Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 21 September 2017 as an accurate record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 21 September 2017 be signed as a correct record.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.

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

Councillor Perry and Councillor Wright recused themselves from consideration of item 5.1 having explained that the property is owned by their political group and they wished  to avoid the risk of a perception of bias were they to take part in the discussions and vote on this matter.

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:

Erection of 1 two storey three bedroom detached house and 1 two storey detached two bedroom house at rear fronting Purley Rise

Ward: Coulsdon West

Recommendation: Grant permission

Erection of 1 two storey three bedroom detached house and 1 two storey detached two bedroom house at rear fronting Purley Rise
Ward: Coulsdon West

Members were assured by the planning officers that, although some trees may need to be trimmed, no trees of value would be lost by this development.

The architect, Tom Vincent, spoke in support of the application, on behalf of the applicant and clarified the following issues:

·         The design, with cladding in dark timber, a pitched green roof and reinstatement of the boundary treatment to act as a screen, having minimal impact on the street scene;

·         Trees of good quality would be retained;

·         Some small shrubs would be removed.

Members expressed concern that the form of the development is not in keeping with the street pattern.  It has the appearance of a large shed and will be visible within the street scene.  It was felt that two houses in a back garden development would have a distinct impact on the adjoining properties.  The Chair suggested that the scale of the development should be considered by the whole Committee, particularly as two Members of the Sub-Committee were not present.  The Sub-Committee has the authority to defer applications to the Planning Committee

After consideration of the officer's report and the Addendum, Councillor Paul Scott proposed and Councillor Bernadette Khan seconded DEFERRAL of the application to be considered by Planning Committee and the Committee voted unanimously in favour (3), so the application will be considered at the Planning Committee on 19 October.

Erection of single/two storey front/side/rear extensions and alterations for subdivision into a pair of 4 bedroom semi-detached dwellings
Ward: Sanderstead

(N.B. Cllrs Jason Perry and Chris Wright re-entered the Chamber at 6:18pm, before the presentation for this item commenced)

The planning officer highlighted that the Addendum included objections which had been omitted in the original report, now making a total of 10.

Committee Members asked for clarification regarding the scale of the extensions and the planning officer confirmed that the floor area was larger than the previously consented application, taking it to over 130 square metres, which could allow it to be converted into flats in the future.

There were also some queries raised about access to the garages but the planning officer assumed Members that there was sufficient width for vehicles to get in and out.

Mr Brendon Hassall, an adjoining neighbour, spoke in objection, raising the following issues:

·         Being out of character, having a detrimental impact and being visible from other properties;

·         Undersized garages;

·         Parking overspill likely to increase risk of danger to pedestrians;

·         Upper storey being too near to neighbouring properties with windows without obscure glazing;

·         Lack of provision for roadside waste collection.

Mr Neal MacGregor, WS Planning, spoke as the agent, on behalf of the applicant and mentioned the following:

·         The applicant took the advice of Council officers and the principle of the built form had been established by previous granted applications;

·         The situation regarding car movements on the site was considered satisfactory by planning officers.

Councillor Yvette Hopley, ward Member for Sanderstead, spoke in objection, on behalf of the referring ward Member, Councillor Tim Pollard, raising the following issues:

·         Tindale Close and adjacent Ballards Hall are extremely tight and compact developments;

·         A previous smaller application was refused and dismissed at appeal;

·         This application is much closer to Ballards Hall and will have a detrimental impact on neighbours;

·         Tindale and Maywater Closes are built on the same design principle and this will be out of character;

·         It is an overdevelopment with detrimental impact on listed trees.

The Director of Planning and Strategic Transport assured the Committee that overall officers were satisfied with the character and that it was not an overdevelopment.

The Chair commented that consent had already been granted for the mass proposed.  Protection of trees is important but there will only be a small overlap with the root area and screw piles will be used, so there will be little impact.

After consideration of the officer’s report and Addendum, Councillor Paul Scott proposed and Councillor Bernadette Khan seconded the officer’s recommendation and the Committee voted 3 in favour, 2 against, so planning permission was GRANTED for development at 13 Tindale Close, South Croydon CR2 0RT.

A second motion for REFUSAL, on the grounds of over-intensification and the impact on adjoining neighbours, proposed by Councillor Jason Perry and seconded by Councillor Chris Wright, thereby fell.