Agenda item

Land North of John Ferneley College, Scalford Road, Melton Mowbray

Cllrs Pearson and Illingworth returned to the meeting at 18:57.

 

Applicant:     Richborough Estates Ltd

Location:      Land North John Ferneley College, Scalford Road, Melton Mowbray

Proposal:      Outline planning application for residential development (Class C3), public open space, children's play facilities and associated infrastructure, with all matters reserved except access to the site.

 

(a)                      The Planning Officer (SL) stated that:

This application seeks outline planning approval with access only for determination at this stage, for up to 400 dwellings, and 1.22 hectares of land to allow for the expansion of John Ferneley College to allow up to a further 200 places. The site is allocated as part of the North Sustainable Neighbourhood in the adopted Local Plan. It is being reported to committee due to the strategic importance of the site.

Following the committee site visits and the publication of the Officers report, there are some updates to bring to Members attention.

Following additional consultation with the highway authority, an amended plan has been submitted for the site access to ensure that the applicant is conditioned to provide a footway / cycleway from their proposed access to where the existing footway terminates at John Ferneley College. This will ensure that occupiers of the development, should it be approved, will be able to walk or cycle safely to where the existing footpath starts. Therefore, Members are requested to allow officer’s the delegated powers to change the reference number of the plans in the proposed condition 8 within the list of conditions.

In addition, Cllr Wilkinson has this week lodged comments regarding this application, and the Sysonby Farm proposal on the neighbouring site which has just been debated by Members.

Councillor Wilkinson is in favour of the application, however, given the ageing population and struggle to retain young families Cllr Wilkinson is keen to ensure that more housing is available to first time buyers. Melton’s housing needs study outlined that the Council should have a target of 40% affordable homes given the demographic projections, stating that the target should be 45% with the introduction of starter homes.

As the Ward Councillor, Councillor Wilkinson would like to see the amount of affordable homes raised to 17.5% from the 15% minimum within the policy. This would be 70 homes in total. He proposes that 57% of these, i.e. 40 dwellings would be for affordable rent, and 43%, i.e. 30 dwellings would be for affordable home ownership. Within this, he would like to see a 50/50 split between Starter Homes and discounted market sales, which would be sold at a 20% discount from market value.

Having recently bought his first home, he states that starter homes are substantially more appealing than shared ownership. Within this there needs to be a mix of two and three bedroom homes. Councillor Wilkinson does not believe that one bedroom houses are needed through affordable ownership this early in the life of the Local Plan. The Council has already approved a significant number of affordable rented and shared ownership properties on the Leicester Road site, and Councillor Wilkinson believes that this solution would increase the supply of homes available to first time buyers specifically, and boost the supply of affordable rent whilst maintaining developer viability.

The applicant has agreed to this approach in principle.

The application forms a substantial phase of the wider north sustainable neighbourhood. It provides the land for the extension of John Ferneley College and as presented provides 15% affordable housing in accordance with the policy, in addition to contributions to make the proposal acceptable in planning terms. Furthermore, the applicant is proposing to pass the land for the provision of the MMDR that is within their control to Leicestershire County Council to deliver the road without the requirement for compulsory purchase orders.

Members will note from that this application has interdependencies with the application promoted by the County Council on the neighbouring land parcel. This site requires the primary school on the County Council site to provide places for pupils that this proposal will generate, whilst the County Council’s site requires the extensions to John Ferneley College that will be provided by this applicant.

Members will be aware that the Council is undertaking detailed Masterplanning work for both the north and south sustainable neighbourhoods at present, which it is investing significant staff time and resource to.

As stated within the Officers Report this is a fundamental consideration in the determination of this application. Members are invited to debate the benefits of early delivery of this parcel of land and the infrastructure that it will provide, against the risks of granting permission in the absence of an agreed Masterplan.

At this time, Officers consider that it is acceptable to proceed as it is not considered to prejudice the delivery of the wider sustainable neighbourhood based on the information received to date. 

The application is recommended for approval, subject to conditions and a satisfactory S106 as detailed within the Officers report.

 

(b)                            Rob Garnham was invited to speak on behalf of the Applicant and stated that:

 

·           He didn’t believe anything that had been raised as a worry in the previous application could not be addressed.

·           The development is in complete conformity to the draft SPD masterplan for Melton North Sustainable Neighbourhood and Policy.

·            The site is an allocated site and there are no objections.

·            Contributions are in accordance with recommendations.

·            Policy compliant affordable housing levels.

·           Confident that this will be a boost to the delivery of the Local Plan objective.

·           Will bring about certainty and will make contributions to the wider Sustainable Neighbourhood.

A Cllr questioned when housing would be delivered that could be lived in.

Mr Garnham informed them that they could start delivering by the time it takes for the MMDR to be built.

 

Cllr Faulkner proposed to permit and stated that considering the previous application, he was happy to propose with the same conditions to be applied as 18/00359/OUT.

 

Cllr Steadman seconded this with the same conditions.

 

A Cllr expressed their wish for more consultations to be held with residents regarding infrastructure.

 

The Planning Officer explained that an assessment of the junction capacities had been carried out, all under different scenarios. It encourages use of the distributor road which is what it’s for. The spine road would have a traffic calming effect.

 

A Cllr stated that this still needed to be looked at.

 

A Cllr queried whether a re-assessment could be conditioned.

 

The Planning Officer stated that wen the scheme came forward, public consultations would happen.

 

A Cllr explained that speed bumps are not environmentally friendly as they cause more emissions. There are to be new policies coming into effect including vehicles and calming.

 

A vote was taken.

9 Members voted to permit the application. 2 Members abstained from the vote. Cllr Holmes wished to have her abstention recorded.

 

Decision: PERMIT, subject to:

(i)            Completion of a s106 agreement as set out in the report to secure:

·                     NHS / CCG contribution;

·                     Education contribution;

·                     Libraries contribution;

·                     Civic amenities contribution;

·                     Libraries contribution;

·                     Open Spaces;

·                     Country Park – upgraded pathway

·                     Land for the provision of the MMDR

(ii)          Affordable housing provision at a rate of 17.5% : 57% of these, for affordable rent, and 43% for affordable home ownership

(iii)         Conditions as set out in the report

(iv)         Additional conditions requiring:

·         All hedges on site to be retained and buffered with a minimum of 5metres semi-natural vegetation from plot boundaries.

·         A requirement for reserved matters applications to demonstrate compliance with Melton Local Plan Policy EN9

·         Tree planting within street scene of the proposed development.

·         A limit on heights of homes to 2.5 storey and prevent them from being positioned on the higher parts of the site.

REASONS: The application site is allocated for housing and associated development as part of the Melton Mowbray North Sustainable Neighbourhood (NSN), covering a large swathe of farmland to the north of the town between Nottingham Road in the North West and Melton Spinney Road in the north east. The proposal has been submitted for outline with access for approval. All other matters are reserved and are to be determined in a separate, future reserved matters application.

Issues regarding access, archaeology, ecology, and drainage have been satisfactorily addressed. Conditions recommended on this application will ensure that the development is delivered and will achieve the standards required to conform to the adopted policies. 

As such, the proposal is considered to comply with the Local Plan policies referred to below and principles of the NPPF, subject to the satisfactory completion of a S106 agreement.