Agenda item

2018/0657/FUL - Honeypot Field, Hillam Common Lane, Hillam

Minutes:

Application: 2018/0657/FUL

Location: Honeypot Field, Hillam Common Lane, Hillam                               

Proposal: Proposed erection of an agricultural storage barn

 

The Principal Planning Officer presented the application and accompanying report which had been brought before Committee as 11 letters of representation had been received which raised material planning considerations, and Officers would otherwise have determined the application contrary to these representations.

 

The Committee noted that the application was for the proposed erection of an agricultural storage barn.

 

An Officer Update Note had been circulated which set out additional representations that had been received since the publication of the report.

 

Members asked questions relating to a number of matters, including potential conditioned protection of the hedgerow near the proposed site for the building, and whether checks had been undertaken to ensure that the use of the site was agricultural. Officers explained that ongoing activities on the site were being considered by Planning Enforcement, but that in terms of the current application, the site’s use had been taken at face value by Officers.

 

The Committee also asked about screening of the site by trees and vegetation, which could be minimal in the winter months. Officers agreed that screening in the winter would be lessened, but that by virtue of the size of the proposed barn, it would have been difficult to screen it in most circumstances.

 

In response to some other Member questions, Officers confirmed that the site was relatively small and that the proposed barn would be open on one side, which would allow air circulation to the hay and straw storage facility and allow any water to drain through during potential future flood events.

 

The Committee debated the application, with some Members expressing the view that the site was adequately screened and that the visual impact was minimal, particularly as there were other large agricultural buildings nearby.

 

However, some Members felt that a site visit should be undertaken and was in the public interest for various reasons, such as the number of letters of objection received, the site’s size, visibility and location within the Green Belt, identification of the activities taking place on the site and to provide Members with the opportunity to see it first-hand.

 

The Committee also emphasised the need for a wider assessment and verification of the activities on the site, as detailed by the applicant.

 

Some Members of the Committee did not agree that a site visit was needed and felt that the proposal sat within the landscape appropriately. It was suggested that potential impacts on the green belt could be mitigated, and that the Officer report was detailed enough for a decision to be taken on the matter at the meeting.

 

It was proposed and seconded on the Officer recommendation as set out in the report that the application be granted; a vote was taken on the proposal and was lost.

 

It was proposed and seconded that determination of the application be deferred in order for a site visit to be undertaken; a vote was taken on the proposal and was carried.

 

RESOLVED:

To DEFER determination of the application in order for a site visit to be undertaken by the Committee.

 

 

Supporting documents: