Agenda and minutes

The Chair declared an interest in agenda item 5 (Land at Blackbridge - 23/00103/FUL) owing to being employed by the local school. He took no part in any aspect of the item.

Councillors D.Brown, Tracey and Gravells declared a non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 5 (Land at Blackbridge - 23/00103/FUL) owing to being elected members of Gloucestershire County Council.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, 2^nd May 2023.

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 2nd May 2023 were confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

Please note that any late material in respect of the applications detailed below will be published as a supplement on the Council’s website in the late afternoon of the day before the meeting. Additional late material will be uploaded as a supplement on the Council’s website on the day of the meeting, should further relevant representations be received thereafter.

Late Material had been circulated in relation to Agenda Item 5 – (Land at Blackbridge, 23/00103/FUL) and Item 6 – (Land at Snow Capel – 22/00519/FUL). Additional late material had also been circulated in relation to agenda Item 6 (Land at Snow Capel – 22/00519/FUL).

Application for determination:

Proposed community and sports hub including a new building housing changing rooms, fitness studio and viewing areas, an all-weather pitch with flood lights, reprofiling of existing pitches, car parking, new vehicular access, play area, and landscaping.

A site visit took place prior to the meeting on Tuesday 30 May, to allow for a full consideration of the application.

Owing to having declared a prejudicial interest in the item, the Chair withdrew himself from the Chamber at the start of the item. The Vice-Chair chaired the item.

The Planning Development Manager presented the report detailing an application for a proposed community and sports hub including a new building housing changing rooms, fitness studio and viewing areas, an all-weather pitch with flood lights, reprofiling of existing pitches, car parking, new vehicular access, play area, and landscaping.

A member of the Blackbridge Committee spoke in opposition to the application.

He stated that the application should be rejected on the following grounds:

-        His speech represented the views of much of the local community.

-        The applicant had failed to provide enough information to demonstrate that the proposal would comply with the adopted Joint Core Strategy (JCS).

-        The application contradicted policy SD14 of the JCS that stated that development must cause no unacceptable harm to amenity, including the amenity of neighbouring occupants.

-        The application did not originally propose including an artificial pitch and access was going to be provided through the Crypt School. The updated plans were far worse than what was originally proposed.

-        The 3G pitch would cause noise pollution, traffic routed up Laburnum Road and light pollution.

-        Incorrect placement for an artificial pitch.

-        The two rugby pitches on the site would no longer fit, should planning consent be granted. This contradicted paragraph 99 of the National Planning Policy Framework guidelines on development of sports fields as benefits must clearly outweigh the loss of the current or former use.

-        In 2012, an athletics club adjacent to the application site gained planning approval for 19 car parking spaces and access off Podsmead Rd. A reason why planning approval was given was to ‘limit vehicle movements’ through the residential estate (Oaklands Park) to the benefit of those residents’ amenity. It therefore followed that to increase traffic through Laburnum Road for a car park 5 times the size, and with more frequent use, would cause an unacceptable harm to the amenity of the Oaklands residents.

-        There were 38 conditions placed on the application. Paragraph 55 of the national planning policy framework stipulated that planning conditions should be kept to a minimum.

-        There were conditions covering fundamental information such as the design of the 3G and grass pitches, the grass pitch locations, the drainage, noise mitigation and management, lighting, phasing of the development and fencing design.

-        The application should be refused or at least deferred until fundamental details were provided about the application.

A representative of Blackbridge Charitable Community Benefit Society spoke in favour of the application.

He stated that the application should be granted on the following grounds:

-        The Blackbridge Charitable Community Benefit Society was an organisation led by residents, which had entirely charitable objectives and wanted to benefit the local  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Application for determination:

Residential development of 180 no. dwellings (Class C3); vehicular, pedestrian and cycle access from Winnycroft Lane; public open space and landscaping; drainage attenuation, acoustic barrier and other associated works (Environmental Impact Assessment development).

A site visit was conducted prior to the meeting (Tuesday 30 May) to allow for full consideration of the application.

The Senior Planner presented the report detailing an application for a residential development of 180 no. dwellings (Class C3); vehicular, pedestrian and cycle access from Winnycroft Lane; public open space and landscaping; drainage attenuation, acoustic barrier, and other associated works (Environmental Impact Assessment development).

Councillor O’Donnell spoke in favour of the application.

He stated that the application should be granted on the following grounds:

-       Matson did not have enough community stock but had a lot of green space.

-       The monument was not very accessible to the public. The granting of the application would allow for it to be visited by schools and members of the local community.

-       For families living in overcrowded accommodation, the granting of the application could have a large beneficial impact on their life and wellbeing.

-       The granting of the application could get 77 social housing applicants off the waiting list, which was in the region of 6,000 applicants. 

-       The application was supported by local communities and residents.

-       People need good quality homes to live in.

-       The granting of the application would help to combat the issue of overcrowding in homes and make a positive impact on people’s lives.

An operations director at Bromford spoke in favour of the application.

He stated that the application should be granted on the following grounds:

-       Gloucester had nearly 6,000 people on the social housing waiting list . Bromford wanted to work with the Council to help solve the problem.

-       The Matson Site would provide 75% affordable houses. Most of the properties would have gardens. The neighbouring site built by another developer provided zero affordable homes.

-       The application was supported by various community groups including Gloucestershire College, Gloucestershire Gateway Trust, Together in Matson, GL Communities. Richard Graham MP supported it.

-       The properties would be energy efficient.

-       Together in Matson had highlighted that inadequate social housing was one of the biggest problems in the area. The granting of the application would help to combat this.

-       The scheme would include public open space.

-       New footpaths would be provided.

-       Despite noting the significant benefits of the scheme in the officer’s report, the recommendation was for refusal. It contradicted the Secretary of State’s position which was that affordable housing should be given substantial weight when deciding on an application.

-       Regarding the landscape issue, the nationally important scheduled ancient monument sat between the M5 and a main road and was hardly known to people in the area and was hidden.

-       The questions surrounding newts could be dealt with via conditions.

-       The application boiled down to whether the benefit outweighed the negatives. The nationally important scheduled ancient monument to the untrained eye was an ‘overgrown hole.’ If the application received consent, they would propose to reveal, protect, and educate people on it. Alongside Together in Matson, they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider a schedule of applications determined under delegated powers during the month of April 2023.

The schedule of applications determined under delegated powers during the month of April 2023 was noted.

RESOLVED that: - the schedule be noted

Tuesday, 4^th July 2023 at 6pm.

Tuesday, 4^th July 2023 at 6pm.