Draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Howard and Councillor Lloyd.

There were no declarations of interest relating to matters on the agenda.

Proposal:       Demolition of existing dwelling and business units and construction of a 2/3 storey building to provide 19 flats and 2 commercial units with vehicle and bicycle parking and a bin store.

The briefing was held given a request by a ward member that this application be determined by the Development Management Committee.

The members received a presentation from the officer outlining the report and familiarising the members with the site, the subject of the application. The following key considerations were identified in the presentation:

(i)               principle of development;

(ii)             nature of development;

(iii)            impact upon the character and appearance of the area;

(iv)            impact upon residential amenity and adjoining uses;

(v)             highway and parking matters;

(vi)            flood risk and drainage;

(vii)           environmental issues; and

(viii)          S106 matters and financial contributions.

In response to factual questions raised by members of the Working Party, the officer advised that:

(1)       there were 19 flats proposed to be built in total, 4 containing one bedroom and 15 containing two bedrooms;

(2)       kitchens do not require ventilation as they are not habitable rooms, but the windows proposed to be sealed shut were done so out of acoustic mitigation for the adjacent garage rather than for stylistic purposes. It was only the two-bedroom flats which had sealed windows, with the availability of more ventilation in other rooms which did not face the garage;

(3)       the development had a contemporary design which was not out of keeping with the already mixed street scene and area so would not be considered jarring;

(4)       as the development had to conform to existing adopted policies, features included such as the Juliet balconies and outdoor space were not required but were still proposed;

(5)       social housing was not included in this development as the applicants had demonstrated through a Viability Assessment that it was not viable to bring the site forward with affordable housing included; the Viability Assessment had been checked and agreed by a third party surveyor on behalf of the Council;

(6)         the car park to the south of the building was in the ownership of Havant Borough Council and so could not be offered as another access route to the adjacent garage or parking spaces to the East of the development;

(7)          the three pre-commencement conditions in place would stop any construction from taking place until those conditions had been met; and

(8)          the section of the development designed for office space was in line with policies for the local centre, and any change of use e.g. to retail would need planning permission or it would be vulnerable to enforcement action.

RESOLVED that, based on the site inspection and information available at the time, the following additional information be provided to the Development Management Committee:

a)               the size of the flats;

b)               an annotated East elevation with explanations of each room facing, and whether the windows be sealed or not;

c)               fire safety provisions for the rooms with sealed windows from building control; and

d)               hard copies  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.