Agenda item

The Chief Planning Officer submitted a report for consideration on a Reserved Matters applications for residential development of 294 dwellings within the Middle Quadrant (Morwick Green) of the East Leeds Extension pursuant to outline planning approval 20/04464/OT.

The report of the Chief Planning Officer presented two reserved matters applications for residential development of 294 dwellings within the Middle Quadrant (Morwick Green) of the East Leeds Extension pursuant to outline planning approval 20/04464/OT.

The report has been brought to the North and East Plans Panel to seek views of Members to aid progression of the application.

Members were provided with a couple of updates since the writing of the submitted report. It was noted that:

·  6 representations (3 for each of the applications) have been received seeking the desire for Swift brick to be installed in the units. It was confirmed that at this point, it did not form part of the proposals as such details are required to be submitted for approval by a condition on the outline planning permission.

·  Other representations have been received from Councillors Lennox and Gibson on the mix of use of houses, and the request that affordable houses be better represented in terms of 3 and 4 bed properties and there being no indication of socially rented properties; it was confirmed that this will be met through the 40/60 split, and through the outline planning application process.

Photographs and slides were shown throughout the officer presentation, and Panel members were provided with the following information:

·  The applications cover roughly half of the Middle Quadrant and is divided up between two applicants, Taylor Wimpey and Cullen Land. The 294 dwelling total is divided into 250 units for Taylor Wimpey and 44 on the Cullen Land site.

·  The spine road serves the interior of the site and is designed to accommodate bus services. The spine road will be tree lined, and the retention of the woodland area.

·  A mix of housing and flats is proposed to be provided in two character areas. The southern section of the site adopts a more contemporary design approach for the housing with larger format windows with no head or sill details, including the use of brick and render splits and flat roofed canopies over front doors. The second character area in the northern section of the site is more traditional and includes the use of heads and sills, greater focus on the single use of brick, pitched roof canopies over front doors and more symmetrical window sizes.

·  There are 49 affordable units proposed across the site

·  The policy requirement  for the number of accessible housing units has been exceeded.

·  5 units do not meet the minimum internal space standards and discussions are on-going with the applicant to meet this requirement.

·  There are 8 local play areas across the site.

·  The applicant has included SUDs across the site, and the intention is for them to be constantly wet so that they don’t dry up in the summer months.

·  A pump station is proposed adjacent to one of the SUD’s feature and will be overlooked by plots 127 and 128, details of the infrastructure are awaited from the applicant as this poses visual amenity concerns.

·  The provision of ‘Copenhagen’ style crossings is intended to be provided through the site layout to improve on pedestrian safety.

Councillor P Grahame attended the meeting and raised her concerns regarding the size of the affordable units proposed and supported comments made in Councillor Lennox’s representation. Councillor Grahame also explained that she does not want the affordable units to be ‘clumped’ together, as you can usually identify an affordable unit.

Further to questions to Councillor Grahame regarding affordable units, it was confirmed that 2 bed units are suitable for people wishing to downsize. However, there have been a number of requests from constituents from families needing larger properties.

The applicants agent and representatives attended the meeting, and provided the following information:

·  The Middle Quadrant has been the most difficult in terms of the whole of the East Leeds Extension due to the nature of the spine road and the relative narrow width of the site. It is accepted that more design elements and tweaks will need to be amended.

·  The SHMA (Strategic Housing Market Assessment) identifies a need for 2 bed properties although concerns regarding affordable units have been noted and this can be re-visited.

·  Minimum space standards have now been met and details on this can be provided.

·  The provision of open spaces over exceeds requirements.

·  A lot of work has been done on parking, and it is intended to hide the parking areas to ensure streets are not dominated by cars.

·  Minor changes to landscaping in terms of the south east part of the site.

·  There will be no gas on site and air source heat pumps is proposed.

·  It is requested that the application be brought to a Panel meeting for consideration no later than August 2023 as the developers do not want to be delayed.

Further to questions from Panel Members, the following was confirmed:

·  The proposed affordable units will be scattered rather than ‘clumped’. Albeit they will be a bit closer together to ensure the housing association can better manage them. It was also confirmed there will be a 60/40 split in terms of socially rented properties. 60% of the 45 affordable units will be socially rented units. It was also confirmed that the appearance of the affordable units will be the same as the market dwellings.

·  Landscaping proposals are extensive and serves the whole of the East Leeds Orbital Route as well as the Cock Beck corridor.

·  There is the greatest demand for 2 bed properties as identified city-wide in the SHMA. It was confirmed that there is a penalty tax on overprovision of bedrooms. However, it was acknowledged that there is a need for additional 3 bed properties.

A member commented that further consideration needs to be taken regarding the need to improve tree lined areas. In particular, the East Leeds Orbital Route. Officers were urged to take a look at what can be done in terms of planting additional trees in those areas.

Members comments in relation to the officers questions in the submitted report were relayed as follows:

Question 1: Do Members have any comments in respect of the layout and the appearance of the dwellings including the concept of new different character areas? Members were generally content with the approach and the 2 character areas, as well as the quality of housing. A comment sought assurances that the affordable units will not be ‘clumped’ together.

Question 2: Are there any comments Members would wish to make in respect of the housing mix? Further consideration to be had in terms of the balance of the units proposed and the need for a greater proportion of larger units.

Question 3: Are there any comments Members would wish to make in respect of the affordable housing provision proposed? To provide further information to demonstrate that the affordable units are  pepper potted throughout the site and that more larger family units be provided as part of the mix. 

Question 4: Are Members in agreement that all units should meet the minimum internal space standards? The applicant has now committed to resolve this issue.

Question 5: Do Members have any comments in respect of the landscaping proposals? Members wished to see further information regarding this.

Question 6: Are there any other matters, that relate to the scope of consideration of these applications, that Members wish to raise? Whilst it was acknowledged additional planting to the East Leeds Orbital Extension is outside of the scope of these particular planning applications, officers will seek to liaise with colleagues and bring back information at a later date. Also, a member commented on concerns regarding speeding on the East Leeds Orbital Route and suggested that a fixed camera be looked at.

In general, members supported the scheme.

RESOLVED – To note the contents of the report on the proposals and to provide views in relation to the questions posed in the submitted report to aid the progression of the application.