Agenda, decisions and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Committees held on 20 February 2023 and 20 March 2023.

That, the Minutes of the Strategic Planning Committee of 20 February 2023 be approved and signed as a correct record.

That, the Minutes of the Strategic Planning Committee of 20 March 2023 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Approved subject to conditions.

The Principal Planning Officer outlined the information in the report and provided a presentation which included maps, plans and panoramic views, street scenes, illustrative views and phasing plan of the site to give context of the Reserved Matters application.

The Principal Planning Officer advised that permission had been granted for the master plan, for development of the whole site, in February 2021 and gave an overview of the hybrid planning permission to provide context for the Phase 1 reserved matters application.  For the access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale for 329 units. And further advised:

·       The land was allocated for development within the LPP1 under Policy N7 (Northampton Kings Heath SUE).  The Dallington Grange Residential Design Code also set out the agreed parameters for the development.

·       The general layout of the streets was consistent with the approved Masterplan

·       The proposals would include approximately 30 house types, some of those would have different architectural detailing and facing materials, as set out in the Design Code.

·       The character area would have two subdivisions; Firs Gateway, the entrance to the site, where the buildings would have a high predominance of stone dwellings, approximately 50% and Firs Street Frontage, the principal tree lined road through the phase.  The majority of dwellings would be 2.5 storey and 3 with some 2 storey. They would be contemporary in style to differentiate from the remainder of the Firs character areas, the proposals were in accordance with the adopted Design Code.

·       The frontage onto the Heritage Park to the north would consist of larger dwellings with drives to provide a gentler and greener transition to the parkland. The southern boundary to the site would provide detached and semi-detached dwellings fronting on to private drives which would provide the transition to the public open space to the south.

·       Parking solutions would be provided by a variety of means, with private drives on side of house or the frontage, with landscaping and shared spaces.

·       As a result of a viability assessment 10% of affordable houses was approved for the hybrid application.

·       A network of footpaths and cycle ways would ensure connectivity between sites.

In response to questions the Principal Planning Officer reported:

·       A Section 106 agreement formed part of the outline application and a contribution had been received.

·       The provision of self-build dwellings was not included in the Housing Policy at the time that the outline application was approved.

·       Parking in the southern area, houses would have garages at the rear or side and visitor parking would be provided in laybys.

·       All garages would be built with rooftop tiles, grey blends with red and orange brick and would comply with the new standards.

·       The hybrid planning permission made provision for a secondary school and two primary schools.  The triggers for the 2 primary schools to be built had been inherited with the application and could not be altered.  One school would be delivered by the Local Education Authority (LEA) and the second would be built by the developer unless a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 121.

Approved subject to conditions.

The Area Planning Officer outlined the information in the report and provided a presentation which included maps, plans and photographs from various viewpoints overlooking the proposed site and illustrative views to give context.

The Area Planning Officer advised that:

·       Demolition of the existing building, with approximately 89,730sqm of floors space and stood 12m in height, had been approved under reference WNPD/2022/0050.

·       The proposed redevelopment application was for 3 replacement buildings, with a reduction of floor space to approximately 74,320sqm, with an increase in height, 2 buildings standing at 22m and floor space. standing between one building standing at 19m and two at 22 metres in height. The topography of the site was 2m lower than neighbouring building which stood 15m in height

·       The site was allocated as employment land under Policy EC4b of the Part 2 Local Plan.

·       A Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment had been carried out by the developer. The proposed buildings would be visible from various vantage points. Suitable cladding and additional proposed landscaping enhancements would mitigate the visual impact. 

·       Car parking would be provided for staff, it was proposed to include the infrastructure for electric vehicle charging points, bicycle parking shelters and bus passes issued to employees to promote sustainable transport options serving the development.

·       No objections had been received from The Local Highways Authority regarding the proposed access. Provision had been made for pedestrians and cyclists to access the site.

·       A construction management plan would be required to ensure sufficient mitigation was undertaken during the development of the site. 

·       A Section 106 Agreement would secure financial contributions for the implementation and monitoring of an agreed Travel Plan and Travel Pass scheme for employees.

In response to questions the Area Planning Officer advised that:

·       The topography of the site needed to be considered when comparing the heights of neighbouring buildings.

·       The heights of the units would be a maximum of 22m and 19m. 

·       Provision was being made for sustainable travel options for staff.

·       The square footage of the floor footprint had been adjusted to allow for landscaping and biodiversity.  The proposal would deliver a net gain on biodiversity across the site in excess of 10% and would be compliant with Policy.

·       The site was identified as an industrial zone.

·       The Section 106 would secure the finances for the issue of bus passes and issue would be based on first occupation of buildings. 

·       Daventry Town Council had advised they had no objection to the application.

·       Cycle shelters would be provided within the site.

Harriet Swale, the agent, addressed the committee in support of the application highlighting the benefits of the scheme and the development plan, also noting the landscaping and biodiversity provision and the sustainability of the development.

Matthew Store, the Applicant, was also in attendance to answer members questions.

In response to questions, the agent advised that the letting agents had indicated that their customers currently required higher industrial buildings to enable them to operate on a smaller footprint therefore the buildings in the application would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 122.