Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director of Service Delivery (copy enclosed, Members’ Update to be circulated)*.

The Chairman put to the Committee that the Officers’ recommendation of refusal be agreed.  This was duly seconded.

In response to a question regarding the reasons for refusal and the use of Policies T1 (sustainable transport) and T2 (site accessibility) within such reasons, the Lead Specialist Place provided some guidance.

The Chairman then put the proposal to the Committee and upon a vote being taken this was agreed.

RESOLVED that this application be REFUSED for the following reasons:

1          The application site lies within a rural location outside of a defined settlement boundary where policies of restraint apply.  The Council can demonstrate a five year housing land supply to accord with the requirements of the National Planning Policy Framework.  The site has not been identified by the Council for development to meet future needs for the District and does not fall within either a Garden Suburb or Strategic Allocation for growth identified within the Maldon District Local Development Plan to meet the objectively assessed needs for housing in the District.  The site is poorly located relative to facilities, services and sustainable modes of transport.  The proposed development would result in the loss of an employment use and it has not been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the LPA that there is no demand for an employment use at this site.  Furthermore, the proposal would substantially alter the character and intrinsic beauty of the countryside, particularly through the introduction of a domestic character and dense form of residential development, contrary to the existing grain of residential development in this rural area.  The development would therefore be unacceptable, does not constitute sustainable development and is contrary to policies S1, S2, S8, E1, D1 and H4 of the Maldon District Local Development Plan (2017) and Government advice contained within the National Planning Policy Framework (2019).

2          In the absence of a completed legal agreement pursuant to Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, securing a necessary financial contribution towards Essex Coast Recreational disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy or an appropriate mitigation strategy to overcome the impacts of the development on the European designated nature conservation sites, the development would have an adverse impact on those European designated nature conservation sites, contrary to Policies S1, and I1 of the Maldon District Local Development Plan and the NPPF.

3          Insufficient evidence has been submitted to show that the development would not have an unacceptable impact in terms of ecology.  The proposal is therefore considered to be contrary to policy D1 of the Maldon District Local Development Plan and the guidance contained within the National Planning Policy Framework.