Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2018 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

1.    V/2018/0221 - Erection of Retail Store with Car Parking and Landscaping -  Land Off Mansfield Road and Eastfield Side, Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.

In accordance with the Council’s Policy for dealing with late matters in relation to planning applications (Minute No. D4.17, 1993/94), the Assistant Director for Planning and Regulatory Services gave a verbal report on additional comments received in relation to the application after the agenda had been finalised as follows:

The applicant had submitted a further email in support of the application. This explained that Lidl would not be making an offer on the Northern Bridge Road site as:

·         The site was not in a suitable location for a second store in the Town Centre and it would be detrimental to the turnover of the existing store.

·         Asda would not sell to a competitor, and had supported this with advice from a property agent (Frank Knight). Building a store that close to Asda would also be unviable.

·         Lidl had an immediate requirement in Sutton and works would commence early 2019.

The applicant contended that the Impact Test showed that the proposal was acceptable, the sequential test was passed and that the proposal would not affect amenity, design or transport. It was also confirmed that an offer of £100,000 had been made to mitigate the limited impact of the proposal and that Lidl planned to retain their existing store.

An additional letter of objection had also been received from a resident. This raised concerns over highways safety, sufficient retail stores already in Sutton-in-Ashfield, and that they would prefer bungalows to be built on the land.

Officer Comment in response:

The Council still contended, that Lidl’s failure to make an offer for the Northern Bridge Road site meant that the Sequential Test had not been passed.

It was noted that all the other issues raised by Lidl, and the resident, had been covered within the Committee report.

In accordance with the Council’s procedure for speaking at Planning Committee Mr Alan Jones of Asda Stores and Mr Matthew Williams of Williams Gallagher (objectors), Mr A Ranji (objector), Ms Julie White of Indigo Planning (agent for the applicant) and Ms Jo Hawley (the applicant), addressed the meeting.

Members of the Committee were of the of the view that while the store would have an impact on Sutton in Ashfield town centre and on the Outram Street local centre, the impact was not substantially adverse enough to refuse the application and could be mitigated by contributions to schemes outlined in the report. Members were also of the view that the proposed development represented an opportunity to develop a site that had been derelict for many years despite planning permissions for residential development being previously granted on the site that had not been brought forward to development.

It was moved by Councillor Wilson and seconded by Councillor Anderson, that against officer recommendation subject to a Section 106 contribution of £120,000 in order to mitigate the impact of the development on Sutton-in-Ashfield town centre  ...  view the full minutes text for item P.25

The Interim Director of Place and Communities submitted a report to advise the committee of an objection that had been received in response to the making of a Tree Preservation Order at 64 Plainspot Road, Underwood. It was noted that the consideration of this item had been deferred from the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 14 November, 2018 in order to allow members of the Planning Committee the opportunity to carry out a site visit.

At 8:50pm it was moved by Councillor Baron, seconded by Councillor Butler and RESOLVED that in accordance with Rule of Procedure No.23 (The Conclusion of Proceedings) that the meeting be extended to 9:30pm.

After consideration, Members of the committee were of the view that the trees did not contribute significantly to the visual amenity of Plainspot Road and the wider area.

It was moved by Councillor Baron, seconded by Councillor Anderson and RESOLVED that against officer recommendation, that the TPO at 64 Plainspot Road, Underwood should not be confirmed.

For the motion: Councillors Anderson, Baron, Butler, Griffiths, Hollis, Madden, K Morrison, H Smith and M Smith

Against the motion: None

Abstentions: Councillors Wilson and Zadrozny

The Interim Director – Place and Communities submitted a report which was presented by Assistant Director – Planning and Regulatory Services, to inform the Committee of the possible implications for Ashfield, as set out in the Government’s consultation “Planning Reform: supporting the high street and increasing the delivery of new homes”. The report also set out a proposed response from the Council to the consultation. The full proposed response was included as an appendix to the officer’s report.

It was RESOLVED that:

a)    the proposed response to the Government consultation “Planning Reform: supporting the high street and increasing the delivery of new homes” as set out at appendix one of the officer’s report be approved.

b)    authority be delegated to the Assistant Director Planning and Regulatory Services, in consultation with the Chairman of the Planning Committee, to make additions and amendments to the response.