THE LEIGH PARISH COUNCIL
: leighpc@hotmail.co.uk : theleighpc.org.uk
MINUTES OF THE ADDITIONAL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 14th August 2024 AT 7.30PM AT THE LEIGH PARISH CHURCH
Present: Cllr. J. Arkell (Chair), Cllr A. Bowness, Cllr K. Morton and Cllr R. Theyer.
Attendance: K. Tilling (Parish Clerk), Lauren Woods GRCC and 17 members of the public.
1. Apologies:
Apologies were received from Cllr Glazebrook, Cllr H Mclain and County Cllr P. Mclain.
2. Declarations of interest:
Pursuant to the adoption by the Parish Council on 25th July 2023 of Leigh Parish Council’s revised Code of Conduct, effective from 25th July 2023 and set out in the minutes of 25th July 2023, Parish Councillors are invited to declare any interest they may have in the business set out on the agenda to which the approved Code applies. The following declarations were made Cllr Morton declared an interest in the planning application 24/00545/FUL and Cllr Arkell declared an interest in planning application 24/00267/FUL. Both Councillors were granted dispensations to remain in the room when the respective applications were discussed. Both dispensations have been granted for a twelve-month period starting from this meeting and will be made available if either of these applications comes back before a future Parish Council meeting.
3. Digital and Technology Support from GRCC.
Lauren Woods is a Digital and Technology Navigator from GRCC and her role is to provide support with digital and technology to the Parish Council and the residents of the parish. Lauren’s position is a joint project commissioned by TBC and the NHS and is new. TBC are interested in connectivity and this project falls under the ‘Daisi’ umbrella. Lauren can issue sims cards to those that are not able to afford a mobile phone, like the food bank idea. Data collection is important. Local digital support is also offered by providing Internet access and laptop use, employment support for online job applications, downloading and using the NHS App either weekly at Priors Park Neighbourhood Project or biweekly at The Old School Highnam, Community Centre. Priors on a Wednesday and Highnam on a Friday. Lauren is also able to offer one to one support and has offered to help the church look at putting in an affordable internet connection as current quotes have proved to be too expensive. Contact details are 07467 923154 or via email laurenw@grcc.org.uk
4. To discuss planning applications and consider responses for the following:
24/00267/FUL: Staplins Farm, Tewkesbury Road, Coombe Hill. This application seeks to construct an earth flood defence bank about 150m long. The bank will be built around the farmhouse and farm buildings known as Staplins Farm. Parish Councillors did not consider the bank to be too high and due to its location would not be seen from the main road. The most recent and prolonged flood of 2023/2024 saw the flood water reach the farmhouse backdoor. Professional calculations have shown that the volume of water displaced from the bank is negligible and will be displaced across the whole flood plain. The Parish Council took note of the concerns raised by the LLFA officer. The Parish Council are naturally concerned about flooding across the whole parish, where it goes, who can be protected and how to mitigate where possible. However, this is a technical subject, and it was thought best to leave it to the experts to provide the professional and practical knowledge on this subject.
24/00388/APP: Land at Church Lane, The Leigh. This application was first discussed at a Parish Council meeting on 12th June 2024. A few issues were raised at that meeting including drainage and allotment access. The information about drainage was not available at that meeting and was not made public until sometime after 26th June, as noted in the Parish Council consultee response.
Details about the drainage are now showing on the portal.
Drainage. As recorded in the minutes of the June meeting, drainage and the dealing of grey water has become very important to the existing residents of the Leigh as there are no public sewers within the parish. The village has witnessed the poor operation of recently installed SuDs systems and prolonged flooding in the area over the winter months. The location to existing properties and the topography of the land also play a key part. Residents need to be assured that the written information provided is sufficient and ensures that there is no further harm to existing properties within the vicinity.
