Planning Committee Minutes – 12th January 2021

Minutes of the Meeting of the Planning Committee

Date:	12^th January 2021	Time: 7.30pm
Place:	Online via Zoom
Present:	Cllr Chris Flooks (Chair)	Cllr Malcolm Bell
	Cllr Liz Capel	Cllr Alan Munday
	Cllr Chris Tomblin
In attendance:	Maxta Thomas (Clerk)	0 members of the public
	Cllr Nick Robinson (Borough)
Apologies:

		*Action*
1	Apologies for Absence
	As listed above.
2	Declarations of Interest
	Cllr Tomblin noted his position on the BDBC Development Control Committee, and took no part in votes on planning applications.
3	Minutes of the Last Planning Committee Meeting
3.1	The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 8^th December 2020 were unanimously agreed and signed off by the Chairman.
3.2	Matters arising
	Cllr Bell asked about the enforcement matter at Wallis Drive. The matter is still ongoing. Cllr Bell asked about the QPS application2 0/00740/FUL – he noted that there has been no decision. Cllr Tomblin to ask for an update from officers.	*Cllr Tomblin*
4	Planning & Development
4.1	New Applications
a.	20/03299/HSE – 28 Kirby Drive Bramley Single storey front extension. · No objection unanimously agreed. Clerk to process.	*Clerk*
b.	T/00642/20/TPO – Rear Of 14 St James Close Bramley 1 Lime: fell · Cllr Tomblin noted that a BDBC tree panel has agreed that the tree can come down, but still needs to go through formal process due to TPO. · Defer to tree officer view unanimously agreed. Clerk to process.	*Clerk*
c.	20/03403/FUL – Site At Minchens Lane Bramley Installation of renewable led energy generating station, comprising ground-mounted photovoltaic solar arrays, battery-based electricity storage containers together with substation, inverter/ transformer stations, site accesses, internal access tracks, security measures, access gates, other ancillary infrastructure, landscaping biodiversity enhancements including a Forest School, associated car parking and Nature Area · Cllr Flooks requested that all members submit written comments for full Council. · Cllr Tomblin noted that there is acknowledgement of traffic issues and that all traffic will be directed A340. He also noted that education aspects have become a selling point on the application. · Cllr Tomblin noted concerns that there is likely to be a constant low level hum from the site. · Cllr Tomblin noted that there is no sign of any s.106/CIL agreement. He will check with BDBC officers. · It was unanimously agreed that this application and the Bramley Parish Council response to it should be covered in detail at the full Council meeting on 19^th January.	*Cllr Tomblin*
d.	20/03485/VLA – Razors Farm Cufaude Lane Chineham Variation of Section 106 agreement to modify the mortgagee in possession clause · No objection unanimously agreed – happy to be guided by BDBC officers. Clerk to process.	*Clerk*
e.	Any other New Applications · 20/03494/HSE – 18 Oaklea Gardens Bramley Proposed part conversion of existing garage into habitable space o Looks like residents not using the garage as a garage, but there are three spaces at the front of the property. o No objection unanimously agreed. Clerk to process. · 21/00078/ENSC – Land At OS Ref 464762 159811 Minchens Lane Bramley Request for screening opinion for proposed battery storage development o Bramley PC ae due to meet with developers on Thursday – this application will be discussed more fully at the full PC meeting on 19^th January.	*Clerk*
4.2	Approvals/Refusals/Pending (see appendix A) These were noted.
5.	Water Issues
5.1	Update on sewerage issues – Cllrs Bell and Flooks have met up with Thames Water on site to discuss the issues that Bramley faces. A meeting summary can be found at appendix B. Cllr Bell has had responses from Thames Water stating that they are looking into the issues. BDBC have also responded that they will consider the issues as part of the Local Plan Update.
5.2	Update on surface water issues – Work does appear to have been carried out on the Bramley Brook, with some clearance having been done between Centenary Fields and down towards the School.
6.	Minchens Lane s.106 issues
	No further update since the December meeting. Councillors and the Clerk continue to liaise with BDBC and Persimmon. Fencing round balancing pond – this issue has been passed to the management company. BDBC will need to follow this up in due course.

