The Planning Committee of Vale of White Horse District Council was scheduled to meet on Thursday 12 December 2024 at 7pm. The meeting was scheduled to consider a variation to a planning application at a site in Shrivenham that had previously been approved. The committee was also scheduled to consider a request for planning permission for an extension at a house in Wootton.

Land at Townsend Road, Shrivenham

The Committee was scheduled to consider a variation to planning application P22/V2618/S73 for land at Townsend Road in Shrivenham. The application relates to the redevelopment of the site to provide 10 new dwellings after demolishing the existing buildings, ‘The Bungalow’ and workshops.

The variation was requested because work had already started on site in October 2022 and the dwellings were substantially complete. The report pack states that:

Works to provide landscaping, ecology enhancements boundary treatment, access improvement, hard surfacing, waste collection point and electric vehicle charging points are still to be carried out.

The applicant, Pars Development, was scheduled to ask to vary a number of the conditions attached to the existing planning permission. In particular, condition 15, which required them to connect the development's foul water drainage to the Thames Water network, was scheduled to be varied to allow them to treat the foul water on site using a private sewage treatment plant, and to discharge the treated waste into a ditch at the western boundary of the site.

The report pack mentions that Shrivenham Parish Council had objected to the variation, citing concerns about whether the ditch was suitable for the volume of treated waste that it would be required to handle. In particular, they had noted that the ditch appeared to them to be dry for a considerable portion of the year, and they had asked the council to require the applicant to connect to the Thames Water foul water system, as was originally proposed.

Thames Water had not objected to the variation, saying that:

The planning application proposal sets out that foul water and surface water will not be discharged to the public network and as such Thames Water has no objection. Thames Water confirms the foul water and surface water conditions can be discharged based on the information submitted.

However, the report pack states that the Council's Drainage Engineer had initially objected to the proposal, arguing that:

A package treatment plant is not acceptable.

The Drainage Engineer's objection was based on the fact that the original application was approved on the basis that it would connect to the Thames Water network, and that

the distance from the boundary premises that the system serves to the nearest public foul sewer is less than the number of houses multiplied by 30m.

The report pack explains that the applicant had obtained an Environment Agency permit for the discharge of the treated water into the ditch, meaning that the Drainage Engineer no longer objected.

The applicant was also scheduled to ask to vary the previously approved landscaping scheme. This is because drainage runs have been added to the scheme as part of the new foul water treatment system. The committee was scheduled to be asked to approve the principle of the revised scheme, but to retain the existing condition that requires the applicant to submit further details of the scheme before the development can be occupied.

P24/V0687/HH - Pemberley Lamborough Hill Wootton Abingdon, OX13 6BY

The committee was also scheduled to consider an application for planning permission from Ms Vivian Li for alterations and extensions at a property in Wootton. The application, P24/V0687/HH, requested permission for the partial demolition of the existing property, Pemberley, and for the construction of a two-storey front extension and side extension. The applicant was also scheduled to ask for permission for the erection of a detached garage in the front garden, with accommodation above.

The report pack states that the application was originally more extensive, and it was subsequently amended following consultation. In particular, the new plans showed the removal of an external staircase to the garage.

Wootton Parish Council did not object in principle to the proposals, but the report pack records that they requested that restrictions on working hours be put in place, and asked that the concerns of neighbours about being overlooked be addressed.

The County Highway Authority did not object, and the report pack records that they considered the parking and access arrangements to be acceptable.

The report pack notes that the property is in an amber Great Crested Newt Zone. However, the council's Ecology Officer had said that this was not a constraint on the development, as there was very little chance that Great Crested Newts were present at the site.

A number of neighbours objected to the proposal, arguing that the proposed development would overlook their properties. In particular, one neighbour noted that:

Dormer windows in garage will overlook neighbouring property. Dormer window to rear of ground floor extension will cause overlooking of rear garden of Tudor Cottage.

The report pack records that the case officer, Katie Cook, had recommended that conditions be attached to any permission granted, to mitigate against overlooking. In particular, she recommended that some of the windows be glazed using obscured glass, and that their opening be restricted.

The case officer had recommended that planning permission be granted, subject to conditions.