Agenda and draft minutes

The Panel is asked to elect a Chair for the duration of the meeting due to apologies from the Chair and Vice-Chair.

RESOLVED that Councillor Akhtar be elected as Chair and Councillor Davis be elected as Vice-Chair for the duration of the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ibrahim and Surjan.

There were no items of urgent business received.

There were no declarations of interest received.

There were no public questions received.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 20 September 2023 are attached for Members’ approval.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on the 20^th September 2023 be approved as a correct record.

Reserved matters application for the Appearance, Landscaping, Layout, and Scale of Phase 1 of a residential development pursuant to outline application VAR/349651/22

APPLICATION NUMBER: RES/350957/23

APPLICANT: Bellway Homes

PROPOSAL:  Reserved matters application for the Appearance, Landscaping, Layout, and Scale of Phase 1 of a residential development pursuant to outline application VAR/349651/22

LOCATION:  Former Shaw Distribution Depot, Linney Lane, Shaw OL12 8HF

It was MOVED by Councillor Hince and SECONDED by Councillor S. Bashfroth that the application be APPROVED.

On being put to the vote, it was UNANIMOUSLY cast IN FAVOUR OF APPROVAL.

DECISION: That the application be GRANTED subject to the conditions as outlined in the report and the Late List.

NOTES:

1.         That the Applicant attended the meeting and addressed the Committee on this application.

2.         In reaching its decision, the Committee took into consideration the information as set out in the Late List attached at Item 11

Change of use from Community Centre (Sui Generis) to 8 bed unit House in Multiple Occupation.

APPLICATION NUMBER: FUL/351324/23

APPLICANT: Mr T Mushtaq

PROPOSAL:  Change of use from Community Centre (Sui Generis) to 8 bed unit House in Multiple Occupation.

LOCATION:  6 Hunters Lane, Oldham, OL1 1QU

It was MOVED by Councillor Charters and SECONDED by Councillor Cosgrove that the application be APPROVED.

On being put to the vote 13 VOTES were cast IN FAVOUR OF APPROVAL and 0 VOTES were cast AGAINST with 1 ABSTENTIONS.

DECISION: That the application be GRANTED subject to the conditions as outlined in the report.

NOTES:

That the Applicant attended the meeting and addressed the Committee on this application.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Planning which advised members of the Consultation from Rochdale Borough Council on planning application 23/00650/HYBR.

Members were advised that the application was for “a garden village at land at Stakehill comprising outline application (access only) for a major mixed use development comprising up to 1147 dwellings (Class C3), local centre, extension to St Johns Primary School and MUGA together with associated access from Thornham New Road, landscaping, open space, drainage, ecological enhancements, cycleway and footpath linkages, infrastructure and other ancillary works thereto and full planning application for the 233 dwellings including landscaping, SUDS pond, sub-station, footpaths and access from A664 Manchester Road”

The application site comprised most of the northern part of the proposed Stakehill allocation in the Places for Everyone Joint Development Plan (PfE). The Stakehill allocation was a cross-boundary allocation covering parts of both Rochdale and Oldham boroughs and was a mixed-use allocation, with residential development proposed solely in Rochdale to the north of the existing Stakehill industrial estate (and primarily to the north of Thornham Lane), and employment development proposed in both boroughs to the south and east of the existing Stakehill industrial estate, effectively expanding the existing employment area.

Members were advised that the Stakehill allocation in PfE was covered by proposed policy “JP Allocation 2 Stakehill” (JPA2). PfE was currently at examination stage but had reached a point where the Inspectors examining the Plan had proposed a series of main modifications to the Plan that they considered were necessary to make the Plan “sound”. These main modifications included some amendments on specific matters to the proposed policy wording for JPA2, but not to the allocation itself or the mixture of development across the allocation. As such, whilst PfE had not yet been adopted, the examination had reached a stage where PfE was a significant material consideration and a substantial amount of weight should be given to the policies as proposed to be modified by the Inspectors, including JPA2, when making planning application decisions.

Oldham Council objects to application 23/00650/HYBR, submitted by Redrow Homes, on the basis that it does not comply with proposed policy “JP Allocation 2 Stakehill” of the modified Places for Everyone Joint Development Plan (to be referred to as Policy JPA2 hereafter). Policy JPA2 included several criteria to be used when assessing planning applications within the allocation boundary. Whilst many of the criteria were of a detailed, application site based nature which Rochdale Borough Council would assess, three in particular were of a more strategic basis that affect the whole allocation (and so Oldham borough) and that Oldham Council were concerned are not being properly addressed by the submitted application. These were:

·         Criterion 3: “Achieve excellent design and sustainability through masterplanning and the use of design codes for the whole site to ensure comprehensive development. This will include the need for an infrastructure phasing and delivery strategy in accordance with policy JP-D1. The scale of the residential development  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

RESOLVED that the Appeals Update report be noted.

RESOLVED that the information as contained in the late list be noted.