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1. Apologies 1.1 Apologies were received from Councillors Karl Gauden & Chris Tew
1. Declarations of interest 2.1 The following interests were declared: · Councillor Stuart Ashley declared a personal interest in agenda item 4 as a member of Cwmbran Community Council which has been consulted on the application. · Councillor Alfie Best declared a personal Interest in Agenda Item 4 22/P/0298/FUL as a member of South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority which has been consulted on the application. · Councillor Steve Evans declared a personal Interest in Agenda Item 4 22/P/0298/FUL as a member of South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority which has been consulted on the application.
1. Minutes of Planning Committee – 3.1 The Chair raised that under agenda item 4.3 there was an error around the vote count. This was clarified and would be amended to the correct number. Members agreed there were no further amendments.
. Planning Application - 22/P/0298/FUL Erection of new homes, open space, landscaping, access roads and paths and associated infrastructure (Phase 3) 4.1 The Planner displayed photos and plans and highlighted the following points: · The site forms part of a wider strategic housing site allocated in the Adopted Local Development Plan (LDP) under Policy H1/2 identified to provide 350 dwellings. Originally the site was designated for the provision of 456 dwellings, however, during the examination of the LDP the Inspector amended the number of residential units allocated at the site to 350 in order to ensure a balance between the Site of Interest for Nature Conservation (SINC) status accorded to the site and the need for housing. The SINC’s designation is related to the presence of the important grassland (MG5) on the undeveloped part of the wider allocation. As part of the process of the preparation of the Local Development Plan, a Draft Development Brief for the site was produced. This Brief was not formally adopted as Supplementary Guidance. Subsequently no Development Brief has been prepared for the site. In December 2015 planning permission (15/P/00153) was granted for Phase 1 of this development on the brownfield part of the site which was previously used as a police training college. This development consisted of 219 dwellings and a recreation area consisting of a youth pitch, Local Equipped Area of Play and an Adventure Play Area. In 2017 planning permission (17/P/0548/FUL) was granted for Phase 2 comprising 108 dwelling and a Local Area of Play. Phase 1 has been completed whilst Phase 2 is nearing completion. · The site is located approximately 0.75km from Cwmbran Town Centre. St Dials Road, a narrow lane, forms the north eastern boundary and several dwellings located in St Dials Road lie adjacent to this boundary. To the south, the site boundary abuts the rear gardens of properties in Hill Top and this highway itself. The western boundary lies adjacent to fields retained for their ecological importance as part of Phase 2. These fields separate the application site from dwellinghouses recently built in Phase 2 and properties in Melbourne Close. The north western boundary adjoins the access stub that has been constructed to serve Phase 3 and a cul de sac serving a group of Phase 2 dwellinghouses facing south east onto the application site. · The site itself consists of 4 fields of grasslands with a series of hedgerows and mature landscape boundaries. The site slopes down from the north to the south, relatively steeply in parts. Public Right of Way (216 416/11) crosses the site (east to west) at a midway location providing access from St Dials Road into the existing fields within the site and through those fields, retained as part of the Phase 2 development, linking to Melbourne Court. The route of this footpath is affected by these proposals. A second Public Right of Way (218 416/10) runs diagonally across the southern portion of the site linking St Dials Road with Hill Top Road and is unaffected by the proposals. · This application was originally submitted for full planning permission for the erection of 84 dwellings. However, discussions, principally in respect of concerns regarding ecological impacts, have taken place in relation to re-designing the scheme resulting in this amended scheme for 70 dwellings (a reduction by 14 dwellings). The amendments negotiated include the provision of enhanced buffers to existing hedgerows and the retention of Fields 3 (apart from the LAP/LEAP) and 4 in their entirety. · The site will consist of a range of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom dwellings in a mix of terraced, semidetached and detached dwellings. There is also one block of two storey apartments. It should be noted that the applicant in this instance is Barratt/David Wilson Homes. Phases 1 and 2 were developed by Taylor Wimpey. As such the house types will differ from those developed on the earlier Phases however the massing, scale and use of materials will be similar. On the originally amended plans a Local Area of Play was situated at the entrance to the site from Phase 2 and Local Equipped Area for Play (LEAP) located at the southern end of the site in