Agenda item

Councillor Ash re-joined the Committee meeting.

The planning application was for the variation of condition one on planning approval 13/00849/WCPP, regarding the operational hours of external downlighting to tennis courts 3 and 4 at Longthorpe Memorial Hall.

The key issues to be considered were:

·         The impact upon neighbour amenity.

·         Design and impact upon the character and appearance of the Conservation Area.

·         Highway implications and car parking.

·         Ecology.

It was officer’s recommendation that planning permission be granted, subject to conditions.

The Planning and Development Manager provided an overview of the application and raised the following points:

·         Originally permission was granted for extended hours for 12 months. After 12 months, the permitted hours would decrease.

·         One detailed objection had been received, however it was considered that properties in the vicinity were sufficiently separated from the tennis courts.

·         The extended hours were not considered to be of significant harm.

Mr Graham Walker, Architect, addressed the Committee and responded to questions from Members. In summary the key points highlighted included:

·         The lights did not shine light anywhere, apart from directly onto the tennis courts.

·         All the lights automatically shut down when the permitted hours of operation ended.

·         The lights were mainly used for fixtures against other clubs and not casual use.

·         The club had not received any complaints regarding the lighting in the past 12 months.

The Committee were pleased to see the tennis club working well, within the previously permitted hours and believed that the club had shown support to local residents in the this regard.

A motion was proposed and seconded to agree that permission be granted, against officer recommendation. The motion was carried unanimously.

RESOLVED: (unanimous) that planning permission is GRANTED subject to the amended conditions.

Reasons for the decision

       Subject to the imposition of the attached conditions, the proposal as acceptable having been assessed in the light of all material considerations, including weighing against relevant policies of the development plan and specifically:

·         the proposed permanent increase in usage of the lights will not result in any unacceptable impact upon neighbour amenity, either by virtue of noise disturbance or light intrusion, in accordance with the Nation Planning Policy Framework (2012), Policy CS16 of the Peterborough Core Strategy DPD (2011) and Policy PP3 of the Peterborough Planning Policies DPD (2012);

·         the proposal would allow an existing sport / recreational facility within the City to expand and develop, in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (2012) and Policy CS18 of the Peterborough Core Strategy DPD (2011);

·         the proposal would not result in any unacceptable impact upon the visual amenity of the surrounding area or the character , appearance of setting of the Longthorpe Conservation Area, in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (2012), Policies CS16 and CS17 of the Peterborough Core Strategy DPD (2001) and Policies PP2 and PP17 of the Peterborough Planning Policies DPD (2012);

·         the proposed increase in operating hours would not in itself generate any further significant demand for car parking, or increased vehicular movements to and from the site and as such, no harm would result to highway safety, in accordance with Policy CS14 of the Peterborough Core Strategy DPD (2011) and Policy PP12 of the Peterborough Planning Policies DPD (2012); and

·         the proposal would not result in any additional impact upon the ecology of the site and its surroundings, in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (2012), Policy CS21 of the Peterborough Core Strategy DPD (2011) and Policy PP16 of the Peterborough Planning Policies DPD (2012).