Agenda item

 

The committee considered an application for the erection of a 76-bedroom care home (C2) with associated amenity areas, eight care home staff apartments, access road and car parking spaces on land North of Raunds, fronting Brick Kiln Road, North Street, Brooks Road and Midland Road, Raunds, Northamptonshire.

 

The Principal Development Management Officer, Sunny Bains, presented the report to committee, which detailed the proposal, description of the site, the planning history, relevant planning policies, outcome of consultations and an assessment of the proposal, providing full and comprehensive details.

 

It was recommended that planning permission be granted subject to conditions and the completion of a Section 106 legal Agreement.

 

Requests to address the meeting had been received from David Hicks of Country Court Care, the agent and Bill Cross from Raunds Town Council. The committee was given the opportunity to ask questions for clarification.

 

Mr Hicks spoke in favour of the application. He explained, in summary, that the proposed build was bespoke and that there was a need for this type of facility with the ageing population. The building would comprise 76 bedrooms over three floors, along with staff accommodation and good quality materials would be used in the build. In addition to the bedrooms, there would be a reception area, day space, a dining room and kitchen along with parking facilities which would accommodate visitors and those working on the site. 

 

Mr Cross spoke, in summary, and shared his concerns over the proposed development, considering this to be detrimental to the location. He expressed concern over the access to the site and the poor location of the entrance, the future strain on the health care service with the GP Surgery having insufficient capacity to take on any further patients, and the fact that the site was also prone to flooding. He was also concerned that there was insufficient parking on the site and that public transport was limited with the nearest bus stop being 200metres from the site and he considered that this proposal did not best serve the community.

 

The chair invited the committee to determine the application.

 

During the debate, the following points were made:

 

·       In relation to the NHS capacity a financial contribution of £15,900 had been sought from the Clinical Commissioning Group and a question was asked as to how this figure had been put in place. The officer explained that this had been an estimate of the required support to ensure the new population had access to good quality primary health care services.   

·       The legal officer advised that a Section 106 contribution could only be used for the purpose of infrastructure.  An additional surgery would be funded from general taxation.

·       It was noted that this was a care home and not a nursing home, and residents who needed medical attention would potentially be transferred to hospital.

·       Parking concerns were raised as there was no alternative place to park. The officer clarified that intensive studies had indicated that there would be no impact on the road network.

 

It was proposed by Councillor Wilkes and seconded by Councillor Brown that planning permission be granted subject to the conditions contained within the report.

 

On being put to the vote the motion was declared carried with six votes in favour and two abstentions.

 

Resolved that:

 

(i)               planning permission be granted, subject to the conditions contained within the report, and the completion of a Section 106 legal agreement by a date to be agreed;

(ii)             should the Section 106 legal agreement not be completed by a date to be agreed then it be delegated to the Director of Place and Economy to refuse the planning permission.