Agenda item

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report for an outline application for seven Self-Build Houses with all matters reserved.

The Principal Planning Officer presented a report for an outline application for seven self-build houses with all matters reserved. This application had been considered by Area Planning Sub-Committee West at its meeting held on 15 November 2017, where it was decided to refer the application to this Committee for a decision.

The Principal Planning Officer stated that the site comprised an irregularly shaped area of land approximately 1 hectare in area, which was to the south of the former Chimes Garden Centre, and dropped down to the River Lea. Roughly half of the land was a former landfill site that had been backfilled and covered in topsoil; the whole of the site was open and free from development although some clearance and land raising had taken place. The site was located within the Metropolitan Green Belt, Lea Valley Regional Park, and wholly within an Environment Agency Flood Zone 2 and 3a.

The Principal Planning Officer informed the Committee that a flood risk assessment had been provided which had been accepted, subject to conditions, by the Environment Agency and the Council’s Land Drainage Team. This had indicated that suitable attenuation and mitigation measures could be implemented to prevent the flooding of the houses themselves and any risk of increased flooding elsewhere, but these factors did not outweigh the failure of scheme to pass the Sequential Test and Exceptions Test, and was therefore contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework, the adopted policies of the Local Plan, and the prospective policies of the draft Local Plan.

The Principal Planning Officer reported Planning Officers had concluded that the site did not constitute previously developed land and the proposal constituted inappropriate development that was harmful to the openness of the Green Belt. In addition, the site was located within an Environment Agency Flood Zone 2 and 3a with the proposed housing being within the Flood Zone 3a, which was the highest flood risk, and the development had not passed a Sequential Test or the Exceptions Test as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. The site was also located within the Lea Valley Regional Park and the proposed development would be harmful to the character and amenity of the Regional Park.

It was accepted that the Council could not currently demonstrate a five-year land supply of housing sites, however the National Planning Policy Framework contained clear policies regarding development in the Green Belt and in areas at high risk of flooding. It was also recognised that the site was in a relatively sustainable location; however, it was not considered that this was sufficient to outweigh the harm to the Green Belt from development or to disregard development within an area at the highest risk of flooding. Therefore, it had been recommended that the application be refused planning permission.

The Committee noted the summary of representations received in respect of the application, including letters of objection from four local residents and the Lea Valley Regional Park Authority. The Committee heard from an Objector, the Parish Council and the Applicant before proceeding to debate the application.

When questioned about the potential flood risk at the site, the Principal Planning Officer reiterated that the Environment Agency accepted the flood risk assessment and the mitigation measures that had been offered, but Planning Officers still felt that this would fail the Sequential Flood Test as outlined within the report. Although Cllr J Knapman felt that the Council could not simply ignore the view of the Environment Agency that the flood risk could be mitigated, the Principal Planning Officer confirmed that this was the position the Council had taken as the view of the Environment Agency was contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework and the Council’s adopted Local Plan.

The Committee acknowledged that the area needed new housing but it could not approve development in a known high risk flood zone, as it would simply be creating problems for the future. The Principal Planning Officer also commented that he was uncertain about the Council’s potential legal liability if it granted permission for these houses to be built and they then subsequently flooded.

The Committee also felt that there was no way forward for residential development on this site, given its location within the Metropolitan Green Belt, the Lea Valley Regional Park and an Environment Agency Flood Zone 3.

Decision:

(1)        That planning application EPF/1492/16 at The Chimes Nursery in Old Nazeing Road, Nazeing be refused permission for the following reasons:

1.         The proposed development includes "more vulnerable" development within Flood Zone 3.  The development does not meet the sequential test and does not provide wider sustainability benefits that outweigh the flood risk and does not therefore pass the Exceptions Test. The proposal is therefore contrary to the NPPF Para 102 and policy U2A of the Adopted Local Plan and Alterations.

2.         The development of this green field site within the Metropolitan Green Belt amounts to inappropriate development by definition harmful to the Green Belt and to the purposes of including land within the Green Belt, in addition the erection of 7 houses on the site will have a significant physical and visual impact on the openness of the Green Belt. No very special circumstances exist sufficient to outweigh the harm to the Green Belt that would result and the development is therefore contrary to policy GB2A of the adopted Local Plan and Alterations and to the NPPF.

3.         The proposed development will adversely impact on the landscape of the Lee Valley Regional Park contrary to the strategic policies on landscape and detailed proposals which identify the site as within a landscape enhancement area, and adversely impact on the amenity of users of the Regional Park, as such the development is contrary to Policy RST24 of the adopted Local Plan and Alterations.