Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Sarah Sellers  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

26.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Anthony Lovell, Nyear Nazir, Gareth Prosser and Jennifer Wheeler.  Councillor Roger Bennett attended as substitute for Councillor Prosper, and Councillor Salman Akbar attended as substitute for Councillor Nazir.

27.

Declarations of Interest

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

 

Minutes:

 

In relation to application 19/00247/FUL Councillor Andrew Fry declared an Other Disclosable Interest in that he was acquainted with one of the speakers, namely Mr Martin Bassett.  Councillor Fry remained and considered and voted on these matters.

 

In relation to application 19/00247/FUL Councillor Bill Hartnett declared an Other Disclosable Interest in that he was acquainted with one of the speakers, namely Mr John Wormington.  Councillor Hartnett remained and considered and voted on these matters.

 

28.

Confirmation of Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 17th July 2019 pdf icon PDF 121 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that

 

The Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committees held on 17th July 2019 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

 

 

29.

Update Reports

To note Update Reports (if any) for the Planning Applications to be considered at the meeting (circulated prior to the commencement of the meeting)

 

Minutes:

There was no update report.

30.

Application 19/00247/FUL - Mettis Sports and Social Club Cherry Tree Walk Batchley Redditch - Mr Julian Workman pdf icon PDF 151 KB

Site Plan

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Provision of a floodlighting system to football pitch comprising 6 no. 15m high mounting columns with 12 floodlights

 

Officers presented the report and outlined the application.  At the invitation of the Chair Miss Zakrina Afzal and Mr John Wormington addressed the Committee under the Council’s Public Speaking rules in objection to the application; Mr Martin Bassett addressed the Committee on behalf of the Applicant.

 

In responding to points made by the public speakers Members raised a number of issues which were clarified by officers including :-

 

·       That Worcestershire Wildlife Trust had raised no objections and had not considered that a bat survey was necessary.

·       That WRS had considered in detail the configuration of the proposed floodlights and the resultant lux levels, and had been satisfied that the scheme complied with the relevant guidance and was therefore acceptable.

·       As such it would not be reasonable to impose additional conditions regarding screening.

·       That Conditions 3 and 4 as worded would limit the use of the floodlights to between the hours of 9 am and 10 pm on match days only.

 

Members noted the wish for the football club (Redditch Borough Football Club) to enhance the facilities at the ground to a higher standard as required by the Football Association (FA), but officers advised that any discussion as to whether the club might be promoted leading to additional usage of the pitch was too speculative.

 

Following further discussion the recommendation was proposed and seconded with the addition of an extra condition as to the design of the cowling for the floodlights, and with extra wording to be included in Condition 4.

 

RESOLVED that:-

 

Having regard to the development plan and to all other material considerations planning permission be GRANTED subject to

 

1.     the conditions and informatives set out on pages 15 to 16 of the main agenda subject to the following change to the wording of Condition 4;

 

“Condition 4

 

Use of the floodlights shall only be available to the team from Redditch Borough Football Club currently using the pitch as their home ground (or its successor) and shall be in operation only on match days and shall not be used for training purposes.

 

Reason: in the interests of safeguarding the residential amenities enjoyed by the occupiers of neighbouring properties.”

 

 

And

 

2.     the addition of an additional Condition 5 worded as follows

 

“Condition 5

 

Installation of the floodlights shall not take place until the Council has approved the design of suitable cowling to be fitted to the lights to limit the leakage of light to residential properties in the vicinity.

 

Reason: in the interests of safeguarding the residential amenities enjoyed by the occupiers of neighbouring properties.”

 

[In relation to this agenda item Councillor Andrew Fry declared an Other Disclosable Interest in that he was acquainted with one of the speakers, namely Mr Martin Bassett.  Councillor Fry remained and considered and voted on these matters.

 

In relation to this agenda item Councillor Bill Hartnett declared an Other Disclosable Interest in that he was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

31.

Consultation on Planning Application reference 19/00615/OUT Bromsgrove District Council and 19/01545/REM Stratford-On-Avon District Council - Redditch Gateway, Land adjacent to the A4023 Coventry Highway - Stoford Gorcott Limited pdf icon PDF 135 KB

Site Plan

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Officers presented the report and explained that the application site fell within the boundaries of Bromsgrove District Council and Stratford-on-Avon District Council, and that the Planning Committees of those Councils would decide the applications.  Redditch Borough Council had been invited to comment as consultee.

 

Outline planning permission previously having been granted, the applicant was seeking approval of reserved matters for Phase 1 of the Redditch Gateway consisting of the construction of a large building for B8 use (storage and distribution) with ancillary B1 use (offices).  Matters to be determined included landscaping, layout, scale and access to the building, internal access roads, car parking and structural landscape works inclusive of an ecological enhancement area.

 

During the debate Members raised a number of matters and voiced concerns about how the development would impact on the local area.  It was noted that although the determining authorities would be Bromsgrove District Council and Stratford-on-Avon District Council, the geography of the site was such that the population living near the site who might be affected by it were all residents of Redditch Borough Council.

 

Whilst acknowledging that outline planning permission had been granted, in discussing the consultation response Members commented on a number of specific issues including:-

 

·       The areas shown on the plan for lorry parking, and how this interacted with the processes of loading and unloading.  Members asked for clarification about where loading bays would be located and commented that were loading activities located on the northern side of the building this might lessen any impact on residential properties.

 

·       The colour of the building and whether using a grey colour scheme would be appropriate.  In view of the scale of the building Members were concerned that any colour scheme should act to minimise any impact and help the structure to blend in with its surroundings.  Members questioned whether materials other than paint should be considered. Members also commented that on the artists impression of the Eastern side of the structure the white roof section was very bright and visible.

 

·       Ecological and wildlife mitigation and whether these had been sufficiently provided for.  In particular Members commented on the badger pipe and were concerned that the scale of these types of interventions should be increased in the interests of wildlife conservation.

 

·       The arrangements for car parking and whether flood lighting would be installed and the possible impact of car park use and lighting pollution.

 

·       The proposals for tree planting and whether the mix of trees proposed was what would be expected for an area such as Redditch.

 

Members sought clarification as to how the current applications linked to the previous variation application made to Redditch Borough Council and determined by Planning Committee on 18th March 2019 under planning reference 18/01626/S73.  Officers confirmed that it remained the case that the conditions referred to in Minute 75 (b) of the meeting on 18th March 2019 would come back to Members.

 

In light of the matters discussed, the Members indicated that they wished to submit a more  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.