Ward

Ashford Town.

Proposal

Demolition of the existing buildings and erection of a new building to provide 20 units of emergency temporary accommodation for homeless households.

Officer Recommendation

To approve the Application, subject to conditions and a legal agreement as set out in Paragraph 8 of the Report.

Description:

The application sought the demolition of existing buildings and the erection of a new building with 3 floors of accommodation to provide 20 units of emergency temporary accommodation for homeless households, together with associated plant room, car parking, bin store and other associated facilities.

Additional Information:

The Planning Development Manager gave the following updates:-

Condition 4

No With the exception of demolition to ground level, no development shall take place until:-

a)      A comprehensive desk-top study, carried out to identify and evaluate all potential sources and impacts of land and/or groundwater contamination relevant to the site, has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

b)      Where any such potential sources and impacts have been identified, a site investigation has been carried out to fully characterise the nature and extent of any land and/or groundwater contamination and its implications.  The site investigation shall not be commenced until the extent and methodology of the site investigation have been agreed in writing with the Local Planning Authority.

c)       A written method statement for the remediation of land and/or groundwater contamination affecting the site shall be agreed in writing with the Local Planning Authority prior to the commencement of remediation.  The method statement shall include an implementation timetable and monitoring proposals, and a remediation verification methodology.

The site shall be remediated in accordance with the approved method statement, with no deviation from the statement without the express written agreement of the Local Planning Authority.

Condition 16

The With the exception of demolition to ground level, the development hereby permitted shall not commence until details of the design of a surface water drainage scheme have been submitted to and approved in writing by the planning authority. The design must satisfy the SuDS Hierarchy and be compliant with the national Non-Statutory Technical Standards for SuDS, NPPF and Ministerial Statement on SuDS. The required drainage details shall include:

a)    Evidence that the proposed final solution will effectively manage the 1 in 30 & 1 in 100 (+40% allowance for climate change) storm events, during all stages of the development (Pre, Post and during).

b)   Detailed drainage design drawings and calculations to include: a finalised drainage layout detailing the location of drainage elements, pipe diameters, levels, and long and cross sections of each element including details of any flow restrictions and maintenance/risk reducing features (silt traps, inspection chambers etc.).

c)    Details of drainage management responsibilities and maintenance regimes for the drainage system.

d)    Details of how the drainage system will be protected during construction and how runoff (including any pollutants) from the development site will be managed before the drainage system is operational.

Public Speaking:

There were no Public Speakers.

Debate:

During the debate the following key issues were raised:-

·                     The Officers responded to queries relating to:

o   details of the landscaping

o   previous CLD permission

o   location of bird and bat boxes

o   the mix of units

o   the total number of inhabitants of the property

o   the maximum length of stay of residents

§  average length of stay is 14 weeks

§  a stay of two years is felt to be too long

§  the length of stay of residents shall be managed by the appropriate Council Officers and subject to a weekly review by Housing Officers

·                     Is a good development and is welcomed

·                     Concern over small size of units

o   If units are made larger, less will be provided

o   Size of units are acceptable

·                     There will be an increase in floorspace compared with the existing site

·                     Some residents use the Travel Lodge at the moment and the proposal

will be an improvement for residents

Decision:

The application was approved as per the recommendation, and subject to the prior completion of a Legal Agreement as contained in the Planning Committee report for the application.