Decision details

Members had visited the site on the previous day.

The following spoke under the Public Participation at Meetings Scheme:

•           Mr Roger Yarwood, Agent

The Officer recommendation for refusal was moved, seconded, put to the vote and carried.

RESOLVED:

To REFUSE the application for the following reasons:

1.         By virtue of the size, form, scale and massing of the remodelled embankment, its retention would be a physical and harmful incursion into an area of open countryside and it would be a visually intrusive development that would neither reflect nor respect the character of its landscape setting and would detract from the surrounding special qualities of the surrounding landscape that contribute positively to the National Park’s scenic beauty.

2.         Consequently, the proposals would have a significant adverse visual impact on the character of the landscape setting of the application site and the scenic beauty of the National Park contrary to policies GSP1, GSP2, GSP3 and L1 in the Authority’s Core Strategy, contrary to saved Local Plan policy LC4, and contrary to the landscape conservation objectives set out in national planning policies in the Framework.

3.         Furthermore, there is insufficient justification for retaining the deposit of soil or the creation of the embankment taking into account policy Core Strategy CC3 requires appropriate off-site disposal of spoil arising from development if it cannot be re-used on-site without damaging the environmental quality of the local area. In this case, it is clear the excavation material cannot be dealt with appropriately on site and its retention has resulted in the creation of an inappropriate embankment into the field that has resulted in disposal of waste in open countryside contrary to the provisions of CC3 and contrary to the landscape conservation objectives of policies in the Development Plan and the Framework. 

4.         Therefore, granting planning permission for the current application would not achieve any significant public benefits and the adverse impacts of granting planning permission would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits of retaining the embankment, when assessed against policies in the Development Plan and the Framework when taken as a whole. Consequently, the current application is contrary to the principles of sustainable development set out in policy GSP1 of the Core Strategy and national planning policies in the Framework.

Cllr J Macrae left the meeting at 2.45 pm following consideration of this item.