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Planning Committee 7th April 2015
BLABY PARISH COUNCIL
MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMITTEE held at Blaby Civic Centre, 22-24 Leicester Road
at 7pm on Tuesday, 7th April 2015
PRESENT: Mr B Fear (Chairman),
Mrs M Broomhead, Mr D Statham, Mrs E Statham, Mr B Duggan, Mrs V Wilkinson,
Mrs V Jepson (Manager), Mrs J Brooks (Admin Clerk) & 19 x Parishioners.
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1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE - None.
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2. TO RECEIVE MEMBERS DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST & REQUESTS FOR
DISPENSATIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CODE OF CONDUCT - None.
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3. REPORTS FROM BLABY DISTRICT COUNCIL – None.
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4. PLANS FROM BLABY DISTRICT COUNCIL –
a) (15/0327/HH) 115 Grove Road Blaby Leicestershire LE8 4DH:
Single storey rear extension and erection of front canopy porch (to include
demolition of existing outbuildings).
COMMENTS – No objections.
b) (14/1099/1/MX) Leicester Lions RFC Lutterworth Road Blaby Leicestershire:
The following amendments have been made to this application:
1. Removal of floor space at first floor level.
2. Reduction of footprint.
3. Resiting of clubhouse away from hedgerow by 7 metres.
4. Design changes.
5. Revised floodlighting details.
6. Information on extractor fans.
COMMENTS – Blaby Parish Council has no objections to the amendments but was
not in favour of the original scheme and objected to the closure of footpath Z.56. The
access point onto Lutterworth Road is considered to be dangerous.
c) (15/0332/FUL) Land South Of 14 - 16 Cranmer Close Blaby Leicestershire:
Erection of 1 pair of 2 bedroom semi-detached bungalows, 2 x 4 bedroom detached
dwellings with associated garages and parking (revised scheme).
COMMENTS - This is a very tight spot. Blaby Parish Council repeats its previous
objections being that it is overitensive use of the site, there is inadequate parking
space and the access points for emergency vehicles are far too narrow. The 3
storey detached property directly overlooking the bungalow at 15 Latimer Close
would cause intense overshadowing. The houses are completely out of character
with adjacent buildings and there is already a known drainage problem in this
particular area.
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5. REPORTS FROM BLABY DISTRICT COUNCIL, RECEIVED AFTER ISSUE OF
AGENDA - None.
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6. PLANS FROM BLABY DISTRICT COUNCIL, RECEIVED AFTER ISSUE OF
AGENDAa) (15/0366/FUL) 4 - 6 Enderby Road Blaby Leicestershire LE8 4GD:
Demolition of existing dwellings and the development of 40 one and two bedroomed
units and communal facilities to provide assisted accommodation for the elderly and
associated vehicular access, parking and landscaping.
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Planning Committee 7th April 2015
COMMENTS – Request an extension on the deadline for comments on this
application.
AGREED: Hold a public meeting to discuss this application further to be held at
Blaby Civic Centre on Tuesday, 14th April at 7.30 pm.
b) (15/0378/HH) 26 Loughland Close, Blaby, LE8 4PB:
Single Storey front and side extensions.
COMMENTS - No objections.
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7. CORRESPONDENCE:
a) Notes from Meeting with Cat Hartley, 26th March 2015.
Meeting with Miss Cat Hartley, BDC, to discuss Planning Issues.
Thursday 26th March 2015, Blaby Civic Centre at 10.00 am
Present: Miss Cat Hartley, Mr D Statham, Mrs E Statham, Mrs M Broomhead &
Mrs J Brooks.
Mr Statham thanked everyone for coming and wished to discuss the following points:
1. Conservation Area Material
Miss Hartley confirmed she is continuing to search for the original paperwork from
the 1970’s on the conservation area and queried what information was required to
take forward.
Mrs Statham thinks the assessment needs to be done again from scratch as the
whole area needs to be redefined. The character assessment over the last 40 years
has deteriorated and it needs to be tightly defined what makes a conservation area
and what design is acceptable.
Miss Hartley said the options for this would be to either pick this up through the
Neighbourhood Plan or to create a full scale re-designation. A consultant, Steven
Bradwell, who has worked with Glenfield and Croft Parish Councils, would be
prepared to come out and offer an initial review. If he did a full conservation
appraisal he would charge around £2,000. A local listing would be included and he
would liaise with John Sharpe, Conservation Officer for Leicestershire County
Council.
AGREED: Miss Hartley will forward his contact details.
2. Section 106 / CIL
Miss Hartley was asked if there are any changes to the proposals and stated there
was likely to be a review later this year between the Leicestershire authorities as
they are looking to refresh their views on CIL but doesn’t think they are looking at it
at the moment. She also mentioned there is a new Planning Obligations Officer,
Tracey Carey who joined Blaby District Council in February. She will be reviewing
and identifying what monies are owed and when they are due.
