To consider the following applications:

·         22/501315/FULL, St Mawes, The Street, Borden, Kent, ME9 8JN

·         21/506027/FULL St Saviours Church, Whitstable Road, Faversham, Kent, ME13 8BD

Members of the public are advised to confirm with Planning Services prior to the meeting that these applications will be considered at this meeting.

Requests to speak on this item must be registered with Democratic Services (democraticservices@swale.gov.uk or call us on 01795 417328) by noon on Wednesday 12 October 2022.

The Faversham Area Team Leader introduced the application.  He reminded Members that it had been deferred at the meeting held on 18 August 2022 following concerns that Ward Members had not been involved in discussions.

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

A Ward Member, also a member of the Planning Committee, considered the current design was probably the best the applicant was going to offer.

A Member said the applicant had amended the design so could not see any reason to refuse the application.

In response to a question from a Member about the delay in making a decision on the application, the Chair advised that due to an oversight by officers Ward Members had not been consulted.

Resolved:  That application 22/501315/FULL be approved subject to conditions (1) to (3) in the report.   

The Faversham Area Team Leader introduced the application and the reasons it had been deferred as set out in the report.  He reported that further letters of support had been received from local residents, and the applicant had also submitted a letter which had been circulated to Members.

Town Councillor Chris Williams, representing Faversham Town Council, was not present so his statement was read out by the Democratic Services Officer.

Karen Christopher, a supporter, spoke in support of the application.

Martin Collins, an objector, spoke against the application.

Romana Bellinger, the applicant, spoke in support of the application.

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

Members considered the application and points raised included:

·         Concerned that there was evidence that some of the noise from the premises could affect residential amenity;

·         the applicant had waited long enough for a decision and environmental health had no issues;

·         still had concerns regarding noise from the premises;

·         the applicant had suffered enough and considered the new condition (8) was a logical compromise;

·         astonished by the content of the applicants letter and felt that they had clearly not read the report or comments from local residents;

·         considered that the applicant was trying to run the business properly and any noise from the property would settle down;

·         the application would be detrimental to the amenity of local residents;

·         vibration caused to 1 Whitstable Road, Faversham with the doors and windows closed was unacceptable;

·         monitoring of the premises would have a significant burden on the Council’s environmental enforcement team;

·         the noise from the premises was noise pollution; and

·         considered the previous condition (8) should be approved as the applicant considered it was better than the new condition (8).

In response to questions from Members, the Environmental Team Leader confirmed that it was noise from an event held at the premises, which was measured, and the observations of the officers were most relevant and supported by the measured levels.  He did not consider that the previous condition (8) would have enabled the business to operate in a meaningful way as the volume inside would need to be too low to comply with it.  The proposed condition sought to find a compromise to mitigate noise from the premises.

The Senior Lawyer (Planning) clarified the application proposal for Members.  The Interim Head of Planning Services read out the proposed condition (8) set out on page 31 of the report.

In response to a question from a Member, the Senior Lawyer (Planning) said that the Council needed to approve the Noise Management Plan (NMP) including triggers for its review.  She said all elements of the NMP would need to be approved by the Environmental Health team and Planning team before the condition could be discharged.

Resolved:  That application 21/506027/FULL be approved subject to conditions (1) to (8) in the report.