Agenda item

20241627 - 60 Asquith Boulevard, Sakeena House

Ward: Knighton

Proposal: Change of use from dwellinghouse (Class C3) to residential young persons care home (2 children) (Class C2); installation of two bike racks

Applicant: Mr Sulman Ahmed

The Planning Officer presented the report.

Members of the Committee considered the report and Officers responded to the comments and queries raised.

The Committee was concerned by the current legislation and governance of service provision, oversight and regulation of the provision of small independent Childrens’ care homes which is not a matter planning legislation can effectively control. It strongly recommends that the scope, effectiveness, impacts and costs associated with the current system on children, neighbourhoods and council policy and budgets be subject to consideration by the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Commission. 

The Chair summarised the application and the points raised by Members of the Committee and moved that in accordance with the Officers recommendation, the application be approved subject to the conditions set out in the report. This was seconded by Councillor Cassidy and upon being put to the vote, the motion was CARRIED.

RESOLVED: permission was granted subject to conditions

              CONDITIONS

1.           The development shall be begun within three years from the date of this permission. (To comply with Section 91 of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990.)

2.           Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987, as amended, or any order amending or revoking and replacing that Order with or without modification, the premises shall not be used for any purpose other than for a care home within Class C2 of the Order. (To enable consideration of the amenity, parking and highway safety impacts of alternative Class C2 uses, in accordance with Policies CS03, CS08 and CS14 of the Leicester Core Strategy (2014) and saved Policy PS10 of the Local Plan (2006).

3.           The premises shall not accommodate any more than 2 residents in care at any one time. (To enable consideration of the amenity of residents and parking impacts of a more intensive use, in accordance with Policy CS14 of the Leicester Core Strategy (2014) and saved Policy PS10 of the Local Plan (2006).

4.           Development shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved plans and documents:

              Proposed Floor Plans - Received 19/09/2024

              Bicycle Rack Details - Received 27/09/2024

              Care Management Plan - Received - 24/10/2024

              (For the avoidance of doubt).

              NOTES FOR APPLICANT

1.           The City Council, as local planning authority has acted positively and proactively in determining this application by assessing the proposal against all material planning considerations, including planning policies and representations that may have been received and subsequently determining to grant planning permission with appropriate conditions taking account of those material considerations in accordance with the presumption in favour of sustainable development as set out in the NPPF 2023.

2.           There are statutory exemptions and transitional arrangements which mean that the biodiversity gain condition does not always apply.

              Based on the information available, this permission is considered to be one which will not require the approval of a biodiversity gain plan before development is begun because the following statutory exemption/transitional arrangement is considered to apply:

              Development below the de minimis threshold, meaning development which:

              i) does not impact an onsite priority habitat (a habitat specified in a list published under section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006); and

              ii) impacts less than 25 square metres of onsite habitat that has biodiversity value greater than zero and less than 5 metres in length of onsite linear habitat (as defined in the statutory metric).

3.           As the rear extension approved via prior approval (Ref:20241436) was not implemented before the submission of application 20241627, the rear extension can not be completed parallel to the change of use application and if still required must be re-applied for via the relevant process.