Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Alison Williams and Councillor Ejaz Aslam.  Councillor Deborah Croxton and Councillor Jordan Meade attended as their substitutes.

The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on Wednesday 7 March 2024 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.

There were no declarations of interest made.

RESOLVED That the Head of Planning in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair

is given delegated authority to issue the planning PERMISSION and

impose conditions and informatives, subject to:

·        The finalisation of the Shadow Habitats Regulations Assessment

            (in accordance with the requirements of Regulation 63

the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as

amended)) by the Borough Council in its role as the

competent authority and planning permission only be granted if

the outcome of that assessment concludes that there is no

adverse effect on the integrity of applicable European Sites (i.e.

Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas

(SPAs), proposed SACs, potential SPAs, Ramsar sites - wetlands

of international importance (both listed and proposed), and

areas secured as sites compensating for damage to a European

site).

·        National Grid removing their holding objection;

·        Completion of a legal agreement under s106 of the Town and

Country Planning Act 1990;

·        Referral of the application to the Secretary of State as a departure

from the adopted Development Plan.

That the Head of Planning is given delegated authority to make changes to the wording of the Committee’s decision (such as to delete, vary or add conditions, informatives, planning obligations or reasons for the decision) prior to the decision being actioned, provided that the Head of Planning is satisfied that any such changes could not reasonably be regarded as deviating from the overall principle of the decision reached by the Committee nor that such change(s) could reasonably have led to a different decision having been reached by the Committee.

However, in the event that the Shadow Habitats Regulation Assessment cannot be finalised or it concludes that the proposal will result in adverse effects on the integrity of any of the sites in question the application is to be reported back to Planning Committee for review and redetermination.

In the event that National Grid do not remove their holding objection, the application is to be reported back to Planning Committee for review and redetermination.

In the event that the Section 106 Legal Agreement remains unsigned six months after this resolution, the application is to be reviewed by the Head of Planning, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, and if no progress is being made, delegated authority is to be given to the Head of Planning to refuse the application in the absence of an agreed S106 Agreement.

The Committee considered application 20221064 - Northfleet Harbourside - Land Surrounding Ebbsfleet United Football Club, Stonebridge Road, Northfleet.  The application was an outline planning application with all matters reserved, except for the primary means of access and road layout, for a phased mixed-use redevelopment involving:

·         the demolition of existing buildings and structures including site preparation / remediation works

·         the development of residential units (Use Class C3)

·         Class E uses including floorspace for retail Class E(a)

·         food/beverage and drinking establishments (Use Class E(b))

·         local services (Use Class E(c))

·         indoor sport/recreation/fitness (use Class E(d))

·         healthcare space (Use Class E(e))

·         creche/nursery uses (Use Class E(f))

·         office floorspace (Use Class E(g)(i))

·         a new multi-use stadium with associated business and leisure facilities (sui generis)

·         hotel (Use Class C1)

·         community uses floorspace (Use Class F2)

·         The phased redevelopment will include other sui generis uses, delivery of open space and significant realignment of the road network including the A226 Galley Hill Road / Stonebridge Road / Lower Road with hard / soft landscaping, car and cycle parking provisions, infrastructure works, ancillary and associated works.

The Head of Planning introduced the application, reminding Members of Annex 3.9 of the Council’s Constitution (Protocol for the operation of the Planning Committee and Planning Procedure), highlighting that no new information shared with Members since the publication of the agenda reports should be considered by the Planning Committee.

The Senior Planner explained that the outline application was for the Committee to determine if the proposed outline proposal was deemed acceptable in principle.  The Committee were given a summary of the location of the site and a summary of the occupiers of the site.

The Committee were informed that Robins Wharf and associated land, utilised by aggregate companies was safeguarded under the Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2013-30 and Gravesham Local Plan Core Strategy 2014.  The loss of the Wharf was objected to by Kent County Council (KCC) and the Port of London Authority (PLA).

The Team Leader drew members attention to sections 6.335 to 6.457 of the report which outlined the transport matters for consideration relating to highways and access to the site.  It was highlighted that key changes were the realignment of the A226 from Galley Hill Road to Stonebridge Road along with the corresponding junctions.  Members were also informed of plans to incorporate a bus route from the site to link with Gravesend Town Centre, Ebbsfleet International Station and Darent Valley Hospital.

Members were advised that the relevant highway authorities had all been consulted and they had concluded that the development would have no adverse impact on the local strategic or national highway network (subject to conditions and S.106 contributions to mitigate highway impacts).

In relation to parking provision on site, the Committee were updated that the issue would be addressed through planning conditions and future reserved matter applications. At this stage, however, the applicant needed to demonstrate that sufficient parking provision could be provided within the site without having an adverse impact on the operation of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41a

A copy of the schedule has been placed in the democracy web library. A hard copy is also available upon request: -

Document library - Gravesham Borough Council