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.   

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

15.2          The Chair gave a brief outline of the procedure for Planning Committee meetings, including public speaking.

16.1          Apologies for absence were received from Councillor I Yates.  There were no substitutes for the meeting.

Pursuant to the adoption by the Council on 24 January 2023 of the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct, effective from 1 February 2023, as set out in Minute No. CL.72, Members are invited to declare any interest they may have in the business set out on the Agenda to which the approved Code applies.

17.1           The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Tewkesbury Borough Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council on 24 January 2023 and took effect on 1 February 2023. 

17.2           There were no declarations made on this occasion.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 June 2024.

18.1          The Minutes of the meeting held on 18 June 2024, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. 

19.1           The objections to, support for, and observations upon the various applications as referred to in Appendix 1 attached to these Minutes were presented to the Committee and duly taken into consideration by Members prior to decisions being made on those applications.

PROPOSAL:  Full planning application for the erection of 126 dwellings and associated vehicular access, public open space, landscaping and other infrastructure including the demolition of the existing property known as Roseleigh along with associated outbuildings and the agricultural building located to the north of Banady Lane.

OFFICER RECOMMENDATION: Delegated Permit.

19.2          This was a full planning application for the erection of 126 dwellings and associated vehicular access, public open space, landscaping and other infrastructure including the demolition of the existing property known as Roseleigh along with associated outbuildings and the agricultural building located to the north of Banady Lane.

19.3          The Principal Planning Officer advised that the site was situated to the east of Stoke Orchard to the north of Stoke Road and extended towards Dean Lane to the north.  The plans and photographs within the presentation showed the site location and the relationship with Stoke Orchard and the Juliana Group employment site to the immediate west.  The development site was mostly agricultural land and comprised two adjoining parcels of land in a loose figure of eight shape. The site was relatively flat and not subject to any landscape, heritage or ecological designations.  The application proposed 75 open market dwellings - a mix of two, three and four bedroom dwellings - along with 51 affordable dwellings which were mainly two and three bedrooms with some four bedroom houses, one five bedroom house and six affordable bungalows.  There had been 24 objections from local residents during the course of consulting and reconsulting on the revisions to the scheme, many of whom were concerned with highway matters, particularly the narrowness of part of the pavement link along Stoke Road.  Following consultation with the Urban Design Officer, improvements had been made to the proposals including a reduction in density and better links to the open space around the perimeter of the site.  As a result of concerns raised by Officers in relation to the proximity of the nearby factory site, further work had been done to mitigate noise levels in order to protect the residential amenity of potential occupiers.  The Parish Council supported the application in principle and had identified a number of community needs which the applicant had generally accepted.  Although the proposal was not policy compliant in terms of the locational policies in the Joint Core Strategy and Tewkesbury Borough Plan, these received less weight in the planning balance given the lack of a five year housing land supply, or any other material considerations which would, as a result of granting planning permission, cause adverse impact.  Therefore, Officers considered the proposal was acceptable in principle, and it was recommended that authority be delegated to the Associate Director: Planning to permit the application, subject to any additional or amended conditions and the completion of a Section 106 Agreement.

19.4          The Chair invited the representative from Stoke Orchard and Tredington Parish Council to address the Committee.  The Parish Council representative advised that Stoke Orchard and Tredington Parish Council fully recognised and accepted its designation as a Service Village and had sought to actively engage with the developer regarding the proposal which would effectively increase the size of Stoke Orchard by approximately 30%.  The Parish Council had previously indicated its support for the proposed Roseleigh development conditional on two key areas being addressed: various  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19a

PROPOSAL: Full planning application proposing the development of seven units providing 11,421.1 M2 (GEA) of floorspace for use as industrial, workshop, warehouse, storage and distribution (use class B2, B8 and E(G)(III)) with ancillary office accommodation, new access, parking and landscaping.

OFFICER RECOMMENDATION: Delegated Permit.

19.11        This was a full planning application proposing the development of seven units providing 11,421.1 M2 (GEA) of floorspace for use as industrial, workshop, warehouse, storage and distribution (use class B2, B8 and E(G)(III)) with ancillary office accommodation, new access, parking and landscaping.

