Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive.

The Cabinet Member with the Economy Portfolio introduced the report of the Chief Executive (previously circulated) requesting that consideration be given to the SkerninghamGarden VillageDesign CodeSupplementary Planning Document (SPD) (also previously circulated).

The submitted report stated that arequirement ofthe adopted DarlingtonLocal Plan2016/36 was for the Councilto progress with the creation andadoption of a SPD based on a Design Code for SkerninghamGarden Village; after the decisionof Cabinet on 13 December 2022 (Minute C233/Dec/22 refers), the Skerningham Garden VillageDesign Code Draft SPD was formally consulted upon; and that 102 comments were received from 94contributing consultees.

It was reported that the two consultation processes ensured that all stakeholders had the opportunity to comment on the draft SPD; the Councilwelcomed the various responses to the draft SPD; and that the DesignCode had been amended based on the comments received.

In presenting the report, the Cabinet Member with the Economy Portfolio outlined two amendments to the SPD namely:- in respect of the alignment of the road to avoid existing wooded areas and being visible from the River Skerne, where possible, as detailed in the Guiding Design Principle on page 45, and the deletion of the last sentence in the movement section on page 108 regarding access to the distributor road from within the development, as it conflicted with Local Plan Policy.

A member of the public in attendance at the meeting stated that the UK was one of the most nature depleted countries in the world and that was one of the reasons why Skerningham was so important.  The River Skerne runs through Skerningham and it was one of the most bio-diverse corridors in the town.  Any pollutants during and after the construction works would go directly into the River Skerne and make its way to the River Tees.

Particular references were made at the meeting to the consultation process; the golf club; the distributor road; the speed limit on the road; the review process for the Local Plan and whether that could be brought forward; the possibility of building a bridge across the River Skerne for use by construction traffic; the house types to built on the site; and ambiguity around the amendments.  A Member stated that the document would need to be reviewed and as part of that review consideration should be given to the housing need assessment; nutrient neutrality; biodiversity net gains; building standards; and the woodland.  The Cabinet Member with the Economy Portfolio and the Leader responded thereon.

RESOLVED  -  (a)  That the comments received from the consultation and the subsequent revisions that had been made to the Skerningham Garden Village Design Code Supplementary Planning Document, as appended to the submitted report, be noted.

(b)  That the Skerningham Garden Village Design Code Supplementary Planning Document, as appended to the submitted report, be approved, and it be agreed that it move forward for further consideration and a decision by Council on its adoption at the meeting scheduled to be held on Thursday 20 July 2023, with the following amendments namely the:-

(i)                  change to the second Guiding Design Principle on page 45 to read ‘The road will be aligned to avoid existing wooded areas where possible and shall also be aligned to avoid being visible from the River Skerne where possible. Any loss of woodland will need an appropriate on-site mitigation which must result in net gain in community woodland on site’; and

(ii)                the deletion of the last sentence of the movement section on page 108 which stated ‘There will not be any direct access to the Skerningham Local Distributor Road from within the development’.

REASON - The recommendations for approval of the document as Council Planning Policy have gone through an extended consultation process with the wider public and statutory consultees.  The Document, as amended above, is fit and effective to be adopted as Council Policy complementing the Darlington Local Plan 2016/36.