79 homes at Station Lane, Pelton

What is proposed

The application seeks 79 homes with access, landscaping, infrastructure, open space, affordable housing and improvements to a footpath connection.

“Station Lane and the residential properties of Harelaw cul-de-sac to the west with the Sustrans national cycle network beyond Station Lane. • Pelton House Farm housing and further agricultural land to the south. • Housing of The Wynd Estate , A Public Right of Way (Pelton 9) and a designed area of open space with a fixed play area to the east. The Open Space Area has recently been listed as an Asset of Community Value. • Pelton House Farm to the north.”

“Full planning permission is sought for the construction of 79 homes with associated access, landscaping and infrastructure. During the course of the application, the applicant has worked with the Council to address concerns over design, connections landscaping, impacts to trees and highway safety. This has resulted in changes to access, layout, house type and details and the addition of an upgraded footway connection to the Wynd.”

Officer report

The site and surroundings

The site is 4.25 hectares of greenfield pasture and grazing land beside Pelton, with roads, homes, open space, a footpath and farmland around it.

“The site comprises approximately 4.25ha of greenfield land located to the north and east of Pelton House Farm Estate which is a single row of isolated roadside dwellings that lie to the south of the settlement of Pelton. The land incorporates a paddock with a menage to the north eastern corner of the site with the rest of the site currently used as agricultural land for pasture and grazing and keeping of horses. It is presently accessed via the Pelton House Farm entrance.”

Officer report

Planning history

There is no relevant planning history for the application site.

“There is no relevant planning history for the application site.”

Officer report

What officers advised

Officers considered the site sustainable and well related to Pelton, and found that the benefits outweighed landscape and policy harm.

“Policy 6 requires developments to not result in the loss of open land that contributes to the character of the locality which cannot be adequately mitigated or compensated for and requires development to be appropriate to the character, function form and setting of a settlement . Policy 10 criteria l) and o) reflect similar requirements.”

“The extent of harm to the various landscape and visual receptors have been the subject of extensive review between the applicant and the Council. Ultimately, the Council’s landscape officers consider the landscape effects at site level and in relation to its immediate surroundings to be transformative to the character of the existing edge of settlement but would retain some of the rural character along Station Lane.”

Officer report

Who spoke

A parish councillor and a local resident opposed the proposal, while the applicant’s planning consultant supported approval.

What members debated

Members debated coalescence, landscape, highway safety, narrow footpaths, flooding, the absence of highways officers and the development’s housing benefits.

“In relation to the comments from Active Travel and comments that the existing pathways were not 2m wide, the Senior Planning Officer admitted that this was not ideal, however retrofitting a site was difficult and it was not always possible to add 2m footways adjacent to rural lanes. She referred to an appeal decision from a site in Lanchester and confirmed that the Planning Inspector had found very narrow footways to be acceptable, therefore a precedent had been set.”

“The Chair agreed that whilst highway matters had been addressed in the report, it would have been helpful to have benefitted from Highways Officers expertise at the meeting. She advised that Members must weigh the positive aspects of the development and the fact that the development would address local and countywide housing need.”

Minutes

The vote and decision

A motion to approve was proposed and seconded, while refusal was also proposed and seconded; the application was then approved with conditions and contributions.

“Councillor Bell moved refusal of the application which was seconded by Councillor Wilkes.”

“That the application be APPROVED subject to the conditions outlined in the report and completion of an agreement under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) to secure:”

Minutes