Agenda and minutes

To confirm as a true record the Minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2022.

RESOLVED:

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2022 be approved.

To invite Members to declare any interest they might have in the matters on the agenda.

Councillors Matthew Price and Martin Oliver declared an interest in minute number 66 (Former Somerton Reservoir off, Newport Road, Cowes) as they knew the applicant.

Questions are restricted to matters not on the agenda. Questions may be asked without notice but to guarantee a full reply at the meeting, a question must be put including the name and address of the questioner by delivery in writing or by electronic mail to Democratic Services at democratic.services@iow.gov.uk no later than two clear working days before the start of the meeting. Normally, Planning Committee is held on a Tuesday, therefore the deadline for written questions will be Thursday, 21 April 2022.

There were no public questions submitted.

Planning applications and related matters.

Consideration was given to item 1 of the report of the Strategic Manager for Planning and Infrastructure Delivery.

A schedule of additional representations received after the printing of the report were submitted at the beginning of the meeting and were drawn to the attention of the Councillors when considering the application. A note is made to that effect in the minutes.

Application:

P/00356/18

Details:

Demolition of bungalow; proposed residential development comprising 28 dwellings, 3 blocks of flats comprising of 72 units, 1 block of assisted living accommodation comprising of 44 units, 1 staff unit and 1 guest unit (total of 146 units); associated parking; new vehicular access and landscaping

Former Somerton Reservoir off, Newport Road, Cowes

Site Visits:

The site visit was carried out on Friday, 22 April 2022.

Public Participation:

Mr David Long (Agent)

Additional Representations:

Five additional letters of objection had been received, the content was summarised, the planning agent for the application had commented on the report.

Comment:

Cllr John Nicholson spoke as Local Councillor and Cllr Lora Peacey-Wilcox spoke as adjoining Local Councillor on this item.

Questions were raised regarding a right hand turn only out of the site, highway representatives advised that the transport assessment had been considered with a 50/50 split to traffic turning either way, it was believed there would be an increase in traffic on the Somerton roundabout, however  planning officers advised that should councillors wish to add a requirement for a right turn only they would have to bear in mind that it would be doubling the identified traffic generation onto Somerton roundabout and therefore the impact would also be doubled.

The Committee asked if conditions could be added to include the maximum amount of roof space used for solar harvesting and the incorporation of electrical charging points for both cars and bikes given the council’s carbon policy, officers advised that there were concerns regarding a condition relating to the solar harvesting due to the potential wording not complying with the tests as it would not be specific, although a condition relating to electrical charging points could be added.

Concern was raised regarding drainage and the committee asked if condition 22 could be amended to be more robust regarding this issue, officers advised that there had been an error on the condition which should read commencement and not occupation. Officers also advised that Southern Water had been consulted on the application and the Local Planning Authority were unable to stipulate where/how the connection to the drains was managed.

Questions were asked regarding the Special Protected Area (SPA) and the ecologists’ comments as consultee for the application, Planning officers advised that a balance had been made between the impact on the SPA and the proposed development. It was noted that the reservoir had been emptied of both fish and water, but it now contained water again, mainly due to it still connecting to highway drainage.

The Committee asked for clarification of the local connection scheme for housing and how this would read  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

To consider and note the report on planning appeals performance for the period 2021-22.  

The Strategic Manager for Planning and Infrastructure Delivery advised that the performance on planning appeals indicated the quality of decisions made, he highlighted that the statistics showed the Local Planning Authority performed well at appeal with better or the same as national averages.

RESOLVED:

THAT the report was noted.

To receive a verbal update from the Cabinet Member for Planning and Community Engagement on the Cross Party Working Group.

The Cabinet Member advised that there was a lot of work being undertaken with the aid of officers, the Terms of Reference had been reviewed and the final draft would be circulated soon. The group had met and requested information from relevant officers which had been supplied and circulated to the working group.

RESOLVED:

THAT the update be noted.

To guarantee a reply to a question, a question  must be submitted in writing or by electronic mail to democratic.services@iow.gov.uk no later than 4.00pm on Friday, 22 April 2022. A question may be asked at the meeting without prior notice but in these circumstances there is no guarantee that a full reply will be given at the meeting.

There were no questions submitted.