Agenda item - 20/00361/FUL - Erection of 2 no. 3 bedroom dwellings - Site adj The Gables, Ash Lane, Hopwood, Worcestershire, B48 7TT - Oricon Homes

Agenda item

20/00361/FUL - Erection of 2 no. 3 bedroom dwellings - Site adj The Gables, Ash Lane, Hopwood, Worcestershire, B48 7TT - Oricon Homes

Minutes:

Officers presented the application for the construction of two three bedroomed semi detached dwellings on a vacant plot between a row of existing dwellings on Ash Lane on the edge of Hopwood.  The application site was in the Green Belt and outside the village envelope.

 

Members were referred to the main issues as summarised on page 15 of the agenda.  Although under Green Belt policy the starting point was that development would be inappropriate, in this case the application site was in a row of existing dwellings forming a linear extension from the village.  Officers had therefore concluded that the development would fall under the exception of “limited infilling within a settlement” and would not be inappropriate in the Green Belt.

 

Officers had assessed the application against policy H2 of the Alvechurch Parish Neighbourhood Plan (APNP) Housing for Hopwood and Rowney Green.  It was noted that the proposal did not accord with criterion (d) regarding provision of at least one small home with fewer than two bedrooms for every dwelling of three bedrooms or more, and criterion (f) regarding the village envelope.  Officers had considered this aspect carefully and ln light of the lack of a five year housing supply and location of the site, had concluded that the partial conflict with policy H2 was not so significant at to warrant a refusal.

 

As part of the application process the applicant had made a number of changes to address comments from statutory consultees as to highways matters, design, drainage, ecology and trees.  With regard to character and design, there was a mix of detached, semi-detached dwellings and bungalows in the area.  The size and scale of the dwellings proposed had been reduced, with a reduction of bedrooms from four to three, and the version before Members had been assessed to be acceptable and in keeping with the surrounding street scene.

 

There were no objections from County Highways, and a number of highway matters would be secured through conditions, including the provision of a visibility splay.

 

The application was recommended for approval.

 

At the invitation of the Chairman, Mr. N. Kennedy, the agent for the Applicant and Councillor C. Hotham, ward councillor for Barnt Green and Hopwood, addressed the Committee. 

 

In debating the application Members commented on some of the points raised in public speaking including the sustainability of the location, possibility of future expansion of the dwellings to add bedrooms and the weight to be placed upon neighbourhood plan (Policy H2).

 

Officers responded by re-iterating the comments made regarding the conflict with the neighbourhood plan and the balancing of those matters as detailed in the report. On the issue of sustainability, it was acknowledged that as a small settlement Hopwood had limited facilities, but this had not been regarded as a significant issue in the context of the addition of two dwellings.  It was noted that Hopwood is identified as a Small Settlement under Policy BDP2 in the District Plan.  Due to the level of parking it was not evident that there were any issues regarding the addition of bedrooms in the future (via permitted development rights) that should affect Members consideration of the application as presented, or that would warrant the addition of any extra conditions.

 

RESOLVED that

 

Planning Permission be granted subject to the conditions set out on pages 22 to 24 of the agenda.

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