The SSDC Planning Group have made available the Pre Application information for the proposed development at Bowden Road. It is normally not made available for commercial reasons but the view has been taken that Gleesons leaflet distribution in the village has made it possible. The Parish Council has been asked for any comments after its next meeting on 13th December.
The following information has been provided:
The Pre Application Form – click here
The Illustrative Master Plan – click here
The Site Location Plan – click here
The pre-application statement – click here
Despite the fact that 200 homes are mentioned in the pre-application document this is reduced to 160 homes as per the information previously circulated in the leaflet distribution. The application is for:-
‘ Residential development of up to 160 dwellings with landscaping, access from Bowden Road and the A357, a community facility and associated infrastructure works.’
Over the last few years there have been Planning Applications for significant numbers of housing being approved and also rejected on appeal. Although the Bowden Road application has not been submitted yet it may be of interest to see the reasoning used in the following cases
West Street Application for 49 houses approval – click here
Manor Farm Application for 80 houses rejected – click here
SSDC’s ability to maintain a 5 year Housing Land Supply has been directly affected by the levels of Phosphates found in some potential housing development land. Currently SSDC cannot demonstrate the necessary 5 year Land Supply and any Local Planning Policies normally used to manage housing applications are regarded as ‘out of date’.
Consequently any planning decisions revert to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which ‘presumes approval’ unless there are significant and demonstrable adverse impacts which outweigh the benefits of the development. The consequence of this is that the onus is on SSDC to be able prove any adverse impacts are greater than the benefits should the developer appeal the rejection of an application
It is likely that a new report on the 5year Land Supply will be published soon as there has been a lot of focus on how to deal with the number of applications held up by uncertainty caused by phosphate levels in other areas of South Somerset. If this can be resolved any application will be judged on South Somerset’s Planning Policies and not the NPPF presumed approval process.