Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Brandon Clayton and Bill Hartnett with Councillors Emma Marshall and Joanna Kane substituting respectively.

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.

Councillors Fry and Marshall sought clarification in regard to the section 106 contributions to Worcestershire County Council (WCC) as detailed on page 34 of the Main Reports Pack. As Members of WCC, they wished to confirm that there was no conflict of interest with them setting on the Committee.

Officers clarified that the aforementioned Members had not been compromised by the issue, Councillors were present as Members of the Planning Committee and as the Committee had been made aware of their positions on the County Council it was all being conducted in a transparent manner.

RESOLVED that

The Minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 24^th August 2022 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chair.

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

An update report was received by Members who indicated that they had received sufficient time to examine the report and were happy to proceed with the meeting.

The Chair welcomed everybody to the meeting and outlined the committee arrangements, the Chair also highlighted to those present that the meeting was being livestreamed via the Councils YouTube channel.

The application was for the Land Off Far Moor Lane and West of The A435 Birmingham Road, Far Moor Lane, Redditch. The application was a cross boundary application between Redditch Borough Council (RBC) and Stratford-on-Avon District (SDC) – for the erection of 236 homes with open space, landscaping, drainage, infrastructure and other associated works - comprising 210 new homes in Redditch and 26 new homes in Stratford-on-Avon.

Officers presented their report and in doing so drew Members attention to Pages 1 to 34 of the Site Plans and Presentations Pack.

Page 2 of the Site Plans and Presentations Pack detailed that the site was allocated for housing development for 205 dwellings on the adopted local plan. Officers also highlighted a small plot of land to the south of the proposed site which was designated as primary open space, and that this would be retained during the development.

Officers detailed the local services/facilities which would be affected by the development and highlighted that there were no outstanding objections to the development from related consultees and that there was a section 106 agreement outlining contributions to local facilities and services detailed on pages 32 and 33 of the Agenda Reports Pack.

Members attention was drawn to pages 7-14 of the Site Plans and Presentations Pack to detail the layout of the site. During the explanation the position of the proposed blocks of affordable housing on site were highlighted, Officers also detailed the road system into and around the site and drew Members attention to the changes to Far Moor Lane as detailed on pages 32 to 34 of the Site Plans and Presentations Pack, which also included the installation of a 3m wide combined footpath.

Officers drew Members attention to pages 24-25 of the Site Plans and Presentations Pack to detail the changes to the trees and woodland areas on site. The application proposed the removal of approximately 515 Poplar trees, 11 individual trees and some low quality self-seeded vegetation, Officers also informed Members that the poplar trees were at the end of their individual lives. The proposed application would replace the lost trees with an additional 600 new native trees that would give a more bio-diverse woodland. Officers also highlighted that 2.5ha of woodland would be retained or enhanced compared to the current 1.1ha.

In regard to ecological matters, the application was supported by the ecological Officer and as a result of initial concerns raised from consultees, there had been a number of wildlife surveys conducted on site. The application was considered policy compliant by Worcester Wildlife Trust, Natural England and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust due to the retention of a sufficient amount of the existing flora and fauna, the retention and enhancement of the existing waterways and the addition of more bio-diverse woodland areas. The condition as detailed on page 34  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.