Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

To receive any declaration of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

There are a number of references to the Members’ Update within these minutes.  The Members’ Update was circulated to all present prior to the meeting.  A copy is attached.

To consider any recommendations to defer applications from the schedule and to note any applications that may have been withdrawn.

No applications had been recommended for deferral, or withdrawn.

Recommendation: Conditional approval, subject to a Legal Agreement.

Proposal: Reserved Matters application (Appearance, Landscaping, Layout and Scale to be considered) pursuant to outline planning consent O/2006/8687 relating to the erection of 433 dwellings, associated amenity space, car parking including garaging, internal access roads (accessed from approved Phase 1 Winnersh Relief Road between King Street Lane and Lower Earley Way) and private drives, pedestrian and cycle links, hard and soft landscaping including public open space, infrastructure provision including provision of surface water drainage and foul drainage (including foul water pumping station), undergrounding of power lines and other associated works.

Applicant:Persimmon Homes & Bovis Homes

The Committee received and reviewed a report about this application, set out in Agenda pages 5 to 80.

The Committee was advised that the Members’ Update included:

·       clarifications on school land, the country park, car parking, flooding and the relief road;

·       alterations to the report; and

·       additional information on drainage strategy, window design and residents’ concerns.

It was noted that Members visited the site on Friday 11 March 2016 to assess the relationship of the major development with adjoining land uses and nearby residential properties.

Councillor Bill Luck, representing Earley Town Council spoke on the application and expressed concerns about road traffic, flood risk, parking, window design and construction lorry wheel washing.

Paul Robertson and Tony Johnson, representing local residents, spoke in objection to the application.  They queried if the relief road had full planning permission and raised the issues of noise, housing density and landscaping.

David Hutchison, Agent, spoke in favour of the application.  He pointed out that there were no objections from the Parish Council or the statutory consultees.

Prue Bray, Local Ward Member, spoke to the application.  She asked that Local Ward Members be consulted about the implementation of condition 9 relating to drainage.

Philip Houldsworth, Local Ward Member, spoke to the application.  He said that additional housing was needed but that the Council had to ensure that there was adequate flooding protection.

Clare Lawrence, Head of Development Management and Regulatory Services, stated that permission for the relief road was included at outline stage. 

Members asked about the enlarged drainage ponds, possible flooding of the relief road or housing and concerns expressed by Thames Water.  Boniface Ngu Azeh, Principal Flood Risk and Drainage Engineer, explained that the larger ponds were to improve flood protection, the design of the relief road was to ensure that it would not flood in a 100-year storm plus 30% for climate change, there were no houses in Flood Zone 2 and full drainage details must be provided prior to commencement of development under condition 9.

In response to questions about the provision of schools and public transport, the planning officers stated that there was capacity for these to be provided at a later stage.  There is land reserved for educational use and room to place bus stops.

Members asked about certain roads in the development that were not of a standard that could be adopted by the Council.  Chris Easton, Service Manager, Highways Development Management,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 105.

Recommendation: Conditional approval.

Proposal: Reserved Matters application pursuant to planning consent O/2014/2280. The application relates to the Nine Mile Ride Extension, School Access Road and A327 Roundabout. Details of access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale to be considered.

Applicant:Crest Nicholson Operations Limited C/O Savills

The Committee received and reviewed a report about this application, set out in Agenda pages 81 to 110.

The Committee was advised that the Members’ Update included clarifications on the extent of this application and the condition on vehicle parking.

Councillor Laurence Heath, representing Barkham Parish Council, spoke to the application and raised concerns about the position of a cycleway crossing and traffic at the junction with the school access route.  He stated that the Parish Council recommended having a roundabout at that junction.

Councillor Steve Bromley, representing Finchampstead Parish Council, also supported the idea of a roundabout and expressed concerns that queues for the right hand turn to the school would be longer than predicted.

Phil Hamshaw, Agent, spoke in favour of the application, and expressed his belief that the traffic modelling was robust as it assumed traffic for the full Strategic Development Location plus 10 year growth.

Chris Easton, Service Manager, Highways Development Management, stated that a proposed junction had been assessed and that it works satisfactorily. The option of a roundabout is not deemed to be necessary and does not interact well with cycleway provisions.  An independent road safety audit had been conducted on the overall scheme showing it to be satisfactory. 

