PITSTONE PARISH COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE
Minutes of the Parish Council Planning Committee held on 27 February 2017 
in the Meeting Room at the Memorial Hall, starting at 7.30pm and 
concluding at 9.30pm

68PC/16	ATTENDANCE AND APOLOGIES
		
COUNCIL PRESENT:  In line with the designated powers of the committee and due to the strategic nature of the agenda items, full council had been invited to attend.
Cllr Mrs Crutchfield (Chair of Planning Committee), Cllr Starling, Cllr Blunt, Cllr Nicholls and Cllr Weber.
OTHERS PRESENT:  Clerk: Laurie Eagling.  
	APOLOGIES: none

69PC/16	QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS
No members of the public were present.

70PC/16	DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST ON MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED AT THE MEETING
Cllr Starling declared a non-pecuniary interest as a resident of Vicarage Road and abstained from voting in respect of 16/04167/ADP, Land to the rear of Vicarage Road, approval of reserved matters pursuant to outline permission 15/00139/AOP relating to appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for the erection of a residential development of up to 68 dwellings, estate roads and associated works.
Cllr Weber declared a non-pecuniary interest as a resident of Cheddington Road, opposite the application site and abstained from voting in respect of the appeal lodged with Planning Inspectorate relating to refusal of planning for Land off Cheddington Road, original planning ref: 15/04303/APP, appeal ref: 17/00009/REF, PI Ref: APP/J0405/W/16/3166066.  

71PC/16	APPROVE MINUTES
It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 21 February 2017 were a true and correct record of the meeting and the Chair was duly authorised to sign on behalf of the council.

72PC/16	PLANNING MATTERS

1)	Applications:  None

2)	Decisions:  None

3)	Other:  
a)	Appeal lodged with Planning Inspectorate relating to refusal of planning for Land off Cheddington Road, original planning ref: 15/04303/APP, appeal ref: 17/00009/REF, PI Ref: APP/J0405/W/16/3166066.  
It was RESOLVED to submit the following comments to the Planning Inspectorate:
1.	The council upholds it’s previously submitted comments and endorses the comments made by AVDC in their full report issued when refusing the original application.
2.	Since the submission of our previous comments, the Pitstone Neighbourhood Plan has successfully been passed at referendum, giving greater weight to the policies therein, including the settlement boundary.
3.	The Pitstone settlement boundary policy, since the plan passed referendum, has successfully been cited by AVDC as grounds for refusal of other planning applications that fall outside this area.
4.	Peter Williams confirmed on 3/2/17 that AVDC do now have a 5 year housing land supply and even if this was not the case, AVDC would be covered by the ministerial statement of December 2016 stating that at least 3 years housing supply was sufficient.  Therefore, the applicant’s comments relating to housing supply are not valid.
5.	The applicant could have appealed against non-determination after the designated period, and therefore the comments relating to delay in determination are not valid.

6.	The applicant references an item of council literature as evidence of community need, but this was an initial publicity document and has since been superseded by the fully consulted full neighbourhood plan.

b)	Land to the rear of Vicarage Road
16/04167/ADP, Land to the rear of Vicarage Road, Approval of reserved matters pursuant to outline permission 15/00139/AOP relating to appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for the erection of a residential development of up to 68 dwellings, estate roads and associated works.  The developer had hosted a public consultation event and preliminary meeting with the parish council.  Bellway had advised that they would now amend their proposals and resubmit an application to AVDC.  It was RESOLVED to submit the following comments, based on the last shown illustration, to Bellway/AVDC as clarification, ahead of any amended plans being prepared:

