Agenda and minutes

In the absence of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman the Committee considered the appointment of a Chairman for the meeting.

Resolved:

That Councillor Humphreys be appointed Chairman for the meeting.

(Councillor Humphreys took the Chair from this point of the meeting onwards.)

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned either a

(a)   personal interest

(b)   prejudicial interest

(c)    disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI)

and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 5 September 2023 as a true and correct record.

The Committee considered the minutes of the last meeting held on 5 September 2023.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 September 2023 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

The Planning Committee considered a report on Planning/Enforcement Appeals lodged and determined since the last meeting.

Resolved:

The Committee noted the update.

The Committee will be asked to note the outcomes of the cases for the report tabled for August 2023 and to support the actions of the Service Manager, Public Protection.

The Committee considered the report which provided a summary of planning enforcement activity within Blackpool between 1 August and 31 August 2023.

Resolved:

To note the update.

The Committee will be asked to note the outcomes of the cases for the report tabled for September 2023 and to support the actions of the Service Manager, Public Protection.

The Committee considered the report which provided a summary of planning enforcement activity within Blackpool between 1 September and 30 September 2023.

Resolved:

To note the update.

The Committee will be asked to note the outcomes of the cases for the report tabled for October 2023 and to support the actions of the Service Manager, Public Protection.

The Committee considered the report which provided a summary of planning enforcement activity within Blackpool between 1 October and 31 October 2023.

Resolved:

To note the update.

The Committee is requested to update the Scheme of Delegation to address an omission.

The Committee considered a report in relation to the existing Scheme of Delegation for Development Management which sought the Committee’s approval to update the Scheme to address an omission.

Ms S Parker, Head of Development Management, advised the Committee that the Scheme had been before the Committee for approval at the last meeting on 5 September 2023 and that since then two applications for Permissions in Principle had been submitted to the Council. The Council had only received one other application for Permission in Principle in 2019. These applications were submitted very infrequently and therefore reference to them had been omitted from the September 2023 report.

Ms Parker advised the Committee that decisions on Permission in Principle applications had to be made within 5 weeks of receipt which effectively precluded such applications from being brought before Planning Committee. The updated Scheme of Delegation included such applications within the list of application types under paragraph 3.4.2 that would always be determined under delegated authority.

The Committee discussed the report and in response to questions, Ms Parker confirmed that four Planning Officers would have the delegated authority to make such decisions, however it was not anticipated that these delegations would have to be used by the Senior Planning Officers very often and was a safeguard in case of long term senior officer absence.

Resolved:

To adopt the proposed amended scheme of delegation attached as Appendix 7a in the Committee report.

To consider planning application number 21/1085 for the erection of 52 houses on land to rear of 65-71 Moss House Road, Blackpool, FY4 5JF with associated public open space, landscaping, infrastructure and access from Moss House Road.

The Committee considered planning application 21/1085 for the erection of 52 houses with associated public open space, landscaping, infrastructure and access from Moss House Road.

Ms S Parker, Head of Development Management, outlined the report and reminded members that this had been put before the Planning Committee in September 2023 and had been deferred in order to investigate highway access options further and to further explore potential affordable housing provision.

Ms Parker acknowledged that the Update Note contained a revised recommendation and provided the Committee with an overview of the planning history of the site. The site had been included within the originally approved Kensington Homes Development site, but had been excluded from the second reserved matters scheme in 2017 as it had been intended for use by United Utilities as part of the drainage framework for the area. However, since then two smaller permissions had been granted on parts of the site which remained extant, along with the wider Kensington permission, with phase 2 of that original permission being built by Elan Homes. Ms Parker advised that whilst it could not be said categorically that the original approval would not proceed and whilst it could continue to be implemented, officers had no substantive reason to believe that this would be likely.

The Committee was advised that the application had taken a long time to determine and that this had been largely due to discussions on matters of financial viability. The proposed development site was liable for significant amounts of planning obligations as well as the provision of 30% affordable housing. The applicant had stated that this was not financially feasible and had submitted an appraisal to demonstrate this. This information had been reviewed by an independent consultant, Continuum, and a state of disagreement had arisen. Ms Parker advised that since the September 2023 Committee meeting, at which the application had been deferred, the applicant had asserted that market conditions had worsened to the point where no affordable housing or planning obligations could be provided.

Ms Parker reminded the Committee that at the 5 September 2023 Planning Committee she had advised that she considered the application to be very finely balanced but had concluded that there had been enough positive aspects of the scheme to outweigh the negative issues and it had therefore been recommended for approval. However, the Council’s viability consultants, Continuum, did not consider that the applicant’s withdrawal of all affordance housing and planning obligation provision was justified and this had now tipped the scales in terms of recommendations towards refusal.

Ms Parker provided the Committee with an overview of the key issues of this application and in relation to the Core Strategy, stated that the wider area at Moss House Road had intended to deliver 600 homes. Though it was acknowledged that this would not be achieved, the scheme would still make a notable contribution to the Borough’s housing supply. Notwithstanding some of the shortfalls, the design of the scheme had been considered acceptable and would safeguard  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To consider planning application number 22/0670 for the erection of 200 residential dwellings with associated landscaping, public open space and parking, with vehicular access from Bispham Road, Regency Gardens and Kylemore Avenue at the site of the former Bispham High School, Bispham, Blackpool, FY2 0NH.

The Committee considered planning application 22/0670 for the erection of 200 residential dwellings with associated landscaping, public open space and parking, with vehicular access from Bispham Road, Regency Gardens and Kylemore Avenue.

Ms S Parker, Head of Development Management, outlined the report and the Committee was advised that this was the third time this site had been before the Planning Committee, being twice under application reference 19/0421 (outline for 176 dwellings) and that it was now back before the Committee for 200 dwellings in full. The site was approximately 9 hectares and comprised of three main areas being the former school site, the former public open space area and what was formerly referred to as “white land” (meaning that had not been designated for anything specific). The site as a whole was now designated for housing development under the Local Plan Part 2.

Ms Parker outlined the details of the proposal which would comprise of 56 dwellings to the rear of Regency Gardens, accessed through Regency Gardens with 42 dwellings and the end of Lorne Road and Headford Close with 102 dwellings at the eastern end. These latter two sections would both be accessed from Bispham Road. In respect of public space, the majority would be retained to meet the needs of the development and another smaller area of open space would also be provided off Kylemore Road. A third smaller area would include an attenuation pond off Bispham Road and the existing tree lines around the perimeter and key hedgerows to be retained.

A large number of consultation responses had been received in relation to the application and Ms Parker advised the Committee that these had been summarised and addressed within the committee report. She also reminded the Committee that the site was already designated for housing development in the Local Plan and the development of the site could not reasonably be resisted in principle. The scheme was an effective use of land which would make a significant contribution to housing needs with public open space to be retained and upgraded along with upgraded play facilities and £442,000 would be provided towards off-site sporting provision to compensate for the loss of pitches on the development site.

In respect of affordability, the Committee was advised that 40 dwellings would be provided for affordable rent. This was less than the 30% required, however this level of provision had been justified by the viability report to the Local Plan. The proposed housing mix was considered to be acceptable and the layout of the site was acceptable, with the proposed accommodation being of a good standard. Ms Parker acknowledged that not all properties met national housing standards, however Policy DM1 required only 20% of houses to meet that standard. Boundary treatments, appropriate materials and surfacing could be agreed through condition and the Bispham Road frontage would be landscaped as part of the Section 278 highways agreement. The lack of street tree planting was acknowledged, however an adequate amount of green space stretched  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To note the date of the next meeting as 12 December 2023.

The date of the next meeting was noted as 12 December 2023.