To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 19 February 2018 (Minute Nos. 496 - 497).

17/505865/FULL – Land at Sondes Arms, Station Approach, Selling, Faversham, ME13 9PL

Tabled paper added 13 March 2018.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 19 February 2018 (Minute Nos. 496 – 497) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

17/505865/FULL LAND AT SONDES ARMS, STATION APPROACH, SELLING, FAVERSHAM, ME13 9PL

The Area Planning Officer explained that since the Planning Working Group, held on 19 February 2018, a number of representations had been received.  These had been circulated to Members and were tabled at the meeting.  He explained that since the document had been circulated, a further six representations had been made.  The comments were similar to those already raised, with additional concerns with foul sewerage easement on the site. 

The Area Planning Officer explained that he had spoken with the owner of the Sondes Arms and she had raised site boundary issues, which he advised were not a planning consideration.  He explained that originally a garage had been included in the application, but this had now been removed.  There were now issues of egress from the application site over land owned by National Rail.  The Area Planning Officer confirmed that this could be controlled by way of conditions on the application.

A Ward Member, (not a member of the Planning Committee), spoke against the application.  He considered that not enough had been done to take into account paragraph 70 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), in support of local businesses.  The Ward Member explained that the Sondes Arms was a very necessary facility, and he was sorry to see it potentially disappear, for one additional house.  He stated that the entrance would be across National Rail land, and considered it inappropriate to allow planning permission if there was no permission to get over the entrance.  The Ward Member explained that there was no certainty of there being a direct line for sewerage.

In response, the Senior Lawyer advised that access, and sewer easement were irrelevant in relation to the planning application, as they were not planning matters.

A second Ward Member spoke against the application.  He considered the application would damage the Sondes Arms business.

Members raised points which included:  there would be a struggle to defend this on appeal; needed to consider the additional potential of two further cars parking along the busy road to the station; disappointed that National Rail was not consulted; this was overbearing; overlooking; privacy issues; needed to be a condition on the size and weight of vehicles at the construction stage; there were no other frontages onto this road; suggest by condition that construction took place out of the summer months to protect the Sondes Arms’ garden facility; conditions were needed to define the access, and provide two parking spaces on the site; redesign the side facing the Sondes Arms so that there were no overlooking windows; the boundary issue should be sorted out before planning permission was given; and the scale was too large, and very close to the boundary.

In response to questions, the Area Planning Officer explained that there was a discrepancy between the applicant and Land Registry on the width of the plot. He reminded Members that this was not a planning matter, and he considered there was enough room on the site to manoeuvre two vehicles.  The Area Planning Officer also explained that in relation to paragraph 70 of the NPPF, the aim was to promote a healthy community.  He considered the Sondes Arms was not in jeopardy from one additional property being built. The Area Planning Officer explained that with reference to paragraph 28 of the NPPF, supporting public services, the application was not threatening the business at the Sondes Arms.  The new property should be able to exist happily alongside the Sondes Arms, and there were already houses in the vicinity.  He further explained that any cooking smells from the new property would be mitigated by the boundary fence and the window on the first floor was a landing window.  In response to a question about the access being from Sondes Court instead, he explained that this was a private road.

The Area Planning Officer advised that conditions could not be added to determine construction times, but that a construction management plan, condition or an informative could be added, and the drive could be defined as access by condition.  These changes were agreed by Members.

The Chairman moved the officer recommendation to approve the application and this was seconded by the Vice-Chairman.

Resolved:  That application 17/505865/FULL be approved subject to conditions (1) to (13) in the report with additional conditions to address construction issues, and access to the site.