Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence and notification of substitutes (if any).

Apologies were tabled by Councillor Alison Austin with Councillor Paul Gleeson substituting.

To sign and confirm the minutes of the last meeting.

With the agreement of the committee the Chairman signed the minutes of the last meeting held on the 5 December 2023

To receive declarations of interests in respect of any item on the agenda.

Standing declarations of interest were tabled

To answer any written questions received from members of the public no later than 5 p.m. two clear working days prior to the meeting – for this meeting the deadline is 5 p.m. on 29^th February 2024.

No questions were tabled.

Full Planning Permission:

Erection of 70 dwellings including associated landscaping, an electric substation, walls, fencing, provision of car parking courts, construction of vehicular and pedestrian access, internal roads, associated landscaping and the extension of an attenuation basin and provision of surface and foul water drainage comprising Phase 5 Heron Park, Boston in accordance with amended plans and additional documents received by the Local Planning Authority on 08 Aug 2023.

Land to the north of Slippery Gowt Lane, Boston, north of previous phases of the Heron Park development

Chestnut Homes

Erection of 70 dwellings including associated landscaping, an electric substation, walls, fencing, provision of car parking courts, construction of vehicular and pedestrian access, internal roads, associated landscaping and the extension of an attenuation basin and provision of surface and foul water drainage comprising Phase 5 Heron Park, Boston in accordance with amended plans and additional documents received by the Local Planning Authority on 08 Aug 2023.

Land to the north of Slippery Gowt Lane, Boston, north of previous phases of the Heron Park Development

Chestnut Homes

The Senior Planning Officer presented the report and confirmed that the application had been referred to the committee by officers due to the level of public interest generated by the case and to allow a full and public discussion of the material planning considerations involved. These include the principle of the development, amenity impacts, open space provision, design and appearance in relation to local character, flood risk and drainage and other matters. The ward member had been consulted and concurs with this referral.

The application site consisted of 2.12 hectares of arable land. The southern part of the site was part of a larger parcel of 7.9 hectares forming the Heron Park development of up to 200 dwellings. The northern western part of the site was not part of Heron Park as originally consented and was not allocated under the Local Plan.

The site was on the south-eastern fringe of the built form of Boston and was bounded to the south and east by earlier phases of Heron Park and a drainage dyke, to the west by existing residential development on Wyberton Low Road and to the east by Heron Way.

A belt of woodland lay to the north of most of the site, beyond which was the Marsh Lane commercial park. An attenuation pond lay to the north of the extreme north-western part of the site. The site was adjacent to earlier phases of Heron Park to the south and east which are either occupied or at an advanced stage of construction. The topography was flat, and the site lay entirely within Flood Risk Zone 3 (FRZ3).

The Senior Planning Officer further referenced the historic builds on the site and the level of representation received in respect of the application.  A visual presentation highlighted the application in detail addressing key material planning decisions, statutory consultee responses and concluded by advising members that it was a complex proposal, and one which raised significant planning issues.  Whilst some aspects were clear cut, in others the material planning considerations were more finely balanced despite the considerable level of work undertaken by the Authority and the applicant to improve the scheme.

However, whilst the location and the site history made the background to the scheme a complex one, careful analysis showed the principle of the development to be sound.  In terms of the planning balance, the negatives - including the ‘loss’ of land previously considered as public open space, neighbour impacts and development in an area of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 183.