Agenda item

To consider report PES/405bof the Head of Economy and Planning.

RECOMMENDATION to PERMIT.

The Committee considered report PES/405b of the Head of Economy and Planning which proposed as follows:

Erection of 85 affordable houses & flats, comprising: 18 x one bedroom flats, 38 x two bedroom flats, 9 x two bedroom houses, 17 x three bedroom houses, 3 x four bedroom houses, access roads, car parking, sports pitch, open space & associated works (amended plans and description).

Councillor Mwagale declared she had visited the site since the application was previously considered by the Committee.

The Principal Planning Officer (MR) provided a verbal summation of the application, which the Committee previously resolved to permit on 8 February 2021.  The application had since been affected by the Natural England (NE) position statement on water neutrality and therefore required further consideration solely on this matter.  The proposed development’s estimated water usage was to be higher than the current usage at the same site as it was currently undeveloped land in the form of a playing field.  Water neutrality was to be achieved, however, through a combination of on-site water efficiency measures (water-saving fixtures/fittings, grey water recycling, and rainwater harvesting) and off-site offsetting measures (through the Crawley Homes Water Neutrality Retrofit Programme). 

The Officer updated the Committee that, since the publication of the report, the recommendation had needed to be updated.  The recommendation was therefore to delegate the decision to permit the application to the Head of Economy and Planning subject to the conclusion of consultation with NE, the conclusion of the S106 agreement, and the conditions set out in the agenda.

Lisa Venn, Crawley Borough Council Built Environment Manager, spoke on behalf of the applicant in support of the application.  Matters raised included:

·       The applicant had worked closely with the architects and with Crawley Homes to prepare the application for 85 affordable homes which was previously permitted by the Committee.

·       This application was to be amended to address water neutrality requirements.

·       The current Local Plan required water usage to fall below 110 litres per person per day.  With the inclusion of the proposed water efficiency measures, water usage by future residents of the development was estimated to average 87 litres per person per day.

The Committee then considered the application.  Committee members raised several queries, to which the officers provided the following clarifications:

·       As the site was a playing field, and it did not have an irrigation system, there was currently no water used at the site.

·       The estimated water usage differed between the houses on site (90.3 litres per person per day) and the flats (83 litres per person per day).  This was to account for extra water used at the houses for watering gardens and washing cars.

·       The applicant was required to prove to the Local Planning Authority that the development had met the water neutrality requirements during or post construction but prior to occupation.

·       Southern Water would fit water meters at all of the dwellings.

Committee members highlighted the importance of saving water and praised the innovative solutions to the unprecedented issue of water neutrality.

RESOLVED

Delegate the decision to permit the application to the Head of Economy and Planning, subject to the conclusion of consultation with Natural England, the conclusion of a Section 106 agreement and the conditions set out in report PES/405b.