50 dwellings at Land At (Os 9030 6094), Newland Road, Droitwich Spa

“A committee update report had been provided.”

“The Planning Officer outlined the application and reminded the Committee that outline permission had already been granted. The application before them was limited to the reserved matters, layout, appearance, scale and landscaping.”

“Whilst the views of the Housing Officer are noted, it is considered that, on balance, it would be difficult to sustain a refusal on basis that the affordable housing mix is not fully aligned with the SHMA.”

“Paragraph 3 states: ‘Development proposals should be refused if, without clear justification, they conflict with paragraph 1 of this policy or relevant aspects of the principles in paragraph 2, or with any explicit design standards set out in the development plan (including those in locally specific policies, guides, codes or masterplans). Substantial weight should be given to compliance with relevant development plan policies when assessing the design quality of proposals.”

“A further consultation response has been received from the Housing Officer. It is advised that the proposed tenure split accords with the S106 Agreement and the affordable housing now meet the Nationally Described Space Standards (NDSS) for the correct occupancy levels.”

“In terms of the affordable housing mix, the Housing Officer is disappointed that there are no 1-bedroom flats/apartments and is of the view that the mix does not align with the SHMA or the housing need evidence.”

“Ciaran Power, Head of Development Management re-iterated that outline planning permission had been established and that it was at that time that the Council had the opportunity to seek section 106 obligations regarding mitigations concerning infrastructure and highways. He confirmed that there was no ability for those to be revisited at the reserved matters stage. The considerations at the reserved matters stage were limited to design, layouts, appearance and character.”

“Councillor E J Kearsey echoed Councillor Dawkes’ sympathy for the Ward Members but could see no reason to refuse permission nor defer it for any reserved matters. She noted that the application was the first application since adoption of the design code and thanked the Planning Officer and applicant that the application had referenced the design code so coherently.”

“To delegate approval to the Director of Planning and Infrastructure to grant planning permission subject to the planning conditions listed in the committee report and update, allowing for any subsequent amendments to the planning conditions as required by the Director of Planning and Infrastructure.”

“No dwelling hereby permitted shall be occupied until sheltered and secure cycle parking to comply with the Council’s adopted highway design guide as generally shown on Drawing 105 Rev P12 has been provided. The cycle parking shall be kept available for the parking of bicycles.”