Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 16 June 2022 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 June 2022 were approved as an accurate record of the proceedings.

Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that, in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, they are required to consider in advance of each meeting whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI), an other registrable interest (ORI) or a non-registrable interest (NRI) in relation to any matter on the agenda. If advice is needed, Members should contact the Monitoring Officer in good time before the meeting.

If any Member or co-opted Member of the Council identifies a DPI or ORI which they have not already registered on the Council’s register of interests or which requires updating, they should complete the disclosure form which can be obtained from Democratic Services at any time, copies of which will be available at the meeting for return to the Monitoring Officer.

Members and co-opted Members are required to disclose any DPIs and ORIs at the meeting.

·       Where the matter relates to a DPI they may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation.

·       Where the matter relates to an ORI they may not vote on the matter unless granted a dispensation.

·       Where a Member or co-opted Member has an NRI which directly relates to their financial interest or wellbeing, or that of a relative or close associate, they must disclose the interest at the meeting, may not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation. Where a matter affects the NRI of a Member or co-opted Member, section 9 of Appendix B of the Code of Conduct sets out the test which must be applied by the Member to decide whether disclosure is required.

The Chair will invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3, to be recorded in the minutes.

There were no disclosures of a pecuniary interest not already registered.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

There was none.

To consider the accompanying reports by the Director of Planning & Strategic Transport:

There were two planning applications presented before the Sub-Committee for decision; the first was related to a property at 6 Craignish Avenue and involved the following:

Change of use from small House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) (C4 Use Class) to large 8 person HMO (Sui Generis).

The second was related to a property at 6 Oscar Close and involved the following:

Demolition of existing dwelling and the erection of two pairs of three bed semi's with associated parking, refuse and recycling stores and cycle stores and private amenity space.

Two applications had been withdrawn from the agenda prior to the meeting.

Change of use from small House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) (C4 Use Class) to large 8 person HMO (Sui Generis).

Ward: Norbury and Pollards Hill

Recommendation: Grant permission

Ward: Norbury and Pollards Hill.

Jan Slominski, Applications Team Leader (Development Management,), presented the application to the Sub-Committee highlighting that:

·       The area had good public transport links and that the property was 550 metres from Norbury Station;

·       The property was already in use as a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) and that the application requested to increase the number of occupants from six to eight;

·       There were no external changes to the building proposed except a new bin storage facility and cycle storage facility, which were compliant with the Local Development Plan;

·       There would be one kitchen with two sets of facilities and communal space for socialising;

·       There would be no increased policy requirement for parking spaces as a result of amending the internal space to accommodate two extra bedrooms.

The Sub-Committee heard two representations against the application, which made the following points:

·       There was no need in the area for more HMOs;

·       Local residents had complained about poor use of communal bins and that there was excessive litter caused by increasing the capacity of properties;

·       That there would be a lack of storage in the bedrooms;

·       That the space allocated to such a high number of people would decrease their quality of life.

In response officers explained that the space allocated to the two extra bedrooms exceeded the requirements of the Council’s HMO standards, and that communal space was also not required but that this application had included it. Officers also explained that the planned bin storage facility would be large enough for use by ten occupants, which again exceeded requirements.

After consideration of the officer's report, Councillor Parker proposed and Councillor Fitzsimons seconded the officer's recommendation, on the grounds that the proposals exceeded requirements for granting a HMO licence, and the Committee voted 5 in favour and one abstention from Cllr Ponnuthurai, so planning permission was GRANTED for development at 6 Craignish Avenue.

RESOLVED:

That the Planning Sub-Committee resolve to GRANT planning permission.

That the Director of Planning and Sustainable Regeneration has delegated authority to issue the planning permission and impose conditions and informatives to secure the following matters:

Conditions

1)    Commencement within three years of consent being granted

2)    Development carried out in accordance with approved drawings and reports. Pre-occupation

3)    Refuse Management Plan, including elevations and materials of store, waste and recycling management, to be submitted for approval Compliance

4)    Provision of secure cycle storage as specified

5)    HMO restricted to no more than 8 residents

6)    In accordance with fire statement

7)    Any other planning condition(s) considered necessary by the Director of Planning and Sustainable Regeneration

8)    Any other informative(s) considered necessary by the Director of Planning and Sustainable Regeneration.

Demolition of existing dwelling and the erection of two pairs of three bed semi's with associated parking, refuse and recycling stores and cycle stores and private amenity space.

Ward: Purley and Woodcote

Recommendation: Grant permission

Ward: Purley and Woodcote

Joe Sales, Planning Officer (Planning and Sustainable Regeneration), presented the application highlighting that:

·       The proposed development was to replace a five bedroom property with two pairs of semi-detached dwellings;

·       There was a low risk of flooding in the area;

·       The proposed development site was located 800 metres from the closest train station;

·       The proposed development site was in a cul-de-sac;

·       There was a tree preservation area next to the site and the proposed development would protect the tree root protection area, and that biodiversity enhancements would be secured in the conditions of the plan;

·       The proposed development provided four extra car parking spaces;

·       The proposed development was designed to match the traditional architectural style of the existing properties in the cul-de-sac.

The sub-committee heard one representation for and two representations against the application, which made the following points:

·       The residents of Oscar Close had been inconvenienced over a long period of time by a high number of other developments on nearby roads;

·       That the current building was very young at only 15 years old, and that the carbon emissions that would result from demolishing and redeveloping the site would not be mitigated against by installing solar panels;

·       Whilst the build was ongoing machinery and service vehicles would block the road preventing access for residents, many of whom were young families;

·       An elderly resident had been hospitalised due to stress from the ongoing developments in the area;

·       There was not a housing need in the area to justify building new properties on the site.

After consideration of the officer's report, Councillor Sherine Thampi proposed and Councillor Kabir seconded the officer's recommendation, on the grounds that the considerations of the objectors could not be taken into account when deciding this application, and the Committee voted unanimously in favour, so planning permission was GRANTED for development at 6 Oscar Close.

RESOLVED:

1.     That the Planning Committee resolve to GRANT planning permission

2.     That the Director of Planning and Sustainable Regeneration is delegated authority to issue a Grant of planning permission subject to the following conditions and informatives:-

1.     Development to be implemented within three years.

2.     In accordance with the approved plans. Pre-Commencement Conditions

3.     Submission of Construction Logistics Plan to Council for approval prior to commencement of demolition/construction works. Pre-Commencement Conditions (except for demolition and below slab level works)

4.     Material and details to be submitted

5.     Full details of soft and hard landscaping, including new tree planting and biodiversity enhancements and boundary treatment to be submitted for approval and retained as appropriate thereafter. Pre-Occupation Conditions

6.     Electric charging point/s for car parking and cycle storage

7.     Details of refuse and cycle storage to be submitted

8.     Development to meet energy efficiency/carbon reduction targets as appropriate. Compliance Conditions

9.     Parking areas to be retained.

10. Implementation and adherence to actionable measures of Flood Risk Assessment submitted with application.

11. Implementation and adherence to actionable measures of Fire Strategy

12. Development to meet 110 litre per person/day water use  ...  view the full minutes text for item A31/221