Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Lyn Milner, Cllr Ejaz Aslam and Cllr Samir Jassal.  Cllrs Jo Hart, Derek Ashenden and Helen Ashenden attended as their substitutes.

The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on Wednesday 12 June 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.

No declarations of interest were received.

Order of Agenda

The Chair advised he would deal with the planning applications in the following order:

·         20230102 - 145 Whitehill Road (Land at Tesco Express and Whitehill Open Space)

20240200 - The Peacock Public House, 78 Peacock Street, Gravesend

RESOLVED that the application be DELEGATED to the Head of Planning to grant PERMISSION subject to agreeing pre-commencement conditions, the finalisation of planning conditions and completion of S106 legal agreement

The Committee considered application 20230102 - 145 Whitehill Road (Land at Tesco Express and Whitehill Open Space).  The application was for the construction of a new apartment building for 14 units with a cafe (Use Class E) at ground floor level with improvements to the open space and additional parking provision to the side/rear of the existing Tesco store, to provide additional parking spaces for the Café, Tesco Store and the residential units.

The Career Grade Planner outlined key areas of the report:

·         Members were shown the block plan which included the enlarged car parking area for 30 car parking spaces, a net increase of 25 spaces.

·         The development had been redesigned to improve its overall appearance, reduce height, bulk and massing as well as safeguarding the amenity of neighbouring residents. The proposed building was three stories in height with various pitch roof elements to break up the building’s visual bulk.

·         It was noted that the east elevation of the building (facing Whitehill Road) was at a reduced height, this was achieved through negotiation with the applicant to lessen the prominence of the building and to fit in better with the surrounding two-story dwelling houses. 

·         Windows on the south elevation were oblique to mitigate overlooking onto properties above the parade.

·         The development would provide 14 new dwellings, offering a mix of unit sizes.  All units met minimum local and national residential layout guidelines. The development was not required to contribute to the delivery of affordable housing, as it fell below the thresholds as set out in policy.

·         No objections were received from KCC Highways or GBC Highways, subject to conditions set out in the supplementary report.

·         Whitehill open space would be improved to offset the loss of open space.  The proposals had the support of GBC’s parks and open space team.  Plans included a children’s play park, an outdoor gym, new seating and soft landscaping improvements.  The proposal would also increase biodiversity opportunities through planting of native species.

·         A SAMMS payment would be secured through a Section 106 legal agreement. Details of this could be seen in the supplementary report.

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

·         Members noted that the proposed play area was flanked by roads and queried whether fencing would be installed to surround the perimeter.  The Head of Planning confirmed that would be dealt with via the landscaping conditions.

·         The Committee raised concern regarding the south side of the site, where Whitehill Lane met with Valley Drive, which was a busy section of road.  The Head of Planning advised that this was not a consideration for the Planning Committee, as it was an existing highway issue, which would need to be dealt with by KCC Highways as a separate matter.  This area was also not within the red line boundary of the application.  KCC had not raised this as an issue as part of the application.

Members noted the traffic issue had been raised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

RESOLVED that Planning PERMISSION is granted subject to conditions as set out within the report.

The Committee were presented with application 20240200 - The Peacock Public House, 78 Peacock Street, Gravesend.  The application was for the Conversion of the first and second floor 4-bedroom flat into a 5-bedroom House of Multiple Occupants (HMO).

The Career Grade Planner outlined key areas of the report:

·         The entrance to the site was located to the right of the Peacock Public House with the proposed bin store to be located in the courtyard to the front.

·         Members were informed of the existing first floor plan and the proposed changes. The changes proposed would reduce the size of the existing lounge area to create a smaller living area, allowing for an additional bedroom to the first floor.  There were no proposed internal changes on the second floor and no changes proposed to the external elevations of the property.

·         There was no onsite parking provision for the existing 4-bedroom flat and no additional parking for the proposed 5 person HMO in this town centre location.  There would however be a cycle store included in the rear courtyard.  The HMO residents would be reliant on public transport, active travel and the existing on street parking arrangements.

The Committee heard to views of Cllr John Burden

The Committee were invited to make further comments:

·         Members noted it was a shame to lose another public house.  The Head of Planning confirmed there was no relationship between the closing of the pub and the HMO application.

·         The Chair noted the benefit of having the HMO to provide much needed accommodation in a bid to keep people from sleeping on the street.

The Chair invited comments from non-board Members:

·         Clarity was sought to confirm that the application was for the change of use and that the HMO license itself was dealt with separately, which was required for an HMO of 5 or more residents.  The Head of Planning confirmed there was a separate regime that dealt with the HMO licensing aspects which fell under the Housing department.  The Committee were only to decide if the flat should be converted into a 5 bedroom HMO.  Members felt that a number of objections to the proposal, set out in the report, would be addressed under the HMO license once applied for and were not material planning concerns. 

·         Members felt the HMO was a positive move to offer much needed accommodation in the town centre.

RESOLVED that Planning PERMISSION be granted, subject to conditions as set out within this report.

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

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