Agenda item

A report was presented on an application for permanent vehicular access from Bilsborrow Lane for operational access to below ground wastewater infrastructure and associated landscaping, at land off Bilsborrow Lane, Bilsborrow, Preston. The access track and underground works had been undertaken in Winter 2020 so the application was therefore retrospective.

It was reported that there was a historical issue of properties on Garstang Road being affected by flooding from the sewer network during high rainfall events. This was due to the local sewer having insufficient capacity during storms. The proposal at this site involved the construction of a below ground storm tank which would accept excess flows during storm periods and then return them to the network once the storm had subsided. The development would reduce the flood risk to a 1 in 20 year storm return period.

The report included the views of Wyre Borough Council (objecting to the application), LCC Ecology Service, LCC Historic Environment Service and LCC Highways Development Control. Representations had been received comprising one objection and one letter of support. No response had been received from Bilsborrow Parish Council.

The Development Management Officer presented a Powerpoint presentation showing a location plan and an aerial view of the application site and the nearest residential properties, and diagrams of the site layout and landscaping proposals.

The Officer drew attention to the Update Sheet which referred to the replacement Drawing 80061558-01-ADP-52604-XX-DR-L-00003. The drawing had been revised to include extra landscaping proposals to improve the visual impact of the site.

The Borough Council had objected to the application saying it was contrary to Policy SP2, which required green infrastructure to be protected and enhanced. It was reported that locations for the underground tank were very limited in the local area due to the need to link with existing sewers and that the conflict with the Policy was outweighed by other factors.

County Councillor Yates appreciated that the works needing carrying out but asked how the loss of green belt land was being compensated for.

County Councillor Pope asked why the application was retrospective and what controls the county council had over the work being done by United Utilities. In addition, CC Pope queried why there was no condition stating that archaeological work need to be undertaken.

Committee were informed that a survey had been undertaken by United Utilities on the site to determine what impact the proposed works would have on trees, hedgerows and habitats. The site was an agricultural site with one tree which had been retained and extra tree and hedgerow planting had been undertaken. It was considered that the landscaping measures provided adequate compensation to outweigh the loss of open space and that the conflict with Policy CDM4 was outweighed by the benefits of the scheme in reducing flooding.

It was reported that the application was retrospective as, at the stage when United Utilities had commenced the work, it was not known that a permanent access road would be required to service the underground infrastructure. The Chair pointed out that it would have been helpful for United Utilities to have made the county council aware of this sooner, to avoid having to seek retrospective approval. Committee noted that this issue had previously been raised with United Utilities as they sometimes started work before considering whether planning permission would be required.

County Councillor Pope requested that details be sent to Committee in relation to the archaeological work that had been carried out.

In relation to comments about housing developments still going ahead and drainage infrastructures not being able to cope with this, Committee were informed that when sites were being looked at for possible housing development, the county council needed to check if there were enough school places and whether the highway network could cope and that these issues needed to be addressed in the District Councils local plans, along with whether the sewage infrastructure was satisfactory.

In response to a query from County Councillor Mirfin, it was agreed that a briefing note be sent out to Committee Members detailing how the retrospective applications process works and in what instances this may occur.

County Councillor Clarke informed Committee that both the Regional Flood & Coastal Committee and the Strategic Flood Partnership were currently looking into the current rule of housing developers having an automatic right to connect to existing sewage systems, as this sometimes created flooding due to capacity issues, although it was noted that this would require a change in law.

County Councillor Mirfin pointed out that water supply infrastructure was also affected by new housing developments and suggested that United Utilities, Electricity North West and other providers attend External Scrutiny Committee to answer questions regarding infrastructure.

Resolved: That planning permission be granted subject to conditions controlling working programme and landscaping, as set out in the Committee report.