Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting of the Planning and Development Committee held on 4 December 2020 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

Schedule (page 13)

Item 1 - Former Natures World (pages 15 to 33)

Item 2 - Land at Corner of Stockton Street/Commercial Street (pages 35 to 52)

Item 3 - 24 Church Lane (pages 53 to 65)

Item 4 - 2 Newport Crescent (pages 67 to 77)

The Head of Planning submitted plans deposited as applications to develop land under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

20/0566/FUL Erection of school building (Class F1) with associated outdoor-sports areas, parking and landscaping at Land at Former Natures World, Sandy Flatts Lane, Middlesbrough, TS5 7YN for Interserve Construction Ltd

The Head of Planning advised that planning permission was sought for the erection of a Special Educational Needs (SEN) school on a site to the north of Sandy Flatts Lane, at the southern end of the former Nature’s World site.

The application was for the erection of a single storey school building and the proposed scheme included the school building along with the associated facilities and amenities, including car parking area, multi-use games area, landscaping and boundary treatments.

Access to the SEN school would be taken off Sandy Flatts Lane.

Following the consultation period, 25 representations had been received, including 22 letters of objection, 1 letter of support and 2 other representations.

The two issues that required consideration by the committee included:

·         The development site being within a designated Green Wedge; and

·         The transport implications.

The application site was allocated on the adopted Local Plan Proposals Map as part of the Green Wedge.  As well as the Green Wedge, the western side of the site was identified as Secondary Open Space, and the eastern side of the site was identified as Primary Open Space.  The general principles of those allocations was to protect the open and green character and appearance and to resist most developments.

The Head of Planning commented that the benefits of the proposed SEN school to the local community were considered to outweigh the loss of part of the Green Wedge.  It was also concluded that the application site occupied a relatively small area of the larger Green Wedge allocation and that the green character and open appearance of the Green Wedge was not significantly harmed. It was considered that if tree planting and landscaping were to be incorporated, along the south western boundary of the site, that would reduce the visual impact of the development on the Green Wedge.

In terms of transport implications, it was explained that due to the nature of the school, the applicant had advised that most pupils would arrive in either arranged taxis or minibuses.  The number of pupils that would arrive in private car was negligible and, as such, it was not envisaged that there would be the type of parking issues that could be seen at other schools. It was advised that there would be only 84 pupils on the school roll.

With regards to the proposal, it had been identified that there would be a material impact at the junction of Sandy Flatts Lane/Ladgate Lane.  Further investigation had identified that the issue at the junction was due to the operation of the adjacent Blue Bell roundabout and the interaction of queues between those junctions. Therefore, officers had negotiated and secured a contribution of £22,500 from the school.  If  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20/29

The Head of Planning submitted details of planning applications which had been approved to date in accordance with the delegated authority granted to him at Minute 187 (29 September 1992).

NOTED

A Member requested that a report be submitted to the next meeting of the committee, outlining the progress made with reviewing the Local Plan.

NOTED