Agenda item

To consider the report of the City Development Manager.

The Principal Project Manager (Development) (MH) presented the application for the construction of 48 dwellings (use class C3), means of access, public open space and associated infrastructure.

The Project Manager reported that environmental health had no objections to the proposal and added that an additional condition would be required to provide charging points for electric vehicles.

Members were circulated with an update sheet - attached to minutes.

Councillor Holland, having given notice under Standing Order No. 44, spoke on the item. He raised the following points:-

·         speaking on behalf of the residents of St Loyes who do not object in principle to this development but note that the proposal is one of many developments in the locality adding significant further traffic to already congested roads;

• endorse use of brownfield site for development;
• developer seemed to be selective in the delivery of consultation letters;
• another development is to come forward for a care home and both applications should be considered simultaneously;
• Ringswell Avenue is a narrow, poorly surfaced cul-de-sac and experiences difficulties of access for emergency vehicles. Moreover, it suffers from traffic problems during school drop off and pick up periods and these will be exacerbated as the number of properties increases three-fold;
• traffic counts during school hours confirm the problems which leads to road parking violations, dangerous driving on the pavements by buses and cars, parking across drives and gridlock;
• proposal includes disruption to an existing wildlife corridor and loss of wildlife habitat which could instead be improved by developing a copse;
• junction with Honiton Road already congested, compounded at school drop-off/ pick-up times and Hill Barton Road can also be affected;
• alternative access should be identified; and
• impact of construction traffic associated with the development is a concern and enforcement of construction traffic necessary.

Mr Fulford spoke against the application. He raised the following points:-

• speakingon behalf of the Residents’ Association of Ringswell Avenue whose principal objection is not the development of 48 new houses, but the proposed vehicle access through Ringswell Avenue, a 16-foot wide cul de sac road on which there are 20 houses, and since 2007 is the only vehicle access to St Nicholas Primary School. An addition of 48 new houses triples the number of properties accessed by Ringswell Avenue;
• many new properties may have more than one vehicle and there is already severe daily congestion. In previous applications, it was determined that vehicle access would be through Bramley Avenue, not through Ringswell Avenue. The developer had only proposed the one access route via Ringswell Avenue and the County Council Highways consultation response only addressed the developer’s single access proposal without evaluating any alternative options;
• the Headmistress of the school had objected;
• emergency vehicles will not be able to enter Ringswell Avenue when congested; and
• serious flaws in the vehicle access for the site and alternative access arrangements should be investigated.

Mr Graves spoke in support of the application. He raised the following points:-

·         acting for Liverty, a Registered Provider of affordable homes operating across the South West providing a range of homes including for market sale and re-investing profits to build more affordable homes;

·         brownfield site will deliver 48 homes, 17 of which are affordable to help address the significant need in Exeter. A range of one to five bed homes are provided, including a wheelchair accessible home. One bed houses are provided instead of flats with the benefit of individual front doors and private gardens for residents;

·         have considered neighbours and the Council’s Design Guide as well as National Space standards;

·         the separation distances to existing neighbours are generally more than required by the Design Supplementary Planning Document and landscaping and ecology have been incorporated with high-quality public open space provided and existing trees retained where possible; and

·         design ethos reflects the high-quality architecture of existing homes on Ringswell Avenue. The new homes mirror this style, using quality materials and key design features.

He responded as follows to Members’ queries:-

·         the proposal includes 17 affordable dwellings which equates to 35% of the total number of dwellings to be provided on site, 12 (70%) for social rent and 5 for shared ownership. The mix of house types includes one wheelchair accessible bungalow; and

·         an access to the site had been negotiated for construction purposes but an alternative access off Ribston Avenue was not possible as the developer did not control the land and it was understood that there were at least two other parties.

Members noted that previous proposals for development involved accesses via Bramley Avenue/Ribston Avenue as Ringswell Avenue had not been considered appropriate. Notwithstanding the absence of an objection from the Highway Authority, because of the anticipated additional traffic on Ringswell Avenue, Members queried whether an alternative vehicular access via Ribston Avenue might alleviate the issues raised. They therefore felt that clarification of land ownership issues were required. Members also discussed the merits of facilitating a pedestrian/cycle link to Warwick Road in relation to the vegetation referred to by Councillor Holland.

The City Development Manager advised Members of the position in respect of land ownership and the requirement to determine the proposal before them as submitted   and the Assistant Highways Development Management Officer (Exeter) advised that pockets of congestion were common in the vicinity of most of Exeter’s schools.

The recommendation was for approval, subject to the conditions as set out in the report and amended in the update sheet, plus the additional condition relating to electric car charging provision.

RESOLVED that the planning application for the construction of 48 dwellings (use class C3), means of access, public open space and associated infrastructure be DEFERRED, for further discussions with the applicant on access and land ownership issues.