11 January 2022 – Minutes

THAME TOWN COUNCIL

Minutes of a Meeting of the Planning & Environment Committee held on 11 January 2022 at 6:30pm in the Upper Chamber, Thame Town Hall.

Present:

Cllrs P Cowell (Town Mayor), A Dite (Deputy Chairman), L Emery, H Fickling (Chairman), H Richards, A Midwinter and T Wyse

Officers

G Markland, Neighbourhood Plan Continuity Officer
L Fuller, Committee Services Officer

1 Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from Cllrs Austin (personal), Deacock (personal), and Dodds (personal). Cllr Champken-Woods was absent without apology.

2 Declarations of Interest and Dispensations

Cllr Cowell declared an interest in planning application P21/S5228/HH as he knew the applicant personally and abstained from voting on this item.

3 Public Participation and Public Questions

Mr. Robin Storey spoke as a resident of Moreton with concerns relating to the number of planning applications. Mr. Storey had written to the Town Council requesting that it support an extension of the Moreton Conservation Area and Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in order to protect the amenity of Moreton and villages that surround Thame. The paddock at the entrance to Moreton, which is currently subject to a live planning application for 5 dwellings, serves as a divide between upper and lower Moreton and is important in defining the character of the Moreton Conservation Area (MCA) which includes 12 listed buildings. Given the rural setting of the Moreton Conservation Area, any development should not be about infilling but rather preserve the collection of unique listed buildings and their setting of open views and large plots. Moreton is an asset to Thame due to its many footpath connections to the countryside and proximity to the Cuttle Brook Nature Reserve. Mr. Storey was pleased that the Town Council had objected at its previous meeting to the planning application at the paddock, noting in particular the impact on the setting of the Conservation Area. It was felt that the District’s Local Plan 2035 had clear policies on the conservation of rural areas, and Mr. Storey requested that the Town Council continues to be robust in highlighting these policies when responding to planning applications. It was felt that recent housing development in Moreton had not been a positive experience and it was hoped that the revised Thame Neighbourhood Plan (TNP2) would help resist further development. Mr. Storey questioned the need for a second TNP2 consultation and whether this was being too accommodating to developers. Mr. Storey felt that the recently distributed leaflet from Rectory Homes was misleading and was not helping the process.

The Chairman interjected as the speaker had reached the 5-minute speaking time limit.

A question was raised as to where in Moreton Mr. Storey felt development would be acceptable? It was felt that a lot of the available land had already been built on or was subject to a live planning application. The Chairman noted that there were still some housing association properties within Moreton and it was hoped these wouldn’t be sold off.

In addition to addressing the committee, Mr. Storey had submitted four requests of the Town Council, which the Neighbourhood Plan Continuity Officer (NPCO) had prepared a response to.

“That the Town Council actively promotes the extension of the Moreton Conservation Area to expressly include all open fields in the village at SODC.”

The NPCO advised that insufficient investigation had been made into the MCA and there was no management plan for the Conservation Area, which would provide a detailed assessment of the character. The Town Council has recognised the physical, social, and economic contribution of Moreton when responding to planning applications, but without a conservation area management plan it is harder for South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) to recognise these comments. The Elms is an example of where open fields have been included within a conservation area, so whilst it is possible in Moreton, it would require an appraisal of the whole village and a detailed review of the relationship between the open fields, the MCA and listed buildings.

“That the Town Council supports extension of the Chiltern AONB to the edge of Thame to protect villages such as Moreton.”

The Town Council supported the concept of Thame being included in the Chilterns AONB boundary review at its Council Meeting in August 2021. It was made clear that the boundary would need to extend well beyond Thame in order to protect the surrounding villages.

“That the Town Council expedites the Thame Neighbourhood Plan to neuter developer claims there is insufficient housing in the pipeline.”

Thame’s housing needs are passed down from SODC, who must ensure they have a pipeline of sites for development. A successful TNP helps to reduce the pressure on Thame’s housing requirement but does not remove it. National planning guidance requires councils to deliver homes. Keeping Thame’s Neighbourhood Plan updated is the best way to protect Thame and help ensure development is appropriate, even when SODC do not have a sufficient housing land supply.

“That the Town Council holds SODC to account that they:-

1. actively follow the 2035 Local Plan and resist and take legal advice to properly counter the various speculative Didcot court cases over large developments, and the false developer statements made that there is insufficient housing pipeline in South Oxfordshire, and
2. actively promote the 2035 Local Plan principles relating to Conservation Areas and Listed Buildings and their treatment of interspersing fields.”

