Minutes of the Extraordinary Council Meeting Fulking Parish Council held on Thursday 12th August 2024 at 8.00 pm held at Fulking Village Hall.
Present
Chairman: Cllr Mark Hind
Fulking Parish Council (FPC): Cllrs Tom Kardos and Linda Comber
There were seven members of the public present who expressed their views on the application.
The meeting opened at 8.00pm.
24/050/PM. Apologies for Absence.
Apologies received from FPC Cllrs Karen Healy and Lucy Mehta, together with Cllr Joy Dennis (WSCC) and Geoff Ziedler (MSDC)
24/051/PM. Declaration of Members’ Interests.
No interest declared.
24/052/PM. Planning matters – SDNP/24/02216/FUL
Proposal: Single pitch settled gypsy accommodation site, including siting of mobile home and utility building Location: Small Acres, Clappers Lane, Fulking, West Sussex, BN6 9NH
Grid Ref: Eastings: 525066, Northings: 111695
It was noted:
Fulking Parish Council (FPC) held a public meeting in the village hall on 12th August to discuss this application.
Three planning decisions regarding Small Acres are directly relevant to this application: 1) SDNPA Planning Committee decision dated 10th November 2022 – Ref: SDNP/22/04317/FUL 2) Planning Inspector Decision by H A Orr dated 9th April 2024 – Appeal Ref: APP/Y9507/C/22/3313813 3) SDNPA decision by M Hughes dated 18th July 2024 – Ref: SDNP/24/02233/LDP In view of these decisions FPC requests that this application is called in to be reviewed by the SDNPA Planning Committee.
The Parish Council voted unanimously to object to this application. In summary FPC considers approval of this application will cause significant harm to the National Park and it should be rejected by the SDNPA whose primary purpose is to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the national park. The following is more detail on why this application should be rejected:
Intentional Unauthorised Development
It is fact that the development commenced over the August 2022 Bank Holiday without planning permission. The process of laying hardstanding to establish the pitch was intentional in nature. The development has all been completed so this is a retrospective planning application.
The Chief Planner issued by letter on 31st August 2015 a statement on the matter of intentional unauthorised development which whilst in part was specific to such development in the Green Belt also states generally: “The government is concerned about the harm that is caused where the development of land has been undertaken in advance of obtaining planning permission. In such cases, there is no opportunity to appropriately limit or mitigate the harm that has already taken place. Such cases can involve local planning authorities having to take expensive and time consuming enforcement action. For these reasons, this statement introduces a planning policy to make intentional unauthorised development a material consideration that would be weighed in the determination of planning applications and appeals. This policy applies to all new planning applications and appeals received from 31 August 2015.”
It is therefore requested that SDNPA affords weight to this material consideration in the determination of this application particularly given that national parks have the highest status of protection for conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty as confirmed in the National Planning and Policy Framework.
Harm to Landscape Character and Appearance
The recent decision of the Planning Inspector H A Orr on 9th April 2024 regarding two gypsy plots said:
Paragraph 30 “…. the appeal development now fills a previously undeveloped gap that helped to add a sense of transition, between the village and the more open countryside beyond. It therefore has the effect of extending the built development towards the cricket ground. This is particularly apparent from the various public paths and viewpoints including Devils Dyke, cumulatively making the sites more prominent in this highly sensitive landscape.”
Paragraph 48 “… great weight is to be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in national parks, which attracts the highest status of protection. I have also found that the appeal development in addition to the existing permitted sites, result in a cluster of sites, that fail to conserve or enhance the landscape and scenic beauty of the area, or to respect the scale and pattern of development of this small rural village, such that it dominates the nearest settled community. In combination I have attributed significant weight to this combined harm.”
Paragraph 49 “Overall, in my judgement, the combination of factors in favour of the development are not sufficient to clearly outweigh the significant harm I have identified to the character and appearance of the SDNP and the settled community.”
The SDNPA decision by M Hughes on 18th July 2024 has permitted the storage of a 19.8m by 6.7m mobile home which is 80% larger than current mobile homes unlawfully sited at Small Acres. The dimensions of the two mobile homes currently on site are 12.1m by 6.1m, one of which is subject to this application. Due to the size of the mobile home agreed for storage at the site this decision will cause harm to the landscape and scenic beauty of the area as it will be easily visible from the public footpaths on the scarp slope and it will have the effect of extending the built development towards the cricket ground.