Field 3. As a result of comments received form the Landscape Officer the applicant has agreed to jointly locate these facilities at the southern end of the site. In essence the northern part of the site lies close to play facilities in Phase 2 as such grouping the facilities as proposed would serve better those future residents in the south of the site. The site no longer required for the LAP will be landscaped. · The site will be accessed by the spine road passing through Phase 1 and 2. The access stub to link to Phase 3 has been constructed as part of the Phase 2 works. From here the Phase 3 spine road travels south east for some 167 metres then due south for just under 137 metres to the southern end of the site. Just beyond this lies a LAP/LEAP. · There will be a series of cul de sacs off this spine road. To the south of the site in Fields 3 and 4 is an area of retained grassland. An attenuation feature (pond) is located at the southern end of the development. 4.2 Members asked a number of questions and Officers responded as follows: · Questions were raised around the ecology of the site. The Team Leader for Ecology confirmed the site had been designated a SINC, but this was 10 years ago and due to time and a lack of appropriate biodiversity management of the site has lost its value in this sense. The exception for this application is part of field 4 and the hedgerow adjacent to St Dials Road. Due to the application retaining the field 4 and field 3 for the purpose of biodiversity enhancement he felt that we had a sustainable compromise. He also confirmed that application would be subject to a Wildlife Protection Plan and Ecological Management Plan. The site also adheres to Planning Policy Wales standards around Ecological Connectivity. In response to questions around mitigation of this, it was stated that that it wasn’t justifiable to mitigate for a site that has low ecological value but that it was requested that enhancements in this area are put in place and key features be retained and reiterated that the decision on this was not based on what the site was 10 years ago but on the site in its current state. · There was a question around the management fee for the recreation grounds and whether as part of the application the Council would adopt this. The Consultant Planner confirmed this formed part of the report. · Questions were asked around the potential for flooding on the site. The Consultant Planner confirmed that the site was not prone to flooding and that included in the report were comments and observations from the Drainage team and there were no objections from them. He also confirmed that previous flooding issues were during Phases 1 & 2 and were created by the development of the site and that measures were taken at the time to resolve this. He stated that therefore the site itself isn’t inherently prone to flooding itself. · In response to questions around the capacity for local schools to deal with extra housing, the Consult Planner confirmed that there was sufficient capacity in the local schools to cope with pupils that would reside on the site. · A question was raised around the comments in the report from Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust and the Consultant Planner explained that the Trust did not request a condition be attached to the application, but the developers should be aware if they come across anything then it should be reported. · Members also had questions around active travel. The Consultant Planner responded that although the site was not ideally located to public transport there are footpaths leading down to Old Cwmbran and the site is largely sustainable and has very good linkage to local facilities. · In terms of the affordable housing, it was stated in the report that the 4 Kenley House Types do not meet the necessary standards, but the Consultant Planner informed that these have been replaced with the Olive Type which does now fit the requirements. Members were also very happy that 30% of the proposed site would be affordable housing. · In regards concerns around parking, the Consultant Planner responded that the application was 6 spaces below the requirement but that this has been deemed acceptable on balance. He also went on to state that any plans to include a loop road in the application would have required the building of roads over the fields themselves thus impacting the ecology of the site and referring to comments from the Highways Report any plans for a second exit via either St Dials Road, Melbourne Court or Salisbury Court this wouldn’t have been acceptable. · There were also questions around future proofing the development through such ways as e-vehicle charging points to which the Consultant Planner responded that the application meets all the necessary standards for residents but there is currently no requirement on charging points for housing, he also stated that the application meets the requirements expected under current Policies. Also there is a condition on the report around digital connection and the requirements for the application. 4.3 Members unanimously agreed to approve the application subject to the conditions laid out in the report.
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