Agenda item

The Committee considered the report and the urgent update report of the Head of Planning and Development.

Mrs Bates, an objector, Mrs Poletti of the New Allington Action Group (against), Councillor Levett of Teston Parish Council (against), Mr Wilford, for the applicant, and Councillors Daley, Mrs Robertson, Mrs Gooch and Willis (Visiting Members) addressed the meeting.

RESOLVED:  That subject to the prior completion of a S106 legal agreement in such terms as the Head of Legal Partnership may advise to secure the following:

·  The provision of 30% affordable residential units within the application site;

·  The provision of land measuring no less than 2.05 ha to allow for the construction of the 2FE Primary School.  The terms of land transfer to be the same as agreed for the appealed scheme 1 - 13/1749;

·  The provision of land measuring no less than 0.36 ha to be set aside for the Community Hall and the construction of the Community Hall by the owners of the land (applicant) to a specification reflecting its use and ready to use and then transferred to a management company;

·  A financial contribution of £14,286per pupil totalling £1,685,748 towards the cost of constructing the Primary School;

·  A financial contribution of £11,799 per pupil totalling £991,116 towards the cost of expansion of Maplesden Noakes Secondary School;

·  A financial contribution of £48.02 per dwelling totalling £20,166.64 to be used to address the demand from the development towards additional bookstock at Allington Library;

·  A financial contribution of £30.70 per dwelling totalling £12,894 to accommodate the increased demand arising from the development with provision of new and/or expanded facilities and services through dedicated education centres and outreach community learning facilities;

·  A financial contribution of £47.44 per dwelling totalling £19,925 to accommodate the increased demand arising from the development by providing new and expanded adult care facilities and services;

·  A financial contribution towards Highways totalling £3,039 per dwelling towards the following:

£400 per dwelling for the A26 improvement works – modifications to the junction of Fountain Lane and Tonbridge Road;

£1,362 per dwelling for the A20/Coldharbour junction works – modifications to the layout and approaches of Coldharbour roundabout (London Road);

£102 per dwelling for the M20 Junction 5 improvement works with a white lining scheme;

£39 per dwelling for pedestrian crossing facilities in Hermitage Lane north of the site;

£52 per dwelling for improvements to create a shared pedestrian/cycle use of the footway along the eastern side of Hermitage Lane; and

£1,084 per dwelling to support the bus service via Allington for a period of 5 years.

·  A financial contribution of £30,000 towards the funding of surfacing and improvements to public right of way KB35 and KB18, to facilitate improvements to the public right of way network which immediately serves the development and connects with the town centre;

·  A contribution towards Healthcare, based on the formula number of dwellings x 2.34 x £360 (excluding affordable housing) to be spent on the following 6 surgeries, all of which are within a 1.5 mile radius of the site, and which will support improvements to these surgeries by way of extension, refurbishment and/or upgrade in order to meet the additional demands generated by the development:

Allington Clinic;

Allington Park Surgery;

College Practice;

Blackthorne Medical Centre;

Aylesford Medical Centre; and

Lockmeadow Clinic.

·  A financial contribution of £71,820 for off-site open space deficiency based on the formula set out in paragraph 7.08 of the report of the Head of Planning and Development towards improvements, repair and renewal to the Keswick Drive play area and open space which is less than 300 metres from the site;

·  The long-term management and maintenance of on-site open space including the mechanisms by which the open space will be secured by the developer with the management body(ies) responsible for its delivery;

·  The inclusion of an updated version of the Landscape and Biodiversity Management Strategy (LBMS) (which is to provide principles upon which the LEMP is based) to be agreed by the Head of Planning and Development (acting under delegated powers) in liaison with the KCC Ecology Officer and to includethe southern woodland copse (including the Ancient Woodland) which lies outside the redline boundary; 

·  A landscape and ecological management plan (LEMP) together with details of the legal and funding mechanism(s) by which the long-term implementation of the plan will be secured by the developer with the management body(ies) responsible for its delivery.  The LEMP shall be in accordance with the principles contained within the LBMS and Ecological Assessment 2013 and updated survey work 2014/2015 and include the following:

a)  Description and evaluation of features to be managed;

b)  Ecological trends and constraints on site that might influence management;

c)  Aims and objectives of management;

d)  Appropriate management options for achieving aims and objectives;

e)  Prescriptions for management actions;

f)  Preparation of a work schedule (including a five year work plan capable of being rolled forward over the lifetime of the development) and demonstrating alignment with the development phasing;

g)  Details of the body or organisation responsible for implementation of the plan; and

h)  Details of ongoing monitoring and remedial measures in the form of a biodiversity monitoring strategy (BMS) which shall include:

  i.  Aims and objectives of monitoring to match the stated purpose;

  ii.  Identification of adequate baseline conditions prior to the start of development;

  iii.  Appropriate success criteria, thresholds, triggers and targets against which the effectiveness of the various conservation measures being monitored can be judged;

  iv.  Methods for data gathering and analysis;

  v.  Location of monitoring;

  vi.  Timing and duration of monitoring;

  vii.  Responsible persons and lines of communication;

  viii.  Review mechanisms and, where appropriate, publication of results and outcomes;

  ix.  A report describing the results of monitoring at intervals identified in the strategy, which shall set out (where the results from monitoring show that conservation aims and objectives are not being met) how contingencies and/or remedial action will be identified; and

  x.  Details of (where the results from monitoring show that conservation aims and objectives of the LEMP are not being met) how contingencies and/or remedial action will be identified, agreed and implemented so that the development still delivers the fully functioning biodiversity objectives of the originally approved scheme; and

  i)  Details of the legal and funding mechanism(s) by which the long-term implementation of the LEMP will be secured by the developer with the management body(ies) responsible for its delivery,

the Head of Planning and Development be given delegated powers to grant outline permission subject to the conditions and informatives set out in the report as amended by the urgent update report.

Voting:  6 – For  4 – Against  1 - Abstention 

Note:  Councillor Harwood entered the meeting during consideration of this application (6.14 p.m.), but did not participate in the discussion or the voting.