Issue - meetings

This was an application for a change of use of 4no. dwellinghouses (Use Classes C3 and C3(b)) to Residential Institutions (Use Class C2) at Tzigane House, Managers Office (Tzigane House), Rhapsody House, Maurice House and Ravel House, Freeston Avenue, St Georges, Telford, Shropshire,

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St Georges and Priorslee Parish Council had requested that the application be determined by the Planning Committee.

Councillor R Overton spoke against the application on behalf of the Parish Council who strongly objected in relation to highways, parking and congestion in relation to Policy C5 and BE1, overdevelopment, traffic noise, impact on quality of life and amenity of residents in relation to Policy HO7 and BE2, oversubscription of local services and in particular relating to Policy HO7 and CM1 and the oversubscription of children in care in the local primary school, not in keeping with the local area, age and vulnerability of the local residents in relation to Policy BE1 and BE2 and the 50mph speed limit.  A previous application had been refused and there were issues with ground levels which were being looked at by the Enforcement Team and he asked that the application be refused.

Mr G Jones, Applicant’s Agent, spoke in favour of the application as there was a need for specialist accommodation in order that children were not placed out of the area ensuring that local children stayed local.  The application met the principle of development under Policy NPPF63 and Local Policy HO7 and the Transport Statement gave details of staff patterns, visitors and the operational needs of the development.  Sufficient on-site parking and the reduction of the number of children to one child per dwelling addressed the concerns raised by the highways authority.  The amenity of neighbouring properties had not been affected as there were no external alterations and the application was considered a betterment as there could potentially be more children on site if the property was sold on the open market.   There were no technical objections to the application and he asked that the application be approved.

The Planning Officer informed Members that the application was in the urban area of Telford in a highly sustainable location.  Amended document had been submitted which outlined that there would be one child and one member of staff per dwelling which equated to four children and four staff at any one time.   It was likely that a manager would also be present at times.  Staff changeover times were staggered into two patterns with change overs taking place at two properties at a time.  The application was compliant with Policy HO7 which specified a need and the scale, design and form was acceptable.  No external changes were proposed.   Highway impact was minimal with ten spaces being available on site.  No technical objections had been received.   Impact on residential amenity was limited and there was no evidence to suggest the scheme would cause noise or light pollution or impact that a typical residential dwelling would have if there were two adults and two  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48