Agenda item

Ward: Cowfold, Shermanbury and West Grinstead

Applicant: Rockwell (Sussex) Ltd

The Head of Development reported that this application was to be considered in order to enable the Local Planning Authority to provide a recommendation to the Planning Inspectorate as to how the application would have been determined, in the event that an appeal for non-determination had not been lodged.

The application sought full planning permission for the provision of a Travelling Showpeople’s site. The site would be divided in to four separate plots accommodating 16 mobile homes and 9 touring caravans overall. Each plot would have a gravelled storage and maintenance area as well as a recreation area.

A tapering earth bank and fences would surround the site and well as each plot within. HGVs associated with the travelling showpeople would enter and depart the site once a year. The site would be unoccupied in the months outside of show season.

The site was located in a rural location outside of any built up area boundaries or defined settlements bounded by Honeybridge Lane and Old Barn Nurseries to the north, Honeybridge Caravan Holiday Park to the east, Woodmans Barn Farm and associated fields and gallop to the south and the A24 to the west.

An addendum was presented for this item that informed Members that the applicants had proposed an alternative site layout that achieved the following:

·         Positioned the recreation areas and mobile homes adjacent to the common eastern boundary and moved the storage and maintenance areas away from common eastern boundary with Honeybridge Caravan Park.

·         A prosed height increase to the eastern boundary fence from 2m to 2.5m.

·         Additional landscaping along the eastern boundary of the site between the site and Honeybridge Caravan Park.

As a result of the amendments, Members were advised condition 7 as presented in the officer’s report was no longer necessary and recommended for removal.  This condition required the submission of an amended layout plan to be agreed by the Local Planning Authority.

As outlined in the addendum, the Council’s Environmental Health Department had been re-consulted and they had advised that their initial concerns had been overcome through the reconfiguration of the site layout and subject to a condition regarding an acoustic fence being erected between the application site and the neighbouring holiday caravan park.

In respect of initial concerns raised by the Councils Landscape officer, the site layout had been reconfigured to move the maintenance areas away from the eastern boundary of the site and it had been agreed by the applicants to add further landscape screening along this boundary. A condition had been imposed to ensure that a satisfactory planting scheme is agreed along the eastern boundary of the application site.

Details of relevant government and council policies and relevant planning history, as contained within the report, were noted by the Committee. The responses from statutory internal and external consultees, as contained within the report, were considered by the Committee.

The Parish Council objected to the application. 17 letters of objection to the original and amended scheme had been received. The applicant and the applicant’s agent addressed the Committee in support of the proposal.

Members considered the officer’s planning assessment which indicated that the key issues for consideration in determining the proposal were:  the principle of development; sustainable development; character and appearance; the impact on neighbouring amenity; ecology; site drainage; and highway impacts.

Members discussed the need for Traveller, Gypsy, and Showpeople sites within the district. Members agreed that with involvement from local Members this application would be acceptable.

RESOLVED

The Committee recommend that the Local Planning Authority advises the Planning Inspectorate that it would be minded to approve planning permission in accordance with the Officers recommendation subject to the following amendments to the resolution:

•Condition 7 (requiring amended layout plan to be submitted and approved by LPA) to be reinstated.  This is to allow further discussions around the boundary treatment for the holiday camp, in particular a bund along the eastern boundary.

•The additional acoustic fencing condition (in the addendum) to be amended to require the submission of a noise mitigation strategy.