The planning inspector concluded that the two gypsy mobile homes currently stationed on the land would cause significant harm to the character and appearance of the national park. The rationale being development in a previously underdeveloped area (para 30) and a cluster of sites (para 48)
Approval of this application will also result in development in a previously undeveloped area and result in the built area extending towards the cricket ground. The mobile home is highly visible from the public footpaths on the scarp slope. Taken in conjunction with the recently approved storage of a 19.8m by 6.7m mobile home this will result in significantly more harm to the landscape character and appearance than the two gypsy plots subject to the Planning Inspector decision and should therefore be refused.
Dominance to the Settlement
The Planning Inspector in their decision on 9th April 2024 said;
Paragraph 39 “…in my judgement these additional pitches in such close proximity to those already permitted, result in a cluster of caravan sites, that fail to respect the scale and pattern of development of this small rural village, such that to a limited degree, it dominates the nearest settled community. The development is thus in conflict with Policy SD33 of the LP that seeks to ensure that sites do not result in being over concentrated in any one location or disproportionate to nearby communities.”
Previous planning inspector’s decisions on adjacent gypsy sites have concluded that a smaller number of gypsy plots would dominate the village:
S Hand 22nd February 2016 – APP/Y9507/C/15/3062034 para 21 page 7 “In my view three gypsy plots comes close to but does not dominate the settled community, and that argument becomes stronger with further applications”.
G Chamberlain 8th February 2021 – APP/Y9507/W/19/3225109 Para 21. “In conclusion, the proposal when considered cumulatively would, in a physical sense, result in a disproportionate over concentration of pitches in one location.”
Approval of this application will result in 7 Gypsy plots in close proximity together with the already approved 19.8m x 6.7m mobile home. There are 47 dwellings on Clappers Lane – therefore, the existing six gypsy pitches account for just less than 13% of dwellings. An increase to 7, will result in 15% of dwellings on Clappers Lane being gypsy pitches and if the agreed mobile home for storage was included that would be 17% of all dwellings, all in close proximity to one another. It is the view of Fulking Parish Council that this will result in an over-concentration and dominance to our small village and the settled community – thereby contrary to the applicable criteria in Policy SD33 of the Local Plan and the application should be refused.
Great Crested Newts and Biodiversity
The consultee comments from the District Licensing Officer (Great Crested Newts) confirm that this development has occurred within the “red Impact Risk Zone”. Great Crested Newts have been observed on the property adjacent to Small Acre during recent flooding events. Unfortunately, as the development has already occurred and this is a retrospective application it is likely that harm has already been caused. As the primary purpose of a National Park Authority is to conserve and enhance wildlife FPC requests that SDNPA arrange for a suitably qualified and experienced ecologist to undertake a site visit and to assess whether a breach of the Conservation of Habitat and Species Regulations 2017 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 has occurred. As the application was validated after 2nd April 2024 the mandatory 10% biodiversity net gain will apply. As this is a retrospective application FPC requests that the SDNPA make it clear that the baseline for the 10% biodiversity gain should be the site before the additional hardstanding was installed in August 2022.
Dark Skies
Although the application states that no external lighting is proposed the applicant has recently installed a high intensity lighting system in breach of the South Downs Technical Advice note on Dark Skies.
FPC requests an early visit by SDNPA to assess the impact of this lighting arrangement.
Drainage and Impact of Listed Building
The change from Small Acre as a pasture to having an area of approximately 950sqm of hardstanding has resulted in an unprecedented number of flooding events at Cabbage Patch the Grade II listed building property which is adjacent to Small Acres. As a result of the surface change and the resulting floods the residents have had to incorporate a pumping out solution to their garden to safeguard the house and its contents. The necessary piping/hoses lie across the garden, which is unsightly paraphernalia particularly in the setting of a listed building but now essential. Without any opportunity to assess the impact of the change in the ground surface in advance of the works being undertaken, there has been no opportunity to mitigate the harm that has resulted. It is essential that the hardstanding area shown on the proposed site plan and agreed with SDNPA is removed to reduce the risk of further flooding.
Assessment of needs
The Mid Sussex District Council GTAA April 2022 is the most up-to-date assessment of need and shows no current unmet need for the Mid Sussex Area of the SDNP which includes Fulking. In any case if a local planning authority cannot demonstrate an up-to-date 5 year supply of deliverable sites, the Planning policy for traveller sites December 2023 provides specific exceptions for a National Park.
FPC is of the view that nothing has been presented in this application which would result in a Planning Inspector making a different decision to that taken in April i.e. “Overall, in my judgement, the combination of factors in favour of the development are not sufficient to clearly outweigh the significant harm I have identified to the character and appearance of the SDNP and the settled community.” As such the SDNPA should reject this application.