 850 dwellings had been permitted.  To the north was the consented retail outlet and garden centre which was currently under construction.  The southern boundary of the site was formed by the limit of the rear garden of a property known as Bungalow Farm, with the eastern boundary lying adjacent to agricultural fields and the extent of the rear gardens of a small number of properties on the minor road which ran between Fiddington and Ashchurch.  The site itself comprised arable fields with boundary hedges and trees, scattered scrub and seasonally wet ditches.  A block of woodland, known as Milne’s Covert, lay to the western part of the site.  The site was not subject to any designations and the majority fell within Flood Zone 1.  A public footpath passed through the north-eastern corner of the site before running along its eastern boundary.  A bridleway also ran along the northern boundary; this formed part of the Gloucestershire Way which was a long-distance route.  Members were advised that the proposal was submitted in outline and sought permission for up to 460 dwellings, including policy compliant affordable housing, together with a one form of entry primary school, open space, recreation facilities, landscaping and associated infrastructure.  The proposal shared the same access arrangements onto the A46(T) and Fiddington Lane as the permitted development referenced previously.  An illustrative masterplan and parameters plan had been submitted to demonstrate how the site could be developed.  As assessment of the main material considerations was set out at Pages No. 14-48 of the Committee report with the key harms and benefits highlighted.

43.4           Turning to the principle of development in this location, Tewkesbury was identified as a top tier settlement in the Joint Core Strategy settlement hierarchy and was recognised in Policy SD2 as a location where dwellings would be provided to meet the identified housing needs of Tewkesbury in line with its role as a market town.  The application site formed part of the wider Tewkesbury Town area and was broadly consistent with the strategy as set out in Policy SP2 to meet the housing and/or employment needs of the borough.  Nonetheless, the site was not allocated for housing in the Joint Core Strategy and therefore needed to be considered against Joint Core Strategy Policy SD10.  Proposals for unallocated sites would only be permitted in certain circumstances, none of which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43a