Agenda item

To consider the report of the Assistant Director Environment.

The City Development Manager presented the application for the development of up to 23 dwellings, access and associated services.

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

The City Development Manager reported that eight further letters of objection had been received and that he had been handed a further letter of objections prior to the meeting. Of the nine letters, seven of the authors had previously written. He clarified condition 14 which would refer to an Environmental Management Plan and proposed the addition of conditions relating to noise insulation and land contamination.

Councillor Leadbetter, having given notice under Standing Order No. 44, spoke on the item. He read out the following statement provided by the Topsham Society:-

• the Society is not opposed to the provision of new housing, especially that which is at affordable prices for people brought up in and around Topsham, but believes approval of the current application is inappropriate and premature;
• the preservation of separation between Exeter and Topsham has been a part of the City Council’s Local Plan Policy and Spatial Strategy for many years and is still incorporated in the current Core Strategy;
• whilst the City Council have consulted on the possible allocation of this site in its draft DPD, this process is still in it’s early stages and is yet to be subject to examination at a Public Inquiry. To grant approval before this key part of the statutory process is complete, denies the public their right to consultation and proper consideration of their representations. The Society are advised that such action would be Ultra Vires and place the Council at threat of a Judicial Review. It would clearly be fundamentally wrong for the Council to place itself in this position and expose Council Tax payers to risk of considerable costs;
• there are now numerous proposals for the Gap being bought forward. This application if approved, would inevitably lead to the piecemeal erosion of this important policy. We believe that a Council acting in a considered manner would wish to assess these holistically. The Society will be undertaking a Housing Forum later this year and believes strongly that local people should have their say. Isn't this what “Localism” is supposed to be about? The Society is prepared to work with the City Council to collectively find a solution to the housing needs of Topsham that maintains the integrity of the town;
• the applicant’s promise of local affordable housing for the people of Topsham is misleading and cannot be delivered. It is a bribe to enhance it’s online consultation; and
• the City Council are not under immediate pressure to grant approval and it has significant and defendable justification not to. The Society would urge the City Council to, at the least, defer this application until after the DPD Public Inquiry and give the community the opportunity to influence what happens to it’s town as part of the wider city of Exeter.

Councillor Leadbetter also stated that the proposal will result in the loss of the “Topsham Gap”/Green wedge between Exeter and Topsham.

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

• the proposal will result in the loss of the Topsham Gap;
• considerable development pressure in the area including 800 new homes on the RNSD site, the Aldi proposal including 100 parking spaces, Wessex Close and 50 new homes next to Topsham Rugby Club;
• a petition, currently with 600 signatories, was being prepared in respect of protecting the Topsham Gap from development;
• greater traffic pressure on Exeter Road and Topsham Road - two fatal accidents in recent months;
• Topsham infrastructure will be adversely affected including its shops and surgery;
• should await outcome of Home Farm, Pinhoe Inquiry;
• all development should be put on hold until the Core Strategy is reviewed in 2026.

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

• provision of any new homes in Topsham had been virtually non-existent for years and this scarcity of homes has meant that normal working families can not afford to buy or rent in Topsham. Young working families whose family have lived in Topsham for generations are being driven out by the scarcity of available homes and high prices;
• response to public consultation from 46 local families supporting additional housing showing strong support in Topsham for this development;
• the development will provide eight affordable homes, representing 35% of the development;
• development will not harm or change the character of Topsham which is in-built into the heart of the town with old buildings and small streets;
• scheme will provide high quality Zero Carbon sustainable homes with extensive tree planting and green landscaping along the frontage with Exeter Road. It will be the second only zero carbon development in the area;
• it will provide eight affordable energy efficient homes and 15 urgently required open market family homes and is a sustainable development;
• the NPPF states that this application should be considered in the context of a presumption in favour of sustainable development; and
• site identified for housing by the City Council’s Development Management Policy statement. Accepted for housing in the 2013 SHLAA which states that it will not significantly harm the landscape setting of Topsham. As a result it had been included in the draft Development Delivery DPD;

A motion to defer the application was seconded, put to the vote and lost.

The application was for approval.

RESOLVED that the Assistant Director City Development be authorised to APPROVE planning permission for the development of up to 23 dwellings, access and associated services, subject to a Section 106 Agreement under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 requiring:-    

·         the provision of affordable housing to an acceptable standard;

·         the provision of open space with the long term management secured; and

·         improvements to the pedestrian route between the boundary of the site with Retreat Drive and existing inbound bus stop on Exeter Road including the provision of tactile paving at the crossing of Retreat Drive to be secured by Agreement.

and subject also to the following conditions:

15)   the developer shall prior to commencement of the development submit for approval in writing, a scheme for protecting the proposed development from noise. All works that form part of the approved scheme shall be completed before any of the permitted development is occupied

        The applicant should aim to achieve at least the standards for internal and   external noise levels specified in BS8233:2014 Sound Insulation and Noise Reduction for Buildings.

        Reason: to protect future residential amenity

16)   no development shall take place on site until a full investigation of the site has taken place to determine the extent of, and risk posed by, any contamination of the land and the results, together with any remedial works necessary, have been agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The building(s) shall not be occupied until the approved remedial works have been implemented and a remediation statement submitted to the Local Planning Authority detailing what contamination has been found and how it has been dealt with together with confirmation that no unacceptable risks remain.

       Reason: to protect future residential amenity