Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Swati Mukherjee.

(i)    To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary and other interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

(ii)   In accordance with the Officer Procedure Rules, any Officer who is a Council- appointed Director of a Thameswey Group company will declare an interest in any item involving that Thameswey Group company. The interest will not prevent the Officer from advising the Committee on that item.

No declarations of interest were received.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 19 March 2024 as published.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 19 March 2024 be approved and signed as a true and correct record.

To consider any business that the Chairman rules may be dealt with under Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

The Committee received a report on the planning appeals lodged and the appeal decisions.

Resolved

That the report be noted.

The Committee determined the following applications subject to the conditions, informatives, reasons for refusal or authorisation of enforcement action which appear in the published report to the Committee or as detailed in these minutes.

[NOTE 1: The Planning Officer reported an Addendum to the report as detailed below;

Additional information (at this time the requested Construction Environment Management Plan) has been submitted prior to a decision and is with the relevant consultee.

Therefore, it is requested that: Delegated Authority be given to the Head of Planning or Authorised Officer to amend relevant conditions as necessary; namely rewording from “Prior to commencement” to “In accordance with …” where necessary if the recommendation below is accepted.

Therefore: It is recommended that the application be referred to the Secretary of State with the recommendation that the Local Planning Authority be minded to: Grant Planning Permission subject to the relevant conditions as detailed in the report.]

[NOTE 2: In accordance with the procedure for public speaking at Planning Committee, Ms Sophia Goodhead spoke in support of the application.]

The Committee considered an application for replacement and additional car parking spaces, cycle parking, associated internal access road, earthworks and re-contouring of the open parkland, hard and soft landscape works, re-surfacing of existing access road, along with new and replacement CCTV columns, access control totems, signage, low level security fencing and security barrier systems.

RESOLVED

That the application would be referred to the Secretary of State with the recommendation that the Local Planning Authority were minded to GRANT Planning Permission subject to conditions.

[NOTE: In accordance with the procedure for public speaking at Planning Committee, Ms Tina Clapham spoke in objection to the application. There was no registered speaker in support.]

The Committee considered a section 73 application to vary Condition 2 (approved plans), Condition 7 (removal of 'permitted development' rights for gates and enclosures) and Condition 8 (landscaping) of planning permission PLAN/2019/0403 (Proposed construction of 2no. detached two storey dwellings (each with 5no. bedrooms) with accommodation within the roof space with dormer windows following demolition of existing property, retention of existing access and associated hard surfacing) to allow for a new vehicular access and separate drive to Plot 1 and to allow the provision of gates for both vehicular accesses.

Some Members queried whether enforcement action would be necessary if this application was refused. The Planning Officer confirmed that the applicant would be expected to revert back to the previous approved scheme and if not, enforcement action would be taken.

Discussion ensued around the two trees that had been removed by the applicant and whether they were given permission to do so. The Planning Officer explained that legislation allowed for dangerous tress to be removed subject to prior notification to the Local Authority; in this situation the Aboricultural Officer had visited the trees and confirmed that they were dead and could be removed.

Some Members considered the four trees that would replace the two lost trees, would be sufficient to mitigate the affect this application would have on the character of the area. The Planning Officer commented that the impact on the existing trees would be fundamental and that the recommendation for refusal was based on the affect it would have on the character of the area. In response to a follow on comment, the Planning Officer stated that the fact all other dwellings had an individual access, a joint access to these properties would not be considered out of character.

It was question whether a condition could be added that confirmed the newly planted hedge must be allowed to grow to a certain height. The Planning Officer commented that the issue was not just the height of the hedge, but the density also. The view of the Planning Officer was that allowing this application would negatively affect the character of the area.

A fellow Councillor read out the statement of Councillor L Rice, who had called this application in to the Planning Committee for consideration but was unable to attend the meeting. In the statement Councillor L Rice said that he thought the issues regarding the trees had been largely addressed and that he thought the replacement trees would mitigate the loss of amenity from the felled trees.

The Planning Officer commented that just because a number of changes had been made to the site already, that did not mean that the application should be approved, as it did go against the original application. The proposed changes would make the site substantially different.

Some Councillors commented that the width  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6b

[NOTE: The Planning Officer reported an update on the recommendation as the SAMM tariff had been updated since the report was written, as detailed below;

That authority be delegated to the Head of Planning (or their authorised deputy) to GRANTplanning permission subject to:

(i)      Prior submission of Great Crested Newt presence/likely absence survey work confirming an absence of Great Crested Newts from the site, or any Great Crested Newt compensation or mitigation measures (if required) being secured via planning condition(s) (and subject to no objections being raised by Surrey Wildlife Trust Ecology Planning Advice Service);

(ii)     Planning conditions set out in the report (plus any additional condition(s) which may be required for Great Crested Newt compensation or mitigation measures); and

(iii)   Prior completion of an Undertaking of the Chief Executive of Woking Borough Council to secure the SAMM (TBH SPA) contribution of £12,246.]

The Committee considered an application for Erection of 9no. part-two, part-three storey dwellings with 2no. detached car port buildings, parking courts, cycle stores and new vehicular accesses.

Following a question about the design of the flat roofs and whether they were in conflict with the street scene, the Planning Officer explained that the design of these had been assessed and the conclusion was that the design would lesson the visual impact of bulk and mass on the street scene. For this reason, the Planning Officer had considered the design acceptable.

The Hoe Valley Neighbourhood Forum had made representation that they were worried about the impact on the Great Crested Newts and their potential to migrate to the site. It was noted that the conditions relating to the newts had not yet been added, but if they were found on site these conditions would be added to ensure that mitigation measures were in place.

Many Members thought that the street scene was currently a mess and would be much improved by this application.

RESOLVED

That authority be delegated to the Head of Planning (or their authorised deputy) to GRANT planning permission subject to:

(i)      Prior submission of Great Crested Newt presence/likely absence survey work confirming an absence of Great Crested Newts from the site, or any Great Crested Newt compensation or mitigation measures (if required) being secured via planning condition(s) (and subject to no objections being raised by Surrey Wildlife Trust Ecology Planning Advice Service);

(ii)     Planning conditions set out in the report (plus any additional condition(s) which may be required for Great Crested Newt compensation or mitigation measures); and

(iii)   Prior completion of an Undertaking of the Chief Executive of Woking Borough Council to secure the SAMM (TBH SPA) contribution of £12,246.

Councillor L Morales would become the Mayor of Woking in 2024-25, so would no longer sit on the Committee. On behalf of the Planning Committee, Councillor S Dorsett thanked Councillor L Morales for her chairmanship over the last three years.