Agenda item

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report for change of use of former farm office and diary building and barn to create one live/work unit (DEV-001a-2015/16).

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached, restricted legal opinion in conjunction with the report published on the agenda.

The Assistant Director of Governance (Development Management) presented a report for the change of use of a former farm office and dairy building and barn to create one live/work unit at Barkers Farm in Mount End Road, Theydon Mount. The proposal also included the infilling of an undercroft area to form a living room. The front elevation would be enclosed by glazed bi-fold doors.

The Assistant Director informed the Committee that this application was originally considered by Area Plans Sub-Committee East on 15 April 2015. A motion to refuse the application on the grounds that it would compromise the openness of the Green Belt and was not a sustainable location for residential development was lost; the Planning Officer’s recommendation to approve the application was then agreed. However, five members had invoked the minority reference rules within the Constitution to refer the application to this Committee for a final decision. This application was considered at the last meeting of the Committee, and it was deferred pending the receipt of further legal advice concerning paragraph 90 of the National Planning Policy Framework. This advice had now been received from Counsel and distributed separately to the members of the Committee.

The Assistant Director stated that the application site was situated on the east side of Mount End Road, and was within the Metropolitan Green Belt. The site comprised a substantial two-storey brick building originally constructed as a dairy building and farm office. A single-storey wing extended to the rear and extended up to a substantial modern barn, which was now divided into four units. The site also included a large tarmac-surfaced area and a grassed area south of the former dairy and barn.

The Assistant Director highlighted that the site had a history of planning permission being refused and a subsequent appeal dismissed on the grounds there was no evidence of agricultural need for the proposed dwelling. Since the publication of the National Planning Policy Framework, the issue of agricultural need was no longer relevant and there was a different planning policy context by which to determine this application.

The Assistant Director referenced paragraph 90 of the National Planning Policy Framework, which made clear that the re-use of buildings in the Green Belt was not inappropriate provided the buildings were of a permanent and substantial construction, the new use preserved the openness of the Green Belt, and did not conflict with the purposes of including land in the Green Belt. In relation to this, Officers had concluded that the proposal was not inappropriate development in the Green Belt, would not cause undue harm, and therefore had complied with the relevant planning policies.

The Committee noted the summary of representations received in relation to the application. Two letters had been received objecting to the application, of which one was from the Parish Council; both objections were opposed to the establishment of a dwelling on this site. The Committee heard from the applicant before proceeding to debate the application.

Some Members of the Committee were disappointed that planning permission was now liable to be granted given the previous history of retrospective planning applications at this site. However, the Committee acknowledged that, given the advice received from Counsel, there were no grounds for refusal of this application.

Resolved:

(1)        That planning application EPF/3005/14 at Barkers Farm, Mount End Road in Theydon Mount be granted planning permission subject to the following conditions:

            1.         The development hereby permitted must be begun not later than the           expiration of three years beginning with the date of this notice.

            2.         The development hereby permitted will be completed strictly in        accordance with the approved drawings nos: Site Plan, 09-189/01, 09-        189/02, 09-189/03, 09-189/04, 09-189/05, 09-189/06.

            3.         Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning   General Permitted Development Order 1995 as amended (or any other           Order revoking, further amending or re-enacting that Order) no             extensions, roof enlargements or outbuildings generally permitted by          virtue of Classes A, B and E of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Order shall be     undertaken without the prior written permission of the Local Planning             Authority.

            4.         The premises shall be used solely for mixed use comprising use for           purposes within Use Classes C3, B1(b), B1(c) and B8, and for no other   purpose (including any other purpose in Use Class B1 of the Schedule to     the       Town & Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended)), or in any      provision equivalent to that Class in any Statutory Instrument revoking or re-  enacting that Order.

            5.         No development, including site clearance, shall take place until a    scheme of soft landscaping and a statement of the methods, including a           timetable, for its Implementation (linked to the development schedule),             have been submitted to the Local Planning Authority and approved in          writing. The landscape scheme shall be carried out in accordance with the    approved details and the agreed timetable. If any plant dies, becomes             diseased or fails to thrive within a period of 5 years from the date of            planting, or is removed, uprooted or destroyed, it must be replaced by another plant of the same kind and size and at the same place, unless the             Local Planning Authority agrees to a variation beforehand in writing.