The Parish Council are currently looking at the General Binding rules for small sewage discharges to the ground and to surface water. The drainage plans show that the final discharge of the grey water runs into a ditch. This ditch is enclosed and holds standing water, not running water. The Parish Council have noted the comments by the drainage engineering and reiterate that the drainage “results indicate that the subsoil encountered is of low-nil permeability and is not suitable for soakaway drainage. It is therefore, recommended that the storm water from the new buildings discharges to the local drainage network”. The Parish Council questions the suitability of this enclosed ditch especially as the applicant does not own the ditch. Ownership of this ditch must be established before any agreement is granted and more importantly, that drainage is achievable in this area for twelve months of the year as current local knowledge suggest that this is not possible. Permits will be required to discharge the wastewater. Residents at the meeting suggested that as these are big houses with many shower rooms/bathrooms plus the other fixtures that come with large expensive houses, they will naturally create large volumes of wastewater. Residents at the meeting expressed great concerns over this extra water run-off especially when the land around is flooded, what happens then? When a drainage field becomes saturated the treatment plants are no longer able to treat the wastewater, but they continue to discharge their wastewater which more often becomes raw sewage that runs into nearby ditches and lower lying areas.
Access to the Allotments. Since the meeting in June the Parish Council have sought advice from the legal advisor at the National Allotment Society. The Parish Council seek clarification of the owner of the piece of land directly in front of the access gate to the allotment plots. In four of the drawings submitted by the applicant it shows a red boundary line closest to the access of plot one and nearest to the road. The Parish Council are confused. A recent email to a TBC planner confirmed that “a red line on a planning application indicates what land is owned by the applicant” Clearly this is not the case as the applicant admitted he does not own this section of land that gives access to the allotments and the field behind. The NAS legal adviser explained that “if the landowner has sold the land for building, the new landowner/developer will have to factor in the plot holders’ access to the allotment plots. This should really be covered by the local planning authority when the planning permission is being handled”. The Parish Council will submit an extract of a drawing of the land in question to avoid further doubt. The Applicant did not give a straightforward answer when asked why this piece of land as being included.
Scale and Mass. Outline planning permission for two dwellings was granted in March 2023. Permission was given for two 4 bed dwellings including access with all other matters reserved. One dwelling was 116.7m2 and the other 122.7m2. Each dwelling being 1.5 storeys. Initial proposals for this current application were for two 4 bed dwellings still with 1.5 storeys in height with a gross footprint area of 144.5m2. The June meeting reported that there were no major objections to the scale and layout of the dwellings. Rumours since the June meeting have suggested that the dwellings are to be two storeys. This was backed up by an email from the TBC planning officer confirming that the applicant had submitted amended plans. Sadly, as these were sent at 15.46 on the day of the meeting and were not available for public viewing on the planning portal the Parish Council were not able to bring these into the discussion. The architect was at pains to explain that TBC do not recognise 1.5 storey houses yet there are 3 down the road, 1.5 storeys houses were approved for the outline planning and were included in the original submissions by the applicant. The Parish Council are concerned about the overall height of dwellings not the number of storeys and will include photos of the three 1.5 storey houses just down the road from this site. Two of these houses were built in the last five years and importantly have low ridge heights, because the first floors are partially in roof space (1.5 storeys). As a result, their scale and visual impact is more sympathetic with their surroundings.
24/00545/FUL: Brawn Farm, The Leigh, Gloucester. This application is for the demolition of the existing house and ancillary barns and sheds to be replaced by three large houses. Plot one has been labelled as a self-build. The application includes access and parking. Residents at the meeting expressed concerns that this is a major development within the small village and a number commented on the numerous assumptions and inaccuracies contained within the various documents submitted to support his application. Once a few wrong facts were noted, people started checking the documents in more detail. Prior to the meeting, the Parish Council contacted the TBC planner asking for clarification on the red line showing the area to be developed together with a request to see that there are responses from GCC Highways and the Conservation Officer. TBC confirmed that the red line on the proposed plan depicted the proposed site area for the proposed dwellings and the blue line showed all other land owned by the applicant. Questions have been raised about the red line not being the actual curtilage of the house and that some of this land within the red line is agricultural.
