Issue - meetings

The Service Director (Planning Services) presented a report with regard to the proposed formation of an off-street parking area on land at Marlescroft Way, Loughton, to provide daytime parking for employees of the Council’s depot at Oakwood Hill.

Members were advised that the application had been refused by Area Plans Sub-Committee South at its meeting on 23 January 2019 and that the proposal therefore stood referred to the District Development Management Committee for determination in accordance with Article 10 of the Constitution, as the application had been submitted by the Council and related to land in the ownership of the authority. The Committee noted that the recommendation of the Service Director (Planning Services) remained that planning permission should be granted for the proposed development and voted on a motion that it undertake a site visit prior to the determination of the application, which was lost.

The Committee was advised that the application site comprised a parcel of grass land to the south of dwellings in Marlescroft Way and that, whilst not situated within a conservation area, the site was in close proximity to the Roding Valley Meadows Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The Service Director (Planning Services) reported that it was proposed to change the use of the land to a car park providing fifty-six formally laid out parking spaces and three disabled bays with manoeuvring space in accordance with the Essex Vehicle Parking Standards (2009), together with improved pedestrian access to public rights of way into and across the Roding Valley Meadows Nature Reserve. Members noted that the proposal would provide staff parking during working hours and parking for the public at other times.

The Service Director (Planning Services) advised the Committee that the main issues for consideration in respect of the application related to highways, design and the impact of the proposed development on the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Members were advised that Marlescroft Way and Oakwood Hill were heavily parked areas, with parking strain caused by the nearby Oakwood Hill Industrial Estate and that the proposal would provide off-street parking for employees of the Council’s Oakwood Hill Depot and local residents and users of the Roding Valley Nature Reserve. In response to concerns of local residents that the proposal would result in a loss of parking along the hammerhead area of Marlescroft Way, the Service Director (Planning Services) advised the Committee that the development would result in the addition of formal parking spaces, as opposed to the existing casual on-street layout, would not result in the loss of any formal resident parking provision and that Essex Highways had raised no objection to the proposal.

The Committee was advised that the proposal would maintain the largely urban character of Marlescroft Way but that, whilst it would increase hard surfacing at the site, an area of green space and mature trees would be retained to limit the visual impact of the development. The Service Director (Planning Services) reported that, although some planting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35