Public realm improvements at Land Adjacent To Balfour Court, Northcote Street, Leyland

What is proposed

The application seeks new public realm works, including hard and soft landscaping, a bin store, lighting and cycle parking.

“This application seeks planning permission for new public realm works consisting of Proposed hard and soft landscaping works, installation of bin store and associated works including cycle parking. The Applicant is proposing to redevelop the existing courtyard and car park to create a new area of public realm, which will form part of the wider regeneration of the Town Centre and creation of the adjacent market square.”

“Installation of six Sheffield cycle parking stands along the southern boundary wall, providing 12 cycling parking spaces. As part of the proposal off site mitigation is proposed to achieve 10% BNG gain with tree planting on an alterative site at Low Green. Relevant Planning History…”

Officer report

The site and surroundings

The site is a parcel east of Balfour Court, currently used as a car park with small landscaped areas, while off-site planting is proposed at Low Green.

“The application site is located within Leyland Town Centre as identified within policy E3 of the Local Plan. This application is one of a number of sites for the re-development of Leyland Town centre. This application relates to a parcel of land to the east of Balfour Court…”

“The site of the proposed off site mitigation for BNG enhancement with additional tree planting is an existing grassed area at Low Green to the east of Broadfield owned by the Council. The Proposal…”

Officer report

What officers recommended

Officers considered the proposal policy-compliant and recommended delegated approval with conditions, subject to ecological confirmation and further biodiversity information.

“In policy and technical terms, the proposal is considered compliant, and having regard to the comments of statutory bodies and the following commentary, it is recommended the application should be delegated to the Head of Planning and Enforcement in conjunction with the Chair/ Vice Chair of Planning Committee to be approved subject to the imposition of conditions, subject to confirmation from the Councils’ Ecologist that they have no objections to the application.”

“The decision to grant planning permission be delegated to the Head of Planning and Enforcement in conjunction with the Chair/ Vice Chair of Planning Committee to grant planning permission subject to the recommended conditions, subject to confirmation from the Councils’ Ecologist that they have no objections to the application following a request for additional information in relation to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and completion of the neighbour consultation for the…”

Officer report

Consultation and public views

The arboricultural, environmental health and highways consultees raised no objections, while ecology requested further information; no public representations were received.

“Without this information, I cannot fully verify that the proposed off- site habitat creation will deliver the biodiversity gains claimed within the submitted metric. If approved, a Biodiversity Gain Plan (BGP) and Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan (HMMP) should be submitted, showing how the planted trees will be managed over the next 30 years. This must be approved by the LPA, before the automatically applied statutory biodiversity gain condition can be released.”

“Summary of Publicity 7.1 Neighbouring properties were consulted and three site notices posted. No Representations have been received. A further consulation regarding the off site mitigation area for tree planting is ongoing and any comments received will be updated at the Committee. Supporting Information…”

Officer report

Who spoke

There were no registered speakers.

The committee’s decision

The committee unanimously delegated the grant of permission, subject to amended conditions, ecological confirmation, biodiversity information and completion of the off-site consultation.

“The officers’ recommendation that granting of planning permission be delegated to the Head of Planning and Enforcement in conjunction with the Chair/ Vice Chair of Planning Committee to grant planning permission subject to the recommended conditions (incorporating amendments to conditions 3 and 6 outlined in the supplementary agenda), subject to confirmation from the Councils’ Ecologist that they have no objections to the application following a request for additional…”

“That granting of planning permission be delegated to the Head of Planning and Enforcement in conjunction with the Chair/ Vice Chair of Planning Committee to grant planning permission subject to the recommended conditions (incorporating amendments to conditions 3 and 6 outlined in the supplementary agenda), subject to confirmation from the Councils’ Ecologist that they have no objections to the…”

Minutes