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14/1653/FUL - Land to Rear of 551-555 Newmarket Road

31/03/2015 - 14/1653/FUL - Land to Rear of 551-555 Newmarket Road

The Committee received an application for full planning permission.

 

The proposal sought approval for the erection of three dwellings to the rear of nos.551 and 555 Newmarket Road. As part of the proposal, a new private access would be constructed between nos.553 and 555. The 4-5m access road would lead to an informal shared-surface private drive to serve the three new dwellings. The access road would be widened to 5m adjacent to the Newmarket Road junction, in accordance with County Highways specifications. The proposal also includes car parking, cycle and bin storage to serve the new dwellings, and hard and soft landscaping.

 

The Principal Planning Officer updated details in the Officer’s report as follows:

     i.        Paragraph 8.12 (p315) should refer to the north elevation, not the south.

    ii.        Condition 17 should be amended to refer to windows.

   iii.        The amendment sheet listed Officer responses to the points raised by neighbours.

  iv.        Since the amendment sheet was published, the owner of 30a Ditton Walk made a representation that reiterated the following concerns:

·        Overlooking.

·        Overshadowing.

·        Impact on wildlife.

   v.        The Principal Planning Officer’s response to the owner of 30a Ditton Walk is:

·        There was insufficient overshadowing/overlooking of 30a Ditton Walk to merit refusal of the application.

·        There should be no significant impact on wildlife.

  vi.        Since publication of the report pack the owner of 547 Newmarket Road stated that measurements in the drawings were wrong and that the shadow diagram is inaccurate.

The Principal Planning Officer has checked the drawing measurements and found no issues. The Applicant had checked and confirmed the shadow diagram was accurate.

 vii.        The Applicant would have to resolve any queries regarding the accuracy of the boundary.

 

Mr Barker, Ms Turner, Mr Adams and Mr Howe addressed the Committee in objection to the application.

 

The representations covered the following issues:

 

     i.        Planning policies were designed to protect residents and avoid a loss of character in the area.

    ii.        Raised the following specific concerns regarding the application:

·        Loss of light.

·        Loss of privacy.

·        Loss of view.

·        Sense of enclosure.

·        Overbearing design.

   iii.        Suggested the design did not meet criteria for Planning Policies 3/9 and 3/10.

 

The Committee:

 

Resolved (unanimously) to approve the application for full planning permission in accordance with the officer recommendation, for the reasons set out in the officer report, and subject to the conditions recommended by the officer. With the addition of the following words after the list of drawing numbers in Condition 17: ‘and the south-facing panes of the bathroom at the south end of the first floor of Plot 1.’