Design, Size and Scale. The size and scale of the dwellings are not in keeping with the surrounding properties. Building three houses on a plot that only contained one was considered as over development in this rural context. Plot 1 has ancillary accommodation. If this is built, then this must always be ancillary to the main house under condition. It must not be allowed to be sectioned off in the future and create a separate dwelling. It has been suggested that there will be a loss of privacy due to the height and scale of these dwellings plus there is a Grade Two listed building down the road.
Access and Sustainability. Currently no response from Highways and the Parish Council expect to see one as these houses are not in a sustainable location. The new access to Plot 1 is on a busy/blind section of the lane. Plots 2 and 3 suggest they are using an existing point of access. The Parish Council are assuming that this is the current access to the house as any other recent attempts to insert access points into the area are speculative and will require permission from GCC Highways. The references to walking to the closest bus stops are over exaggerated. The lanes are narrow with no footpaths, and unlit making them very unattractive in the winter months. Flooding means that residents in Blacksmith Lane have only one access out of the village, a distance too far to walk if wanting to catch a bus. It is understood that the road was closed during the road survey so that any travel figures recorded were not a true picture and therefore this information also carries little weight.
Flooding and drainage. The Drainage Strategy Statement dated May 2024 written by Zesta Planning reports that the area “benefits from mains sewerage system that runs along the site frontage onto Blacksmith Lane”. This statement is reiterated in several places throughout this and other documents. A quick check with Severn Trent will confirm that there is no mains sewer provision within the Village, with each house having their own system to deal with wastewater. This drain is a storm water drain but even that is broken and is under investigation by GCC Highways There are flooding issues within this part of the village and plenty of photographs to provide the necessary evidence. Either houses are flooded or the lanes leading to them are. Poor drainage from existing foul water sources is adding to the problem. Questions were raised about the accuracy of flood zones referred to in the documents. The proposed land where the current house is does not flood but the access lane does. In the winter of 2023/2024 this lane was closed for 20 weeks due to flooding. Water run-off from this site will be into flood zone two.
Biodiversity. The number of trees proposed to be removed is a totally unacceptable amount and the validity of the bat count is also called into question. Any new trees that will be planted will take several decades to reach the size of those being removed. The TBC have declared a climate emergency and this planning application does nothing to support any climate initiatives. The Parish Council adopted a Biodiversity policy late last year and this application dos little to support it.
The building of these houses does not comply with the Leigh Neighbourhood Project under several of the policies. The applicant states that the LNDP does not contain allocations for houses. This is incorrect, as the LNDP is very clear in showing that the housing allocation for the Parish is centred at Coombe Hill under policy RES1. LNDP policy E3 looks at protecting and preserving the Historic Environment within the parish. There is no justification in pulling the existing house down as until recently it was in reasonably good order. It is naturally cheaper to build a new house than renovate an old one but planning policy does not consider monetary gain. The Croft is a similar dwelling that has been sympathetically restored and enlarged and near this site. It highlights what can be achieved. This proposed development site is in the heart of the village and the canopy of trees is part of this aspect.
Tilted Balance. Two extra houses will not make much difference to the housing need, nor are they the right size. On 17th Oct 2023 the housing land supply was 3.23 years however this figure is now grossly out of date and needs revising. A tilted balance does not guarantee planning permission, nor does a tilted balance replace the legal responsibility of TBC to take account of the Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plan. The tilted balance, being part of the NPPF, is an important consideration, but TBC need to be reminded that it is required to consider all material considerations and as such, can, with appropriate reasoning, refuse an application notwithstanding the tilted balance being engaged. Planning agents are beginning to rely heavily on the tilted balance argument to force applications through. A recent planning application was refused on the grounds that it conflicted with the Council’s settlement strategy and did not meet any of the Council’s exceptions to the presumption against new housing development in rural areas.