19.12        The Senior Planning Officer advised that, with regard to the Additional Representations Sheet, attached at Appendix 1, the ecology conditions had now been provided following agreement with the applicant.  An updated objection had been received from the Parish Council which raised no new concerns and the Council’s position on each point had been addressed in the Committee report.  He explained that the application site was located on the western edge of Bishops Cleeve with residential development to the north, commercial units to the east at Malvern View Business Park, a rugby club and waste management centre to the south and one residential unit and an agricultural field to the west.  In terms of planning history, which was a material consideration, outline planning permission had been granted at appeal by the Inspector who had considered this an appropriate location for development of up to 215 residential dwellings and up to 2.24 hectares of B1 and B8 commercial use.  Reserved matters applications had been submitted and approved for the residential element of the permission but no further applications had come forward for the commercial element and the time period for submitting a reserved matters application for the outline permission had now expired.  The main objection from the Parish Council was that the proposed scheme went above and beyond the conditions attached to the outline scheme in relation to height, scale and floorspace.  Condition 6 of the appeal scheme restricted the total amount of Use Class B1/B8 floorspace to 6,880sqm and condition 7 of the appeal scheme required the industrial buildings to have a maximum height of 9m above ground level whereas the proposed scheme would provide an additional circa 4,500sqm of floorspace and each unit would be above 9m as set out by the appeal scheme.  The industrial element of the appeal scheme had been granted at outline stage, therefore limited information was provided to the Inspector as shown on the outline masterplan. The proposed application provided full details in relation to scale through the submission of detailed plans, elevations, sections, landscaping details with boundary treatment plans, CGI’s, local marketing letters, a Design and Access Statement and a Landscape and Visual Impact Appraisal.  The site was located within the settlement boundary of Bishops Cleeve and was allocated Employment Land under Policy EMP1 of the Tewkesbury Borough Plan.  The proposal was for seven units, which could be sub-divided to allow for flexibility for end users.  Access was via the approved access for the outline scheme and was currently awaiting technical approval from County Highways.  Significant boundary treatment was proposed around the site perimeter and the majority of the site had a 1.1m high post and rail fence with an acoustic barrier to the north and west to reduce the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19b

PROPOSAL: Approval of reserved matters relating to layout, scale, appearance, and landscaping (pursuant to outline planning permission ref: 22/00834/OUT) for 238 dwellings, public open space, and associated highway infrastructure at land south east of Bluebell Road, Wheatpieces, Tewkesbury.

OFFICER RECOMMENDATION: Approve.

19.18        This was an approval of reserved matters application relating to layout, scale, appearance, and landscaping (pursuant to outline planning permission ref: 22/00834/OUT) for 238 dwellings, public open space, and associated highway infrastructure at land south east of Bluebell Road, Wheatpieces.

19.19        The Development Management Team Manager (East) advised that the principle of residential development at this site had been established through the outline planning permission, which was granted by Members in February 2024.  A separate reserved matters application had also been submitted for the sports pavilion, sports pitches and associated infrastructure which would be determined under delegated powers.  Planning permission had already been granted by the Local Planning Authority for the approval of a 290m long hedgerow and post and rail fence along the eastern boundary of the site.  This reserved matters application proposed 238 dwellings on 13.69 hectares, excluding the pavilion and playing fields, with an average site-wide density of 17.4 dwellings per hectare.  Excluding the playing fields there would be 6.42 hectares of public open space, rising to 7.54 hectares once the playing fields were included.  The proposal had been revised during the application process further to comments from Officers and statutory consultees.  The scheme would deliver 143 open market dwellings and 95 affordable dwellings, of which 57 would be social rented and 38 would be shared ownership, equating to 40% of the total number of dwellings.  As set out in the Committee Report, Officers had carefully considered the application and, following negotiations with the developer, the details within the reserved matters were considered to be acceptable.  Therefore, the Officer recommendation was to approve the application.

19.20        The Chair invited the applicant’s representative to address the Committee.  The applicant’s representative indicated that he did not wish to repeat the matters covered within the Committee report, which provided an excellent well-balanced summary of the application before Members today, rather he intended to emphasise a few key aspects of the proposals.  Firstly, as Members were aware, the site benefited from outline planning permission for new homes, public open space, associated infrastructure, and a new community sports pavilion and playing field which was an integral part of proposal.  Whilst this application was for the residential and public open space elements, Members would be aware that the sports pavilion was subject to a linked, albeit separate, reserved matters application.  Both applications had been shaped directly by several constructive meetings with Officers, statutory consultees and key stakeholders. Working collaboratively, the proposals had been subject to a number of changes in order to ensure a high-quality design was achieved whilst meeting the necessary technical standards.  The proposal before Members was for 238 new homes, of which 40% were affordable homes equating to 95 dwellings, providing a mix of type and tenure, including bungalows, to meet local need and demand, and was supported by the Council’s Housing Officer.  Importantly, photovoltaic panels and 7kw electric vehicle chargers would be installed to all new homes.  Over 18 acres of new formal and informal public open space  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19c

To consider current planning and enforcement appeals and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities appeal decisions.

20.1          Attention was drawn to the current appeals and appeal decisions update, circulated at Pages No. 171-172.  Members were asked to consider the current planning and enforcement appeals received and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities appeal decisions issued.

20.2          A Member commended Officers on their defence of the appeal in relation to Land Adjacent Greenacres, Hillend, Twyning which had significant drainage issues, and was pleased to note the Inspector had agreed with Officers on this occasion.

20.3          It was

RESOLVED           That the current appeals and appeal decisions update be NOTED.