To consider report PES/283 (a)of the Head of Economic and Environmental Services

RECOMMENDATION to PERMIT.

The Committee considered report PES/283(a) of the Head of Economic and Environmental Services which proposed as follows:

Demolition of the existing public house and associated flat and the erection of a five storey mixed use development consisting of 7 x one bedroom and 12 x two bedroom flats, 1 x drinking establishment (A4 use) and 2 x retail units (A1 use), with lower ground floor parking (amended description and plans).

Councillors Boxall, Jaggard, Malik, Stone, Tarrant and Thomas declared they had visited the site.

The Principal Planning Officer (MR) provided a verbal summation of the application and advised the Committee that:

·         The application had originally been considered by the Planning Committee on 9 October 2017 when the Committee had resolved to permit the application subject to the completion of a S106 agreement.  Negotiations regarding the S106 agreement had been on-going and within that time an additional representation had been received.

·         The representation had raised a new issue not previously assessed within the original officer report or by the Planning Committee, namely that the development would prejudice the potential development of the adjoining land and was therefore contrary to Policy CH4 of the Crawley Borough Local Plan 2015-2030 which stated that “development proposals must use land efficiently and not unduly restrict the development potential of adjoining land, nor prejudice the proper planning and phasing of development over a wider area”.  The Committee was therefore advised that it should consider specifically whether the development would unduly restrict the development potential of the adjoining land.

·         In particular, consideration needed to be given to the impact the residential units to the north/north-west of the development would have on development of the adjoining land.

·         The owner of the adjoining land had not submitted a planning application for that land nor had they been in discussion with the Council regarding any prospective development.

·         An additional informative and an amendment to the S106 Legal Agreement was necessary in relation to the replacement of the drinking establishment and public amenity.

·         The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) had been updated on 26 July 2018 and the Committee’s attention was drawn in particular to the following sections of the updated document:

-       Section 5 (Delivering a Sufficient Supply of Homes)

-       Section 8 (Promoting Healthy and Safe Communities)

-       Section 11 (Making Effective Use of Land)

-       Section 12 (Achieving Well Designed Places

The Committee noted that the changes to the NPPF did not materially alter the officer’s recommendation.

·         There were no other material changes since the resolution had originally been taken by the Planning Committee on 9 October 2017 and therefore the Committee was only required to consider the new issue before it.

In response to issues raised by the Committee, the Principal Planning Officer (MR):

·         Informed the Committee that a A4 class use related to “drinking Establishments” for example public houses, wine bars or other drinking establishments (but not night clubs).  The drinking establishment element of the application would replace the establishment which was due to be demolished as part of the same application.

·         Confirmed that the Sussex Police representation did not relate to licensing issues in relation to the pub.  The floorplan layout had been altered to address Sussex Police’s concerns.

·         It was not possible to provide replacement trees on site, due to insufficient space.  The trees would therefore be planted off site, with the species and location to be agreed with the Council.

·         Clarified that the Enforcement Officer would monitor that the conditions were adhered to.

The Committee considered the representation in detail giving particular consideration as to whether the application before them would unduly restrict any potential development of the adjoining land.  The Committee unanimously agreed that the application would not unduly restrict any potential development of the adjoining land.

RESOLVED

Permit subject to:

a)    The conditions as set out in report PES/240(d) which had been considered by the Planning Committee at its meeting on 9 October 2017.

b)    The completion of a Section 106 Legal Agreement to ensure the long term viability of a public house on the site, replacement and additional tree planting and the provision of affordable housing as set out in report PES/283(a).