The District Council have supported Neighbourhood Plan groups and have taken legal advice to counter speculative developments. SODC were the victim of poor decision making at Sonning Common for an elderly care home scheme. Whilst SODC were unsuccessful in a legal challenge and subsequent second planning appeal, the approval of these and other schemes means that the District should now have a 5 year housing supply. As previously mentioned, Moreton lacks a conservation area management plan, however SODC have policies within their Local Plan (DES2 and ENV8) which recognise that development should be sympathetic to conservation areas. The Town Council made a strong response to the recent planning application at the paddock, and it was hoped that SODC would continue to defend their own conservation area policies and refuse this application again. It would not be possible for the Council to request that every gap of open field is protected across the District, but a character area assessment would assist. SODC have limited resources to undertake character and heritage assessments for areas / assets that are lacking them. Historic England have prepared resources to help people, from professionals to lay people, undertake such assessments in their area. The NPCO advised that he would include the weblinks to these resources, which included the Oxford Character Assessment Toolkit, within his reply to Mr. Storey. It was possible that Moreton residents could use Community Infrastructure Levy money that had been received from developments in Moreton to fund the assessments. The NPCO also noted that the Town Council has its own resourcing issues but were willing to assist Moreton where possible, although it was noted that support from the NPCO would take months due to the TNP2 priority. Moreton residents were encouraged to feed into the current TNP2 consultation with ideas for policies.

Based on the discussions, Members considered how best to assist Mr. Storey with his request to expand the Moreton Conservation Area. There are resources and funding available for Moreton residents to progress this. Whilst the Town Council could help residents to get started, due to Officer workload pressures and the Neighbourhood Plan review taking priority, the Town Council could not offer further resources at this stage.

4 Minutes

The Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 21 December 2021 were confirmed as a correct record, and were signed by the Chairman.

5 Planning Applications

1513 – 42 UPPER HIGH STREET

3x new small signs to front north-east elevation, 1x new sign and alarm box within courtyard.
P21/S4813/LB

SUPPORTS and has a RESPONSE:

- - Subject to no objection from the District Conservation Officer.

Neighbourhood Plan Policies: H6, WS12, WS13, ESDQ15, ESDQ16, ESDQ19, ESDQ20, ESDQ26
SODC Local Plan Policies: DES1, DES2, DES3, DES7, DES8, ENV6, ENV7, ENV8, TH1

1514 – 32 CROFT ROAD

Proposed single storey side extension & proposed roof/fenestration alterations to existing rear conservatory extension.
P21/S5001/HH

SUPPORTS

Neighbourhood Plan Policies: H6, ESDQ16, ESDQ28
SODC Local Plan Policies: DES1, DES5, DES6, DES7, DES8, H20

1515 – 43-44 THE SIX BELLS HIGH STREET

Replacement sign work
P21/S3988/A

SUPPORTS and has a RESPONSE:

- - Subject to no objection from the District Conservation Officer.

Neighbourhood Plan Policies: H6, WS13, ESDQ15, ESDQ16, ESDQ17, ESDQ18, ESDQ19, ESDQ20
SODC Local Plan Policies: DES1, DES2, DES3, DES7, DES8, ENV6, ENV7, ENV8

1516 – 43-44 THE SIX BELLS HIGH STREET

Replacement sign work and lighting
P21/S5039/LB

SUPPORTS and has a RESPONSE:

- - Subject to no objection from the District Conservation Officer.

Neighbourhood Plan Policies: H6, WS13, ESDQ15, ESDQ16, ESDQ17, ESDQ18, ESDQ19, ESDQ20
SODC Local Plan Policies: DES1, DES2, DES3, DES7, DES8, ENV6, ENV7, ENV8

1517 – 29 HENRIETTA ROAD

Convert existing integral garage into home gym.
P21/S5033/HH

SUPPORTS and has a RESPONSE:

- - The committee regret the loss of the garage for its original purpose.

Neighbourhood Plan Policies: H6, GA6, ESDQ16, ESDQ29
SODC Local Plan Policies: DES1, DES6, DES7, DES8, TRANS5

1518 – 16-17 THE SPREAD EAGLE HOTEL, CORNMARKET

Internal alterations to include new kitchen and increased toilet provision, first floor extension to provide six additional guest bedrooms, two additional wheelchair accessible ground floor guest bedrooms, single storey restaurant and repairs to existing stone boundary wall.
P21/S5050/FUL

SUPPORTS and has a RESPONSE:

- - Subject to no objection from the District Conservation Officer.

