Conversion and extension of former caravan repair premises into car sales, MOT centre and vehicle repair garage.
Local Member: Councillor Jason Humphreys
Minutes:
Conversion
and extension of former caravan repair premises into car sales, MOT centre and
vehicle repair garage.
(a) The
Development Control Manager elaborated on the background of the application and
noted that the application had been deferred at the Committee meeting held on
19 October 2015 in order to hold a site visit. The members of the Committee had visited the site prior to the meeting.
Attention was drawn to the fact that late observations had been received
from the applicant’s agent proposing to reduce the height of the building in
the front by approximately 400mm along with changes to the parking and lighting
arrangements for the site to mitigate the concerns of objectors.
It was
noted that there was mixed land use in the application area which varied from
residential use to employment sites and considering that the proposed
development was on a site previously used in the past for the storage and
repair of caravans, it was not considered that a significant change would be
caused to the area’s amenities.
It was
noted that after receiving observations from the Public Protection Service it
was recommended to impose conditions to restrict the operating hours on the
site should the application be approved. It was added that no time restriction had been in
place on the previous use of the site and the conditions would give more
control over the site.
It was
reported that the current recommendation was to delegate powers to approve the
application subject to dealing with the amended plans and to relevant
conditions as noted in the report.
(b) The local
member (not a member of this Planning Committee) made the following main
points:-
·
That
he was grateful that the members of the Committee had visited the site;
·
That the applicant had submitted an amended Traffic
Management Plan which he felt that was worse than the original;
·
That there were speeding and parking problems on the street. The
development would contribute to the problem;
·
That
he supported local businesses;
·
That
he was against the development as he considered that it was an overdevelopment
on a small site as the business would operate as an MOT and car sales centre.
(c) In response
to the local member’s observations in relation to traffic management, the Senior
Development Control Officer – Transport noted that lengthy discussions had been
held in the context of speeding in the area and that improvements had been
made; however, further methods to slow down traffic could be considered.
It was noted that the proposal would not result
in a detrimental increase in traffic.
It was
proposed and seconded to approve the application.
The seconder to the
proposal noted an amendment to alter condition 7 to ‘to restrict the operating
hours of the car sales unit to 08:00 – 19:00 every day’ rather than 18:00. The
proposed accepted the amendment.
The Development Control
Manager confirmed that condition 8 in the report should not ‘To restrict
lighting hours – no lighting between 18:30 and 07:30’, rather than 07:70.
(ch) During the
ensuing discussion, the following main points were made:
·
Traffic
flow would increase as a result of the development and stricter conditions
should be imposed if the application was approved;
·
Concern
regarding speeding in the area;
·
That
the observations of the local member and Town Council needed to be considered;
·
That
there were other more suitable locations for the development;
·
That
it was important to support a new business;
·
That
it was an ideal site for the family business that would operate in line with
the standards;
·
That
the applicant was making a substantial investment in the site and that the
development would create new jobs;
·
That
the time restrictions allowed for better control of the site.
(d) In response to
further observations from members in relation to traffic management, the Senior
Development Control Officer – Transport noted that there would be a need to
follow a statutory consultation process if a change in traffic management in
the area was considered. He added that
this would include discussions with the local member.
RESOLVED to delegate powers to approve the application
subject to dealing with the amended plans and to relevant conditions relating
to:
Conditions:
1. Time – Five
years
2. In accordance
with the plans
3. To agree on
the exterior finish and colour.
4. Welsh Water
conditions
5. Highways /
Parking conditions (to be agreed)
6. To restrict
the operating hours of the MOT centre / vehicle repair building to 08:00 - 18:00
Monday to Friday, 08:-13:00 Saturday, closed Sundays and Bank Holidays
7. To restrict
the operating hours of the car sales unit to 08:00 – 19:00 every day
8. To restrict the lighting hours – no lighting between
18:30 and 07:30
Supporting documents: