The following was posted at the request of the Great Barrow Community Shop Ltd. Committee on 28th January 2021.
Dear Shareholder,
At the joint meetings with the PC, we asked them to confirm the position regarding outstanding planning conditions on the Pavilion. Although we have not received a response directly, we have identified a planning advice document received by the PC from the Cheshire West and Chester planning department regarding this matter.
This was made available on the PC website (www.barrowpc.org) as an attachment to the Agenda of the Extraordinary PC Meeting on 19th January after the meeting was held. To our knowledge it was not referenced during the meeting itself and as such may not be provided in full in the minutes when they are made available. As such this may not have been seen by shareholders or residents as it may not appear in the Barrow News minutes or be found on the PC website easily.
Please find attached the response for your information.
As you will see from the response there are a number of outstanding issues that need to be addressed. At the PC meeting in March, we will ask them for clarity as to these being satisfied and the impact on the project.
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“CHESHIRE WEST AND CHESTER COUNCIL PLANNING DEPARTMENT INFORMATION SENT TO THE PARISH COUNCIL IN RELATION TO PLANNING PERMISSION 18/04079/FUL
As discussed the application 19/01750/DIS seeks to discharge conditions 4 (parking area details) and condition 7 (details of the external colour and finish) of planning permission 18/04079/FUL. However following discussions with Jennifer Weigh you wished to discharge the remaining conditions and additional details were submitted. However, whilst we can consider the remaining conditions under this application I am concerned that some of the information submitted differs to what has been built on site, and the specifics of the application are not clear for the public. Therefore, to ensure that the application is correct I request that you submit an updated application form with the correct relevant information for each condition that is being sought to be discharged. I have attached a form for you, and you can submit the documents and any further relevant information to myself. The development that is currently on site is different to that which was proposed under planning application 18/04079/FUL and even with the details submitted under the discharge of conditions application. We have also received complaints that the building in situ is larger than what was approved. I would be very grateful if you could provide me with information on the size of the building i.e., do you have a plan or invoice that clarifies the size? I can then check this against what was approved under the planning reference 18/04079/FUL. Having reviewed all the relevant information and having carried out a site visit the Authority is concerned about the appearance of the development within the Conservation Area. Whilst I understand some of the reasoning behind some of the changes, these details have not been agreed by the Planning Authority. Our main concerns related to finished surface of the car park & access road and the landscaping details. The fencing that has been erected is very stark and making the car parking and building very prominent in its surroundings. It does not provide a sympathetic boundary edge to the park. Furthermore, as an interface with the new development site it is considered visually inappropriate. Whilst I understand that a similar type of fencing surrounds the bowling green, it is tucked in a corner, and is smaller in length. We recommend that the fencing (except the bowling green fencing) is removed and replace with a simple post and rail and wire behind for safety like the existing fencing surrounding the playing field. An alternative option to consider is the painting the fencing a dark brown colour so that it is visually more recessive and to carry out an extensive soft planting scheme (on the park side) with a native semi evergreen mix and maintained to the height of the fence. You can find details of appropriate planting at the link below https://evergreenhedging.com/hedging-store-2/native-mixed-hedging.html/ Surfacing The proposed surfacing of the car park and access was to be grasscrete, which is a concrete matrix with soil and grass infill. The installed surfacing is not grasscrete, and details was submitted on the discharge of conditions application, and the proposed finished gravel was to be green, as detailed in the discharge of condition application. The geo block paving is considered an acceptable and permeable surface for the car park, but the choice of gravel is unacceptable; and we recommend might be to removing the top 30/ 40mm of gravel and to replace with a more decorative aggerate such as Cheshire/ Staffordshire Pink (15mm – 4mm clean stone aggregate). We also note that the access and car park are not finished in the same material and the access route finish is not acceptable. Whilst I understand that one of your members spoke with Tony from highways to discuss the changing the surfacing from grasscrete and materials, Tony would only have viewed this from a highways perspective and not taken in to account other important aspects of the overall development such as appearance and aesthetic. This is something that should have been discussed with the Planning Officer in charge of the application at the time. The authority would like to come to a solution for the above issues and we are willing to work alongside you to achieve the best outcome. We have highlighted the above options as a way forward, however if you feel that there are other options/consideration that need to be taken in to account then we are more than happy to review them.” (end)