The Development Management Committee of Hart District Council will discuss four planning applications for full planning permission and the adoption of the Local Validation List. They will also note the draft minutes of the recent Development Management (Enforcement) sub-committee meeting.

Application 24/00467/FUL - Penn Croft Winery, Croft Lane, Crondall

The most significant item on the agenda is a retrospective application for the retention of an enlarged cafe and ‘cellar door’ at Penn Croft Winery, along with associated structures and an enlarged car park. Planning permission was previously granted in 2023 for the erection of a smaller ‘cellar door’, without a cafe, for use in association with wine tours at the winery.

The applicant states that it is “commercially unviable to operate the Cellar Door as originally envisaged and as a stand-alone subsidiary business”. However, the report pack notes that no “financial justification [has been] provided to support the claims that the Cellar Door is commercially unviable”.

A standalone cafe would not normally be acceptable in the countryside, and the applicant argues that the cafe is required to make the ‘cellar door’ viable, and that it is therefore a form of farm diversification. The report pack says:

The applicant has not submitted any material justification for the café use… As such, the application fails to demonstrate that an existing farming enterprise or other such rural enterprise would be unviable without the additional non-agricultural income, or that the café use is required to financially support the winery and the wider Penn Croft farming enterprise.

The applicant also claims that the farm has diversified in other ways, including:

solar energy production, commercial lets, residential lets, contract grain storage, horse grazing and more recently, the winery.

The application has also attracted a significant number of comments from the public. 89 letters of objection were received, along with 95 letters of support. The key issues raised in the objections included traffic, loss of agricultural land, and harm to the Crondall Conservation Area.

The report pack notes that:

The proposed car park would, by encroaching into an open field that is between the winery and Crondall village settlement, have a materially harmful impact on the character and appearance of the surrounding countryside.

It also says that:

The proposed development would encroach on the setting of the Conservation Area and would result in the erosion of the rural setting which has been identified as significant within the character appraisal.

Crondall Parish Council also object to the application, arguing that the applicant has provided no evidence for the need for a cafe, or the proposed 28 space car park.

The report concludes that:

In the absence of any commercial or viability justification in relation to the proposal, the public benefits would not outweigh the harm caused by the establishment of the proposed use, and the associated operational development required.

Application 24/01202/FUL - Europa House, 5 Bartley Wood Business Park, Bartley Way, Hook

The committee will discuss an application for the erection of two buildings at 5 Bartley Wood Business Park for flexible use as light industrial, research and development, general industrial, storage and distribution or office space.

The site is in a Locally Important Employment Site, and was formerly occupied by offices, which have since been demolished. The officer’s report recommends that planning permission is granted, subject to a Section 106 legal agreement¹ to secure £30,000 for pedestrian and cycling improvements along Griffin Way South, £29,260 to cover the cost of travel plan implementation, monitoring and enforcement, and the provision of pedestrian crossings along Bartley Way.

Hook Parish Council raised no objections to the development, but did request a condition preventing HGVs from exiting the site onto Griffin Way South. The report pack does not include a response from Hampshire County Council, but does note that the Local Highway Authority requested a number of conditions and obligations.

A number of objections to the scheme were received from members of the public. Key concerns included traffic, noise, light pollution, and parking stress.

The report pack notes that:

The noise assessment submitted considered external noise to residential and non-residential receptors created by road traffic, vehicular movements in the yards, external plant/machinery, noise from reversing alarms, during critical times (night-time). The assessment also takes into account noises with impulsive and/or tonal characteristics.

The Environmental Health Officer was satisfied that the development would have no adverse noise impact on nearby residents. They also said that the development would result in a “negligible decrease in air quality in the locality”, and would have no adverse impact on light pollution, subject to conditions.

The report concludes that the proposal would comply with relevant policies in the Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plan, and recommends approval, subject to conditions and the completion of the Section 106 agreement. It goes on to say that:

in the absence of a satisfactory Legal Agreement to secure the highway related planning obligations, the proposal would be contrary to Policies INF1 and INF3 of the Hart Local Plan (Strategy and Sites) 2032 and the aims of the NPPF 2023.

Application 24/01300/FUL - Land north-east of Winchfield Lodge, Old Potbridge Road, Winchfield, Hook

The committee will also discuss an application for the change of use of land to a mixed agricultural and equestrian use, along with the erection of stabling and a new access track. The application site is a parcel of land off Old Potbridge Road, currently laid to grass, and includes an area of woodland. The stables would accommodate four horses, and would include a tack store, hay store and machinery storage.

The report notes that:

The Agent has confirmed that the proposed equestrian use is for personal and private equestrian use only.

The officer’s report recommends approval of the scheme, subject to conditions. Winchfield Parish Council raised no objection to the proposal, but did request a number of conditions, including a requirement for a woodland management plan.

The report pack notes that:

The comments from WPC are noted in respect of requesting a safety assessment of the trees in Ringwood Copse and the addition of a Woodland Management Plan, however this would not be a reasonable request in context of the development proposed.

10 letters of objection were received from members of the public, raising concerns including highway safety, noise, and light pollution. However, the report concludes that the development would have no adverse impact on the amenities of nearby residents, subject to conditions. It notes that:

The proposed building would be visible from the public highway, although would be set back within the site and partially screened by virtue of existing trees/ shrubbery. The building would be constructed with a brick base, tiled roof and timber cladding and would be ‘typical’ of an equestrian building. Consequently it would not appear discordant in a rural setting and as such is not deemed to be harmful to the character and appearance of the countryside.

The report concludes that:

The proposal is considered acceptable for the reasons set out in detail above. The proposal is considered to be in accordance with the relevant Development Plan policies referred to above, which are considered to be up to date and in broad compliance with the NPPF.

Application 24/01428/FUL - Adsyst Automation Ltd, Yateley Lodge, Reading Road, Yateley

Finally, the committee will discuss an application for the retention of a covered cycle store at Yateley Lodge, a Grade II Listed Building in the Cricket Hill Conservation Area. The cycle store is a timber framed structure, and the applicant is seeking temporary planning permission for a period of two years.

The officer’s report recommends that planning permission be granted, subject to conditions. The report notes that the Conservation Officer concluded that the development would result in less than substantial harm to the setting of the listed building, and minimal impact on the Conservation Area. However, it says that this harm “could be mitigated by changing the roof covering to a dark coloured membrane and also by staining the timber to be of a dark colour.”

Eight letters of objection were received from members of the public. Many of the issues raised by objectors were not considered to be material planning considerations. The report pack says:

It is noted that concerns regarding the behaviours of the applicant; however these are not planning matters. Planning legislation allows for the submission of retrospective applications and this does not influence the merits of any such application or how the application is treated.

The report concludes that:

The introduction of a covered bike shelter anywhere on the site has the potential to harm the setting of the listed building. However, the location and scale of the proposed building is such that it minimises the impact upon the heritage asset.

It recommends approval, concluding that “the public benefits associated with the development would outweigh the less than substantial harm associated with the heritage aspects of the application.”