1.	Drainage:
The system being proposed is not good practice and the Parish Council would not support such a scheme. The council does not feel that the development should proceed based on a pumped solution which is not a sustainable method of drainage (and we support the AVDC SUDS Officer, Laura Kemp, in this respect).  From the information provided it does not clearly demonstrate the flood flow paths should the pump system fail, to ensure that the surface water does not impact on both the existing and new dwellings on and adjacent to the site. This is a standard planning and drainage design requirement.  The parish council would not wish to see planning approved prior to the successful identification of a sustainable drainage scheme that proves the site is suitable for development, to avoid a similar situation arising as to 13/B3491/DIS.
2.	Internal Roadway: the council is supportive of the general layout but would like to ensure there is suitable traffic calming/pinch points etc along the northern stretch and by the children’s play area.
3.	Property Styles: the council would like to ensure the final application includes a range of brick/roof tile/styles to reflect the local styles and colours in the residential properties already existing along Vicarage Road.
4.	Pavement along Vicarage Road: the council is supportive of the requirement to upgrade the footpath between the development site & the bus stop on Marsworth Road to a safe/sufficient width for pedestrians as this reflects the policies within the Pitstone Neighbourhood Plan and Ben Hamilton Baillie report but it supports the retention of grass verges, wherever possible, along the pathway from Church Road to the Marsworth Road roundabout.
5.	Pedestrian Link to Church Road:  the council does require the retention of the footpath/cycle path link between the application site and Church Road, as this would support the policies of integration and expansion of footpath networks contained within the Pitstone Neighbourhood Plan and the Ben Hamilton Baillie report, both of which have been adopted by the council and wider community.  The council would not support an application where the new development was isolated.
6.	Construction Management Plan: the council requests early sight of the Construction Management Plan and recommends that traffic enters from the Upper Icknield Way (B488) but departs from the junction with Marsworth Road (B489), to avoid slow HGVs exiting by the blind hill at the Upper Icknield Way junction.  We request sufficient internal parking space is provided for construction vehicles to ensure they are off the road and parking is therefore not permitted on Vicarage Road.
7.	LEAP/POS: the parish council upholds the comments submitted by AVDC Leisure and would require the application to provide the requisite amount of public open space and equipped (and suitably located) LEAP.  Off-setting this on-site requirement via an increased off-site contribution would not be appropriate.

c)	11 The Pightle
16/02340/APP Change of use of adjoining land into residential garden to form part of curtilage of existing dwelling 11 The Pightle.  The further comments available on the planning portal were noted.   It was RESOLVED that the parish council would submit a further relevant response, the draft of which to be circulated electronically for approval prior to submission.

73PC/16	REPORTS

1)	Pitstone Development Area
Nicholas King (NK) and Wakelin Associates (WA) had a public consultation event from 3pm-7.15pm on 23/2/17 which had been well attended with approximately 80 residents viewing the display boards.  Consultation responses due by 3/3/17.  The council RESOLVED to confirm to NK/WA the following points, based on issues that were raised with the council on the day:
a)	That the council would welcome a further meeting to discuss proposed changes following the receipt of all their consultation feedback, and when their discussions with the two types of commercial operator were complete, as this may necessitate changes to the location of the commercial ventures.
b)	That the council would welcome the involvement of the Memorial Hall Charity into discussions to explore options regarding their car park/entrance & the adjoining car park, as previously cited in the Development Brief.
c)	That NK/WA were aware of the issues raised by the cul-de-sac element of Windsor Road.

2)	Outstanding:  

The applications still outstanding with AVDC were noted, namely:

16/02789/ADP	Land West Of 120 Vicarage Road (reserved matters relating to one bungalow).  No updates on portal.	
16/00086/REF	Planning appeal in progress (with Planning Inspectorate) relating to AVDC’s refusal of planning permission for additional dwelling at the rear of Windmill Lodge, High Street, Ivinghoe.	
13/B3491/DIS	Approval of reserved matters relating to the development of land to the rear of Rushendon Furlong.  No official discharge of the condition relation to SUDS or response to the parish council queries.   It was RESOLVED to write an official letter of complaint to the Chief Executive relating to the non-discharge of approved SUDS prior to commencement/continuation of construction.  A draft to be circulated for approval before submission.	

74PC/16	NEXT MEETING
	No further planning applications had been received.  It was therefore noted that the next meeting would be convened in a timely manner around any newly arising applications.

75PC/16	   CLOSURE OF MEETING
	There being no further business to be transacted, the Chair closed the meeting at 9.30pm.

Signed:			Date:	________________
	 Chair