Mrs Statham said she was looking into the possibility of securing some Section 106
monies to do a feasibility study of the car parks between the Fox & Tiger and the
British Legion to create a piazza area.
Miss Hartley confirmed she is looking at the contributions from the Fosse Park
development to go towards the improvement for Blaby Town Centre.
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3. Everards
Miss Hartley has spoken to Steven Gould from Everards and he has indicated to
having a discussion with the parish council but they are currently very busy with two
major applications at Fosse Park at the moment. She confirmed he would be more
than happy to meet up when they have time.
Mrs Broomhead commented that everyone just wants the best for Blaby but the
main concern is Blaby Hall is deteriorating badly. If building houses around a derelict
building who is going to want to buy them? The Blaby Plan has mutual interest and
benefit for everyone.
4. Neighbourhood Plan
Mr Statham confirmed positive feedback had been received from the meeting with
Lucy O’Doherty. She was brilliant and very helpful and he would like this comment to
be passed on via Miss Hartley. He added she was very constructive and could put a
planner’s eye on what’s been done so far and made it like a planning policy. It was
above and beyond what everyone expected.
5. Planning Permissions
Mrs Broomhead brought to Miss Hartley’s attention an application that had begun
preparing ground and laying foundations even though permission was still pending.
She felt it made a mockery of the system as it would seem there is no point in
making comments.
Miss Hartley said the planning enforcement team can and will take action if there is
any unauthorised development taking place but legislation states if they have
submitted an application and are likely to get planning permission the courts
wouldn’t give permission to stop them while an application is still pending.
If there was no application in place then a stop notice could be served on them and
ultimately if they don’t get permission, they will take action.
Mrs Broomhead had concerns about the health and safety issues on the work that
had commenced on this site, no safety barriers, breeze blocks on the footpath and
flimsy fencing .She requested the case officer keep an eye on it.
Miss Hartley suggested any members of the public who have questions can be
referred to the District Council for an explanation and the determination can be
checked.
It was felt the procedure needs to be more streamlined as residents need to be put
through to 3 different departments before getting an answer. Miss Hartley thought
this was good feedback and will take these comments back to the department.
A discussion about the Winchester Road development was held as it wasn’t very
transparent what had happened. From the drawings it appeared to be being built in a
ditch. All would like to see a more 3D image to get a better perspective on what the
final building will look like. The public seem to have lost faith in the planning system
as there is no-one there to protect their interests and it’s important to strike a
balance between having sustainable housing and housing that doesn’t impact on
everyone’s lives.
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Planning Committee 7th April 2015
It was felt important to make sure everything blends in and developers should work
together with the public.
Miss Hartley reassured everyone that it was just as frustrating from planning’s
perspective as they are not always able to do this but would continue to refuse
permission for Hospital Lane for example as they wish to support the parish and the
community. The planning advisory service is now on board to train all their new
planning officers as there are changes to legislation all the time.
Mr Statham thanked Miss Hartley for her time and added it was useful to feed things
back to her. Mrs Broomhead agreed and said it was important to try and eliminate
the “them and us” approach by working together with the District Council.
Miss Hartley agreed that feedback is always useful.
Meeting Closed: 10.50 am
b) Eva O’Connor – Sustainable Housing.
Mrs O’Connor suggests imposing some form of “above average” sustainable
measures for any future developments around Blaby within the Neighbourhood Plan.
c) Blaby District Council – Update on Planning Application (15/0074/FUL)
Land Adjacent 85 Park Road, Blaby.
The case officer has confirmed the application has not yet been determined but has
since issued the following amendments to consider:
1. Revised red lined site boundary on location plan.
2. Revised floor plans.
3. Revised Elevations.
4. Site sections.
5. Proposed site plan.
6. Visibility splays.
7. Proposed drainage.
8. Site plan indicating site, original overlay, overlay of proposal as originally
submitted and overlay of revised proposal.
COMMENTS – Blaby Parish Council repeats its previous objections to this
application being overitensive use of the site and there is not enough space for off
road parking. It is also in very close proximity to the alleyway which would pose a
danger to pedestrians.
Members are happy that the planners have pursued this matter and looked into the
parish councils concerns but now request this application is determined as soon as
possible by the districts development control committee.
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8. CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED AFTER ISSUE OF AGENDA – None.
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9. CHAIRMANS TIME
The Chairman said “Personally I would like to say thank you to the Chair and Vice
Chair of the Council, I’m glad I worked under you and I hope next year will be even
better.”
MEETING CLOSED: 7.22 PM
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