8.	Local Plan Update
	No further update at this time. Cllr Bell noted that the NDP working group should begin looking at updating the Bramley Neighbourhood Plan. This will be covered more fully at the full Council meeting on 19^th January.
9.	Date of Next Meeting
	The date of the next Planning Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 9^th February 2021. Meeting closed at 8.20pm

Signed: …………………………………………………………………. Date: ………………………………………

(Chairman)

Appendix A

Approvals/Refusals*

T/00439/20/TPO – Middle Farm Cottage The Street Bramley

ell/Pruning works as per tree survey report August 2020

Granted

Defer to tree officer, comments

20/02647/RET – 21 Apple Dene Bramley

Change of use of land to the side and rear of the house to residential land and erection of a 1.8m high fence

Granted

No objection, comments

T/00559/20/TCA – Oakenshaw Vyne Road Bramley

T1 London plane: prune.

T2 Lime: reduce lower limb.

Raise no objection

Defer to tree officer, comments

20/02866/LBC – 3 Stocks Farm Cottages The Street Bramley

Replace the clay tiles on lobby roof with slate tiles

Granted

Defer to Conservation Officer

20/02928/HSE – 44 Strawberry Fields Bramley

Erection of single storey rear extension to dining room and replacement of conservatory

Granted

No objection

Pending Applications*

1.	20/00740/FUL – Qps House The Street Bramley Conversion of ground floor from tanning salon (sui generis) and retail (A1) to 2 no. one bedroom flats and retail (A1)	Objection
2.	20/01008/FUL – Land At Locksbridge Farm Cufaude Lane The erection of 1 no. dwelling and associated parking and access	Objection
3.	20/01954/FUL – Cedarwood Silchester Road Bramley Erection of 1 no. single storey dwelling to provide accommodation for parents, associated landscaping and access following demolition of stable/home office	Objection
4.	T/00503/20/TPO – 16 St James Close Bramley Single mature Lime tree: prune	Defer to tree officer
5.	20/02751/LBC – Mill Cottage Vyne Road Bramley Remove ground floor internal wall. External improvements including brickwork repairs, replacement patio door and repairs to paving NB: This property is in a neighbouring Parish	No objection
6.	T/00583/20/TPO – Middle Farm The Street Bramley T1, T2, T3 – Western Red Cedars: prune.	Defer to tree officer
7.	20/03204/VLA – Land At Minchens Lane Bramley Variation of Section 106 agreement attached to 14/01075/OUT to enable the transfer of the Equipped play area, northern kick about and southern kick about areas to the existing management company instead of the Parish Council	No comment as PC has interest in application
8.	20/03092/HSE – 70 Moat Close Bramley Erection of two storey side and single storey front and rear extension	No objection
9.	20/03124/HSE – 103 Coopers Lane Bramley Two ground floor pitched roofed extensions	No objection, comments

*Objections/no objections listed are the decision of Bramley Parish Council only, and do not reflect any submissions placed by members of the public or other bodies with Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council.

Appendix B – Meeting notes, Thames Water

Meeting with Thames Water in Bramley

3^rd December 2020

Attendees: Malcolm Bell, Bramley Parish Councillor

Chris Flooks, Bramley Parish Councillor

Chris Tomblin, Bramley Parish Councillor, Borough Councillor

Nikki Hines, Local Engagement Officer, Thames Water (South Thames Valley)

James Hern, Engineering Officer, Thames Water

The purpose of the meeting was to meet first-hand the personnel in Thames Water who are now dealing with the sewage problem in Bramley and who will be assessing the results of the modelling that has been undertaken by Thames Water concerning Bramley, and also for Bramley Parish Councillors to show first-hand the problems that Bramley is facing concerning the sewage overspill.

The walk around Bramley took us to:

Minchens Lane: – Here we showed the Officers the areas that are constantly flooding. They saw the Bramley Stream at the bridge leading to Clift Meadow, and the holding pond associated with the Minchens Lane housing development. Photographs were taken of the stream, slow flowing with metal fencing from the Persimmon home development thrown into the stream.
Bramley Lane: – The bungalows in North Row down Bramley Lane suffer from Sewage Flooding. This occurred in February 2020 and more recently in October 2020. The Officers saw the area and took photographs of the manholes associated with the flooding and of the culvert on Bramley Lane associated with the stream. The stream is overgrown with weeds and the water was moving slowly.
Along the Path bordering the Stream leading to Strawberry Fields: – The officers saw the surface water outlets into the stream and took photographs of the stream along the path and from the bridge over the stream at Strawberry Fields. If the stream level rises above the outlets then it was suggested that there could be flooding into the sewers.
Continued along the path bordering the stream leading to Centenary Fields and into Centenary Fields: – In Centenary Fields took photos of the manhole that has overflowed with sewage near the Thames Water pumping station on Sherfield Road. Also pointed out the New Houses on Centenary Fields that have suffered sewage back flowing in recent months (2, 3, 4 Meadow Close and 12 and 14 Meadow Close).