Members asked further questions about the safety of the proposed shared cycleway/ pedestrian route and if the crossing would be controlled by traffic signals.  Chris Easton stated that the crossing was proposed to be uncontrolled and that the design of the scheme was satisfactory and not the only option available as other routes will be delivered through the delivery of the wider Arborfield Strategic Development Location.

RESOLVED: That application No. 153336 be approved, subject to the conditions set out on Agenda pages 82 to 84.

Recommendation: Conditional approval.

Proposal:Reserved Matters application pursuant to Outline Planning Approval O/2014/2242 (Phased development of approximately 760 dwellings, including 60 units of assisted living homes / older person accommodation, and a local centre (including retail, a primary school and community facilities) – approved 02/04/2015) for the construction of the Northern Distributor Road (NDR) within the development site including footways and associated highways works.

Applicant:Bovis Homes and Gleeson Developments

The Committee received and reviewed a report about this application, set out in Agenda pages 111 to 166.

The Committee was advised that the Members’ Update included amendments to condition 1 to include the approved drawings and a representation from Emmbrook Residents Association and the officer’s response.

Councillor Kevin Morgan, representing Wokingham Town Council, spoke to the application and stated that he believed that two mature trees could be saved if the route was realigned by about 100 yards.  He also questioned if public notices of the application had been displayed locally.

Charlie Collins, Agent, spoke in favour of the application and stated that the applicants had sought to avoid the loss of trees and that there would be planting of new trees including oak.

Members asked for clarification on the road alignment and the width throughout.  Chris Easton, Service Manager, Highways Development Management, stated that the road alignment had been decided by the Council Executive and that the width of the road in the application was 7.3m throughout.

Connor Corrigan, Strategic Delivery Manager, Development Delivery Team, stated that the Council had placed site notices and a notice in a local newspaper and had written to about 400 local residents.

RESOLVED: That the Head of Development Management and Regulatory Services be authorised to approve application No. 152649, subject to the conditions set out on Agenda pages 113 to 115.

Recommendation: Conditional approval, subject to a Legal Agreement.

Proposal:Full application for the proposed conversion, alteration and extension of existing office building to provide 15 flats (12no 1bed, & 3no 2beds) including front and side extensions, the removal of the existing front facade including the existing shop front, and the re-construction of the existing facade to facilitate the proposed extensions, new vehicular entrance, with security gates, changes to existing roof line to increase roof height, addition of windows, dormers, roof lights and Juliette balconies in the side and rear elevations, the erection of a cycle and bin stores and hard and soft landscaping.

Applicant:Mr. D. McCarthy

The Committee received and reviewed a report about this application, set out in Agenda pages 167 to 190.

The Committee was advised that the Members’ Update included

·       amendments to conditions 7 and 8;

·       the deletion of condition 17 which duplicates condition 6; and

·       an additional informative on a prior approval.

It was noted that Members visited the site on Friday 11 March 2016 to assess the relationship of the major development with adjoining residential properties.

Members asked for clarification of the status of the prior approval should the current application be approved.  The Planning Officer stated that the applicant was not happy to agree to quash the prior approval.  Mary Severin, Borough Solicitor, stated that the applicant could not ‘mix and match’ from the two approvals but could build one or the other.

RESOLVED: That application No. 153258 be approved, subject to the completion of a Legal Agreement and conditions set out on Agenda pages 168 to 173 with conditions 7 and 8 amended, condition 17 deleted and an additional informative as set out in the Members’ Update.

Recommendation: Conditional approval.

Proposal: Full planning application for the proposed erection of a 2x2 bed dwellings following sub-division of an existing 4 bed dwelling (part retrospective)

Applicant: Mr G Bertram

The Committee received and reviewed a report about this application, set out in Agenda pages 191 to 214.

Keith Baker, Local Ward Member, spoke to the application.  He referred to several conditions on approval which related to the completion of construction   and questioned the meaning of these conditions given that he believes that construction has in fact been completed already.

The Planning Officer confirmed that if the applicant cannot meet the requirements then they would still be in breach of the planning approval.  He also confirmed that the development does not extend the footprint of the building.

RESOLVED: That application No. 160167 be approved, subject to the conditions set out on Agenda pages 191 to 193.