Agenda item

St Mary’s Hospital, Thorpe Road, Melton Mowbray

The Assistant Director for Planning and Delivery addressed the Committee and reported that the following had been received since despatch of the agenda:

·         A further petition

·         Approximately 8 further objections making several points

·         Leicestershire County Council submission

·         Many suggestions and ideas on how the vagrant cells may be treated

·         Further comments from the Highway Authority including a list of conditions and s106 requests

·         Responses to Member queries previously raised

On the Leicestershire County Council (LCC) position, he advised that it related to developer contributions on the site (paragraph 4.5.5 of the report) which were not close to what had been requested and there was a huge shortfall. The LCC submission was received 16:16 on the same day as the meeting and Mr Worley read the representation that had been received by LCC as follows:

‘I refer to our conversation yesterday regarding planning application ref. 19/00909/OUT – Melton Hospital, Thorpe Road, Melton Mowbray which is being considered at your Planning Committee tonight.

As you are aware, the County Council has written to you to set out its requirement for developer contributions to mitigate against the impacts of this development. A key component of this is the requirement for a £12,422.26 contribution, per dwelling, towards education facilities (total £571,423 based on 46 dwellings). The County Council has also requested contributions towards libraries and civic amenities. These contributions are essential to ensure that the infrastructure required to support the development can be funded. Without these contributions, there is no funding available to pay for these essential facilities. This means that the development is not sustainable, contrary to national and local policy. The fact that the developer has only offered £67,000 is therefore very disappointing.

In the event that Melton BC’s Planning Committee resolves to grant planning permission without the required contributions, please be advised that the County Council reserves the right to consider taking legal action to prevent the development from proceeding.

I would strongly recommend that this application be refused planning permission due to a lack of section 106 planning contributions for the County Council meaning that the development is not sustainable.

Please could you bring this email to the attention of members of your Planning Committee and the applicant.’

Mr Worley referred to the financial shortfall in the report and that this had grown due to the Highway Authority requesting a further £40k since the report was drafted, and the shortfall was now at over £600k.

He further mentioned the late discussions that had come forward on the vagrant cells and the many ideas around how these should be saved, restored, commemorated and there had not been time before the meeting to consider these options and their feasibility.  He felt more work on the viability of the vagrant cells was needed to bring forward realistic options especially as this area had emerged as a key factor in the public’s view of this application. Therefore, with reluctance, he recommended that the application be deferred to enable consideration of the County Council’s position and review the comments on the vagrant cells to be able to bring forward feasible options for the Committee’s consideration.

Councillor Glancy proposed that in light of new significant information being received on the same day from the Leicestershire County Council as well as emerging issues around the vagrant cells, the application be deferred. Councillor Steadman seconded.

RESOLVED

That application 19/00909/OUT be DEFERRED to allow the latest information received from Leicestershire County Council and emerging issues around the vagrant cells to be reviewed by officers.

(Unanimous)

Following the vote, Members made comments which officers would consider before bringing the application back to the Committee.

The Chair apologised to the speakers for the deferral and thanked them for attending and that she looked forward to hearing from them when the application returned to the Committee.