Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was received from Cllr Clark.

To receive details of any changes in membership.

Cllr Rathbone was in attendance as a substitute for Cllr Clark for this meeting only.

To receive declarations of interest by members of any interests on respect of items on this agenda, and to consider any dispensations.

Members may however, also decide, in the interests of clarity and transparency, to declare at this point in the meeting, any such disclosable pecuniary interests which they have already declared in the Register, as well as any other registerable or other interests.  

There were no declarations of interest made on this occasion.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any item on the agenda.

RESOLVED,     that the press and public be not excluded during discussion of any items on the agenda today.

To consider the minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 September 2023 (copy enclosed).

RESOLVED,     that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 September 2023 be agreed with the following amendments:

On Minute No 21 – SL/2022/0921 – Erection of 24 Dwellings Brigsteer Road (Phase 3) Kendal in the 12^th paragraph remove the word participation so it now reads ‘thanked all the public for their contribution……’

On the same minute in paragraph 20 add in the number of the phase referred to in the final sentence so it now reads ‘progressing a scheme for Phase 4 of the allocation….’

Any Member of the public who wishes to make representations relating to an item on the agenda for this meeting should apply to do so no later than 0:01am (one minute past midnight) three working days before the date of the meeting.  Anyone wishing to make representations to this meeting should contact the officer named on the front of the agenda, providing a written summary of the issues they intend to raise.

The Chair announced that those that had registered to make representations would be invited to address the Committee at the appropriate point in the meeting.

To consider a Planning Application for the erection of 111 houses, 6 bungalows and 8 apartments with associated roads, car parking, landscaping, infrastructure and access on land off Beetham Road, Milnthorpe (copy enclosed)

Members considered a Planning Application for the erection of 111 houses, 6 bungalows and 8 apartments with associated roads, car parking, landscaping, infrastructure and access from Beetham Road, Land off Beetham Road, Milnthorpe.

The Development Control Manager gave members a detailed presentation and tabled an update report, which informed them that officers had now received an updated Tree Survey Report, which included at Appendix E a Tree Protection Method Statement.

The Council’s arboriculturist had confirmed that provided development proceeded in accordance with this Statement the retained trees and hedges on the site should be suitably protected from development activity. Therefore, it was recommended that condition 9 be updated accordingly to read as follows:

Condition (9):    No development other than approved works to retained trees and hedges shall commence until tree and hedge protection measures have been installed in accordance with the provisions of Appendix E of the submitted Tree Survey Report prepared by PDP Associates, updated January 2024. Development in this context includes the introduction of any machinery or material to site. Thereafter, the installed measures must be retained for the duration of the construction phase of the development.

Reason:             To protect existing trees in accordance with policy DM4 (Green and Blue Infrastructure, Open Space, Trees and Landscaping) of the South Lakeland Development Management Policies Development Plan Document.

The Development Control Manager presentation was detailed and covered:-

·           Principles of Development

·           Impact on the character and appearance of the area

·           Impact on biodiversity, and

·           Access and flooding

·           Impact on neighbouring residents

The Development Control Manager then discussed the representations and the objections made to this application.

There had been a total of 66 representations since this application was first registered, 48 explicitly badged (or taken to be) objections and 18 explicitly badged (or taken to be) observations. Some individuals had written in several times in response to the various iterations of the proposals.

The Development Manager outlined the main areas of concerns raised.

The application site did deviate from the allocation boundary in places, excluding high ground in the north-east and including a compensatory area in the south-east, which was contrary to the development strategy of the development plan, but having assessed the changes against relevant policies and other material considerations, the impacts were considered to be negligible and the proposal was judged to be in accordance with the development plan as a whole.

However, given that the excluded part of the allocation still enjoyed a presumption in favour of development, it was considered necessary to negate this via a planning obligation in order to fully justify the breach of the development boundary proposed in this case.

The application contributed less than 35% affordable housing, but the applicants had submitted a viability assessment to justify their position. This had been independently scrutinised and found to be sound. Therefore, a lower contribution of affordable housing was considered acceptable in this case.

Consultation responses demonstrated that existing infrastructure either had adequate capacity to deal with the demands of the development, or,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

To consider a Planning Application for the installation of a ground mounted 3MW solar photovoltaic array with associated infrastructure and landscaping at fields to the North James Cropper PLC & west of Garnett Bridge Road, Burneside, KENDAL, LA9 6PZ (copy enclosed)

Members had before them a Planning Application for the installation of a ground mounted 3MW solar photovoltaic array with associated infrastructure and landscaping at fields to the North James Cropper PLC & west of Garnett Bridge Road, Burneside, Kendal.

The proposal would utilise the existing vehicle track associated with the former tip and incorporated landscape planting. This planting would provide biodiversity enhancements as well as mitigate views of the proposal from the surrounding area.

The Planning Officer took members through the report in detail and gave a presentation.  She also tabled an update report which contained a number of amendments in relation to the pre commencement conditions.

The original recommendation subject to conditions, included a number of pre-commencement conditions, which needed to be accepted by the applicant. On 8 January the agent advised that the applicant had concerns over the wording of conditions 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11. With regard to condition 10 this was a minor reordering of the text and an increase of time for the installation from 25 years to 40 years and condition 11 replaced the word ‘farm’ with ‘array’. These changes were agreed.

With regard to conditions 5, 6, 7 and 9, these had been included for the submission of details prior to the commencement of development, which the agent rejected. The agent proposed alternate wording, with a change in the timescale for submission of the details.

Following due consideration of their suggestions the Council’s response and proposed amendments to the conditions set out in their report were included in the update sheet presented to the Committee, and these would be published on the website.

Members noted the proposed amendments.

The Planning Officer then took members through the rest of the report, and highlighted:

·           Principles of the development

·           Impact of the character and appearance

·           Impact of biodiversity and

·           Access and flooding

The officer also detailed the responses to consultation and representations from neighbours and other third parties.

In summary, the Planning Officer recommended that planning permission be granted subject to the amended conditions.

With no questions for clarification from members the Chair opened the meeting to public participation.

The Chair invited Mr Mark Cropper from James Cropper Ltd to speak in support of the application.  He made the following points:

·           He supports the officer recommendation to permit the application.

·           Benefits of the proposal in diversifying the energy supply for Croppers Paper Mill and assist with their ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.   

·           Overview of the proposed development, including mitigation measures

·           Summary of planning policy position offering support for renewable energy development (reference to adopted development plan policies and the National Planning Policy Framework)

·           Details of how site-specific considerations have been addressed within supporting documentation and mitigated where relevant (and controlled by condition) to deliver an acceptable proposal. 

The Chair thanked Mr Cropper for his presentation.

With no questions from members the officer’s recommendations with the revised conditions as shown on the update were moved, seconded and put to a unanimous vote.

RESOLVED  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

To consider any urgent items of business.

There were no urgent items of business.