Neighbourhood Plan Policies: H6, WS13, GA6, ESDQ15, ESDQ16, ESDQ17, ESDQ18, ESDQ19, ESDQ20, ESDQ26, ESDQ29
SODC Local Plan Policies: DES1, DES2, DES3, DES7, DES8, ENV6, ENV7, ENV8, ENV12, EP3, H16, H20, INF1, TC1, TH1, TRANS5

1519 – 16-17 THE SPREAD EAGLE HOTEL, CORNMARKET

SUPPORTS and has a RESPONSE:

- - Subject to no objection from the District Conservation Officer.

1523 – 22 WEAVERS BRANCH

Detached outbuilding.
P21/S5057/HH

SUPPORTS and has a RESPONSE:

- - Subject to the outbuilding remaining ancillary to the dwelling in perpetuity and not used for residential accommodation.

Neighbourhood Plan Policies: H6, ESDQ16, ESDQ28
SODC Local Plan Policies: DES1, DES5, DES6, DES7, DES8

1524 – 22 WEAVERS BRANCH

Single storey rear extension.
P21/S5056/HH

SUPPORTS

Neighbourhood Plan Policies: H6, ESDQ16, ESDQ28
SODC Local Plan Policies: DES1, DES5, DES6, DES7, DES8, H20

1525 – DORCHESTER PLACE CAR PARK REAR OF HIGH STREET

Replace existing 15m mast with 20m mast supporting six antennas, two transmission dishes, removal and replacement of an equipment cabinet and ancillary development thereto.
P21/S5053/FUL

SUPPORTS

Neighbourhood Plan Policies: H6, ESDQ15, ESDQ16, ESDQ19, ESDQ20
SODC Local Plan Policies: DES1, DES2, DES3, DES6, DES7, DES8, ENV6, ENV8, INF2, INF3

1526 – PETALS, GREYHOUND LANE

Require window and ventilation openings in existing brick wall and tiled roof for ventilation and natural light as described below. The openings required are 1no window (1200w x 600h) in brickwork at Ground Floor, 2no windows (550w x1180h) in sloping tile roof and 2no ventilation grilles (300w x 100h) in brickwork at Ground Floor. The existing rear escape door is required to be fitted with fire rated glazing and the existing soil and vent pipe at first floor is required to be raised due to the proposed adjacent windows.
P21/S5191/FUL

SUPPORTS

Neighbourhood Plan Policies: H6, ESDQ16, ESDQ20
SODC Local Plan Policies: DES1, DES6, DES7, DES8, ENV8, ENV12

1527 – 9A BELL LANE

Extensions and internal alterations to form new gables, dormer windows and stairwell entrance hall with new external joinery; new below-ground rainwater harvester.
P21/S5228/HH

SUPPORTS

Neighbourhood Plan Policies: H6, ESDQ15, ESDQ16, ESDQ19, ESDQ20, ESDQ28
SODC Local Plan Policies: DES1, DES2, DES3, DES5, DES6, DES7, DES8, ENV6, ENV8, H20

1529 – 4 BLAKE WAY

Demolish conservatory. Construct single storey rear extension.
P21/S5216/HH

SUPPORTS

Neighbourhood Plan Policies: H6, ESDQ16, ESDQ28
SODC Local Plan Policies: DES1, DES5, DES6, DES7, DES8, H20

1531 – 46 COTMORE GARDENS

Construction of single-storey rear/side extension to the ground floor. Insertion of rooflight to rear roof slope of existing roof.
P21/S5297/HH

SUPPORTS

Neighbourhood Plan Policies: H6, GA6, ESDQ16, ESDQ18, ESDQ28, ESDQ29
SODC Local Plan Policies: DES1, DES2, DES5, DES6, DES7, DES8, H20, TRANS5

6 For Information

The items for information were noted.

It was noted in relation to Item 6a (planning application MW.0096/21), within the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment the applicant stated that it was not possible to hide the car storage racking. Members agreed that the Town Council would request that some form of screening or landscaping be included.

It was also noted that planning application P21/S4226/HH at 3 Kings Road would be considered by the District Planning Committee, however unfortunately no Members or the NPCO were able to attend due to a clash with a Town Council working group meeting. The Town Council had submitted a written statement.

The meeting concluded at 7:19pm.

Signed ……………………..

Chairman, 1 February 2022