Agenda item

Full application for the erection of 180 dwellings including formation of access and associated landscaping and infrastructure (Major Development) at land north of Spindle Drive and East of Deerlands Road, Wingerworth.

(Planning Manager – Development Management)

The Committee considered an application that had been submitted for the erection of 180 dwellings including formation of access and associated landscaping and infrastructure (Major Development) at land north of Spindle Drive and East of Deerlands Road, Wingerworth. The application had been referred to Committee by Local Ward Member, Councillor N Baker, who had raised some concerns about it and the Planning Manager due to the scale of the application. An update report had been circulated which set out late representations regarding the application.

The recommendation by officers was to approve the application. The report to Committee explained the reasons for this.

Officers accepted that the proposal lay on a site outside the Settlement Development Limit and therefore the principle of development was not accepted. Additionally, as the Local Plan was up to date, the policy context carried significant weight against the proposal. However, the report explained that, given the change in national policy, the Council would not be able to demonstrate a 5 year housing land year supply in November 2026. Additionally, updated evidence suggested that there was insufficient allocated land to meet affordable housing need in Wingerworth. The report contended, therefore, that there was a local housing need that exceeded the allocations in the current Local Plan. Therefore, significant weight was attributed to the proposal as a result of its 40% affordable housing provision.

The report drew attention to a 2018 appeal decision that identified this site as a sustainable location for a very similar scheme. It was suggested that the appeal decision needed to be given significant weight in the decision-making process because there was little evidence to suggest that factors had changed in relation to the revised scheme.

Whilst it was accepted that the proposal would cause limited harm to the local landscape, the report attributed significant weight to the proposal in regard to its Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) commitments.

Officers concluded that the benefits of the proposal did significantly and demonstrably outweigh the harms and that the proposal, as amended and within the context of the changes to national planning policy since September 2024, represented a sustainable form of development. They recommended, therefore, that the application be approved subject to conditions and legal agreement.

Before the Committee considered the application it heard from Local Ward Member, Councillor N Baker, an objector, Mark Pearson and the Agent, Tom Ayres.

Committee considered the application. It took into account the relevant Local and National Planning Policies. This included Local Plan policy SS1, concerning sustainable development, Local Plan policy SS9, concerning development in the countryside, and Wingerworth Neighbourhood Plan policy W2, concerning development in the countryside.

Committee discussed the application. Some Members expressed concern over the deliverability of 40% affordable housing. Officers confirmed that 40% had been offered by the applicant and would be included in the Section 106 agreement and was reflective of the affordable housing levels agreed in the appeal decision in 2018. Some Members expressed further concerns around the strain this development would put on local infrastructure. In this context it was suggested that a robust Section 106 was needed, and where appropriate delivered with engagement from the local community.

It was felt that this proposal was finely balanced in terms of whether or not to accept it, and Committee discussed the weight that should be put on the 2018 appeal decision. Some Members suggested that there was a clear need for a housing mix, of the type that was being proposed, in the area.

At the conclusion of the discussion Councillor K Rouse and Councillor F Petersen moved and seconded a Motion to approve the application, in line with officer recommendation, subject to the conditions and legal agreement reflecting the concerns of Members. The Motion was put to a vote and approved.

RESOLVED – That planning permission be conditionally approved subject to a legal agreement (securing financial contributions as detailed in the report), and the conditions and informatives set out in the report, along with additional conditions to address concerns raised by Planning Committee Members, with the final wording of the conditions delegated to the Planning Manager (Development Manager).