The Borough Councillor has called this application into Committee, but no one is sure why and the Councillor was not at the meeting to explain their action. Several policies need to be considered against this application – RES3, RES5, RES6, RES7, RES9, RES11 and RES13 plus the LNDP Policies H1, F1, E1, E2 and E3. The application quotes several other planning applications where planning permission has been granted but fail to acknowledge applications from within the Parish that have been refused or withdrawn because planning permission was likely to be refused. One such property is directly opposite this site – Leigh Farm 22/00635/FUL and 22/00649/FUL. Quoting applications that are outside the parish or worse, outside the County carry no weight when considering this application. The applicant has used RES13, to introduce the idea of a self-build dwelling. RES 13 is about housing mix. “In accordance with Policy SD11 of the JCS for new housing developments, including affordable housing, will be expected to provide for an appropriate mix of dwelling sizes, types and tenures to meet the needs to of the local area,” It also allows for up to 5% of Self-Build and custom build housing where there is evidence of appropriate demand. There is further legislation covered by the Self-Build and Custom Housing Act 2015 and a register that requires a local connection test. The first criteria is that the applicant must have lived in the area for six months or more continuously or have a close family member connection (parents,siblings,children). The applicant has never worked or lived at this site and therefore does not meet the connection test. There is also no guarantee that the applicant will live in Plot 1, so this statement also carries little weight.
Residents at the meeting have already started to submit their own comments on this planning application. The Parish Council will contact the Conservation/Heritage Officer to find out what their view is on the existing property. The earliest that this will go to Committee is September could well be delayed in statutory consultees request more information from the applicant.
5. To approve the Financial Statement
The RFO shared the latest financial information. Most of the money is sitting in a savings account where it is earning a modest interest. There is sufficient in the current account to cover all known expenditure. Although the savings balance is high, this is CIL money and as such is ringfenced for spending. The CIL has also got projects allocated to it so this money will reduce over time.
6. Update on Highways Issues
Parish Council were not aware of proposed works at the top of Church Lane until the email arrived. Parish Council are trying to push the drainage issues.
7. Environmental Health Issues
Some recent research on the Government website has revealed some useful and interesting documents relating to septic tanks, treatment plant releases, permits and reporting breeches.
general binding rules – Search – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Parish Council have reported an issue and have a log number – RP/174274. This has been sent on to the Environment Agency (EH logged number is 2295580). In the meantime, parishioners are encouraged to send any reports of foul or excessive washing product smells to the parish clerk who will keep a spreadsheet of data.
8. To consider and approve any new CIL spending
Nothing new to add. The carparking area by the church is going to be done in a week or so.
9. Training.
CPRE are running online training courses on an in-depth look at local plans and appeals. Tuesday 1st and 8th October 1030 to 12pm. £80.00. Councillor Morton requested to do these.
GAPTC are running a Planning in Plain English course on 10th September 6-8pm £45.00. Councillor Bowness agreed to attend the online course.
GAPTC New Councillor Toolkit introduction course is being run online on 18th September. Councillor Bowness agreed to attend the course.
Parish and Town Council seminar is being organised by TBC. Parish Clerk and Councillor Morton will attend the event on Thursday 12th September 6-8pm at the Churchdown Community Association.
10. To discuss a change to a Gov.uk domain name and apply for funding to do so.
Netwise, the company that run the Parish Council website have sent through details on how to move to a gov.uk domain name. Funding is available to help with this transition and means that the Parish Council can have a gov.uk website address and help towards the cost pf creating email addresses.Net wise will handle the migration and help with the funding application, they will redirect current emails etc as necessary. Parish Clerk will contact Net wise and ask for more information and start the migration process. Councillors agreed unanimously for this change to happen
11. Any other business.
Draft minutes are now available on the website and will be approved at the next meeting.
Meeting closed 21.30