Discussion took place at this point with the Officers and photos exchanged of the problems. These are attached along with a video of the water gurgling up in the sink at 2 Water Meadow Close. James supplied a copy of the layout of the pumping station on Sherfield Road.

Discussion: – James Hern is the Officer in charge of the evaluation of model that has been undertaken by Thames Water.

Our understanding from the discussion is that

The results of the modelling indicate that the present facilities are not capable of coping with the existing housing let alone more housing without an upgrade.
The proposal that was suggested in 2014 to overcome the likely sewage overspill associated just with the development of 200 houses on Minchens Lane would not have solved the problems we see now in Bramley with sewage overspill (Sewer Impact Study SMG 1294 G4027. 27/10/2014). The pumping station on Sherfield Road and the capacity of the main running to Sherfield are at the root of the problem. The pumping station has a storage tank that is supposed to take excess sewage in extreme conditions, but this becomes full very quickly, and because the capacity of the pipe running to Sherfield is incapable of taking the extra flow from the housing in Bramley, with the pump working 24/7 and the overflow tank full, then there is back flooding from the station and sewage overspill in North Row and more recently in Centenary Fields because the tank is not allowed to empty.
Solution:-
A sewage main between Bramley and Sherfied needs upgrading to cope with the extra flow. This would definitely be a necessity if more housing is planned for Bramley.
The Pumping Station needs to be overhauled and the problems sorted to eliminate the present problems.
In total there were 3 options proposed. One other was to have an open sewage holding pond which it was agreed was completely unacceptable.

In this area clarification from Thames water would be appreciated as regards the options.

The visit ended at this point. We believe that as a result of the meeting, Thames Water appreciate the problems and misery that the residents of Bramley are suffering as a result of sewage overspill, and that the modelling of Bramley and the results confirm that the present sewage infrastructure is not adequate to cope with the present housing let alone more housing.

We explained to the officers that for every housing application that has been approved in recent years, whilst Thames Consultants have admitted that there could be a problem with sewage overspill there has never been any upgrade in the infrastructure to alleviate this likely problem, resulting in the misery that residents now suffer. It was agreed that the Consultant Officers in Rickmansworth look at the individual application and make their response on an individual basis and do not take into account the overall impact of all applications. No referral is made to the officers such as James who are modelling Bramley as a whole and have found the present inadequacy of the infrastructure.

Correspondence and liaison with Thames Water will continue from this point on, information being supplied by Bramley Parish Council as and when problems arise, and from Thames Water, information concerning the options available for finding a satisfactory solution to the problem which we are assured will be conveyed to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council Planning department and has to be taken into account in considering further housing development in Bramley.

The bottom line is that the present sewage infrastructure in Bramley, tied in with surface water drainage, is incapable of coping with the present housing in Bramley and without considerable upgrade cannot cope with more housing.

Bramley Parish Council would like to thank the Officers of Thames Water for their time spent with councillors, hearing Bramley’s end of the story, and for the information Thames Water Officers supplied. We trust that this is a reasonable summary of the meeting and we would appreciate any corrections as regards the solutions listed.

The Link to the Video of the water back flowing at Centenary Fields, No 2 Meadow Close, below.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MpisgCj6lbCy0n9_-reKQ-dKAsRUTlXW/view?usp=sharing

Drawing of the Pumping Station on Sherfield Road attached to this report

Figure 1: – Manhole in Centenary Field near the Pumping Station overflowing in October 2020

Figure 2: – Second Photo of Manhole in Centenary Fields

Figure 3: – Garden of No 17 North Row, February 2020. Sewage Flooding

Figure 4: – Manhole to the front of 17 North Row which overflows with Sewage and flows down the path. This path leads to the garden of No 18 North Row which also suffers from sewage overspill in the garden.

Pumping Station drawing