Nine homes at Land Off Mushroom Lane, Brigsley

The site and surroundings

The site is a flat agricultural grazing field beside Mushroom Lane, next to homes and open countryside, with access leading towards Waltham Road.

“SITE The site is located on the north eastern side of Mushroom Lane in Waltham. The site itself, however, sits within the Parish of Brigsley. The site is a generally flat, open, agricultural field used as grazing land. The boundaries of the site are defined by hedging and landscaping. The eastern boundary includes the open countryside. Beyond the northern, western and southern boundaries are residential properties.”

Officer report

Consultation and public views

Most consultees raised no objection, while Waltham Parish Council and some residents raised concerns about drainage, flooding, highways, amenity and countryside impact.

“REPRESENTATIONS RECEIVED Council's Environmental Health Officer - No objection. Conditions recommended. Council's Waste Officer - No objections. Condition recommended. Council's Waste Enforcement Officer - No objections. Informative recommended. Council's Highways Officer - No objections. Conditions recommended. Council's Public Right of Way Officer - No objections. Council's Drainage Officer - No objections. Condition recommended. Anglian Water - No objections.”

“Additional Representations Grimsby and Cleethorpes Civic Society - Objects to the development on the grounds that the site outside of the development boundaries within the Local Plan, concerned about the over development of villages with no increase in the amenities and would increase traffic in the area.”

Officer report

Who spoke

The agent supported the application, highlighting landscaping, biodiversity gain, sustainable drainage, access arrangements and the housing land shortfall.

What members debated

Members focused on the previous refusal, the unchanged countryside and sustainability concerns, the housing supply position and whether the proposal remained against the Local Plan.

“Councillor Hudson said that a previous application for this site for eight dwellings had been refused and the Planning Inspectorate agreed, citing sustainability concerns and adverse impact. He said that this application was only before the Planning Committee due to housing supply and we had a five-year housing supply until the government changed the figures.”

“Councillor Lindley said that he agreed with Councillor Hudson. He said that he was quite clear about applications outside of the Local Plan. Councillor Lindley said that the previous application was refused on appeal in July 2017 due to issues of sustainability and the impact on character of the area and nothing had changed since then. He said that in 2017, the site wasn’t in the local plan, and we also weren’t able to demonstrate a five-year housing supply.”

Minutes

The vote

Members voted unanimously to refuse the application.

“RESOLVED – That the application be refused.”

“(Note - the committee voted unanimously for the application to be refused.)”

Minutes

The decision and reasons

The application was refused because members identified impacts on the area’s character, the countryside location and sustainability concerns.

“[name withheld] sought clarification that the reasons for the proposal to refuse the application was due to the impact on the character of the area, impact on countryside location and sustainability concerns.”

Minutes