Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bob Lane and Emma Morley.  Councillors Frank Wardle and Lyn Milner attended as their substitutes.

The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on Wednesday 23 November 2022 were signed by the Chair.

To declare any interest members may have in the items contained on this agenda.   When declaring an interest a member must state what their interest is.  Any declared interest will fall into one of the following categories:

A Disclosable Pecuniary Interest which has been or should have been declared to the Monitoring Officer, and in respect of which the member must leave the chamber for the whole of the item in question;

An Other Significant Interest under the Code of Conduct and in respect of which the member must leave the chamber for the whole of the item in question unless exercising the right of public speaking extended to the general public;

A voluntary announcement of another interest not falling into the above categories, made for reasons of transparency.

No declarations of interest were made.

Resolved that application 20220965 be REFUSED as per grounds set out in the report

The Committee considered application 20220965 - Land Between 29 and 31 The Street.  The application was for the demolition of the existing garage and erection of a detached 3-bed dwelling with associated parking, amenity space and landscaping.  The current site comprised of a detached garage, located to the front and was bounded by brick walls and fencing. To the rear of the garage the site was significantly overgrown. The plot of land was located within the Shorne Conservation Area.

The Planning Officer highlighted that there had been previous applications for this site with the most recent application being refused on appeal.  The previous application had been refused due to the proposed design offering a cramped form of development that would have been out of keeping with the character of the area and would have been harmful to the outlook of neighbouring properties.  The Planning Officer advised that prior to the submission of the current application, the applicant had not engaged with the Planning department at Gravesham and no pre-planning application was submitted.

The Planning Officer informed Members that the proposed development would result in the delivery of 1 additional new home in Gravesham, so would offer a minimal contribution towards meeting the Borough’s local housing need.

The Planning Officer advised the Committee that there was no broad objection to the principle of a residential development on this site. However, as laid out in the report, there were concerns with this proposal which related to the scale and massing of the proposed development, due to the narrow width of the plot. The proposal would result in a cramped form of development which would have an adverse impact upon the character and appearance of the Shorne Conservation Area.

The loss of outlook that would be experienced from the property at No. 31 The Street provided a further indicator that the proposed new dwelling would result in a cramped form of development. In addition, and for the reasons set out in this report, it was considered that there would be an adverse impact to the Thames Estuary and Marshes Ramsar Buffer Zone. The absence of strategic mitigation measures in relation to this issue gave further reason for refusal in relation to this application. Overall, it was considered that this current proposal had not overcome the previous reasons for refusal and was therefore recommended for refusal.

The Committee were invited to ask questions for clarification. 

The Chair queried why there had been no engagement from the applicant with no pre-application submitted prior to the planning application.  The Planning Officer advised that the Planning office always encouraged a pre-planning application, especially in cases where a previous application had been refused.  The Officer was unable to say why the applicant had chosen not to engage in this way.

The Committee heard the views of the registered speakers against the application and had their questions answered:

·       Concern had been raised by the public speakers regarding highway safety issues the proposed development could cause.  Members queried why the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44a

Resolved that application 20220831 be APPROVED subject to planning conditions and informatives set out in the report.

The Committee considered application 20220831 - 17 Darnley Road Gravesend Kent DA11 0RZ.  The application was for the subdivision of the existing dwellinghouse to create three self-contained units with associated amenity space.  The conversion would provide 1no. two bedroom 3 person unit, 1no. bedsit and 1no. one bedroom two person unit.

The application site is located on the edge of Gravesham town centre, within the urban boundary of Gravesend and within the Darnley Road Conservation area.  It was noted that the adjoining property to the north, No. 15 had already been converted into 3no. flats and the one to the south was in use as a funeral directors. 

The Planning Officer informed the Committee that the proposed development would cause minimal alterations to the structure of the property and the proposed plans for flats 1 and 3 met the Nationally Described Space Standards.  There was no national standard for bedsits, however the bedsit (Flat 2) met the Gravesham Residential Layout requirement for minimum floorspace of 30sqm.  All bedrooms within the building exceeded the minimum space standards.

The Planning Officer highlighted that the proposed development of this site would result in the delivery of an additional 2 dwellings within Gravesham and would therefore offer a minimal contribution towards meeting the Borough’s local housing need.

The Committee were advised that the principle of developing the property was deemed acceptable, the proposed units would exceed the Nationally Described Space Standards both in terms of gross internal floor area and room sizes, plus would be of no detrimental impact on neighbour amenity.  It was also considered that the proposal would accord with local and national planning policy and was therefore recommended for approval.

The Committee were invited to ask questions for clarification and raised the following:

·       Members queried whether the large windows at the front of the property were to be retained, as they were in keeping with the character of the street.  The Planning Officer stated that there were no proposed changes to the frontage of the property or alternations to the front windows.

·       Referring to an image within the report, showing the frontage of the site, Members queried if there was a dropped kerb at the boundary of the property.  The Planning Officer assured the Committee that there was not a dropped kerb outside this building and if this was wanted in the future, an additional planning application would be required.

The Chair advised the Committee that he called in this application, as GBC Policy stated that there needed to be a balance and consideration given to the development of single family units into multiple dwellings.  Due to the borough’s housing need, where appropriate, development into flats offered more dwellings towards the local need.

The Committee heard the views of a registered speaker in favour of the application and had their questions answered:

·       Concern was raised regarding fire safety and escapes.  The speaker responded by stating that the flats would be built to building standards and fire regulations and all flats  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44b

A copy of the schedule has been placed in the democracy web library and also in the Reception, Civic Centre: -

Document library - Gravesham Borough Council

A schedule showing applications determined by the Director (Environment) under delegated powers had been published on the Council’s website.