Minutes:
The Chair, Councillor Wann declared that planning policy matters fell under his cabinet portfolio and he stated that he would be making no views on the application.
The Chair agreed to take as urgent business a discussion on the proposed planning application for Fiveways House, Tudor Road.
A member of the public raised concern that the proposed development only included four car parking spaces however there would be a large number of flats built in the development. Concern was also raised that there would be problems caused with noise and more traffic such as when students moved in and out of properties. Members of the public felt the problems would have a detrimental effect on the residential value in the area.
A member of the public stated that there was no car parking space at all in the area and this had been a problem for the last five years.
The Chair commented that there had been an application for the site before that had not been implemented also that the City Council had to consider all applications for development that were submitted. He stated that if anyone wanted to get their opinions considered, writing to the planning department would help and so would any petitions. The Community Meeting was informed that the application had just gone in into the Planning department An application had to be decided within 13 weeks once all the information had been received however if an application required extra information then that would take extra time.
Members of the public raised concern that a lot of people living on Tudor Road did not know about the application. Adrian Russell, Service Director, Environmental Services commented that planning applications were normally advertised with an on site notice and there would also be notification in the Leicester Mercury as well.
A member of the public raised concern that there could be a serious issue where Emergency Services could have their access restricted in the area.
A member of the public stated that the scaffolding that had been erected on the application site was an eyesore and queried the reason that it had been assembled as the people who had erected the scaffolding said nothing would start until next spring. Adrian commented that for someone to erect scaffolding they would need a licence and the Highways department checked if this had been complied with. Adrian mentioned that another way to get views heard on the application would be to approach your local ward councillors.
A member of the public raised concern that a previous application in the area had been approved and had only 6 parking spaces compared with 24 flats. A suggestion was made by a member of the public that Tudor Road should be one way. The Chair commented that previously when speed bumps had been installed in the area the Highways department had considered making Tudor Road one way however had decided against it. Terraced housing in the area had been built when people did not have cars.
A member of the public commented that people around the area wanted a parking scheme however did not want to pay for residents parking. Concern was also raised that students had been consulted on residents parking schemes however they were only staying temporarily in the area. Another member of the public commented that people living the Woodgate area did not want a residents parking scheme. He commented that he received notifications of all planning applications in the city and encouraged other residents to form a residents association to get information from the Council about planning applications.
The Chair encouraged the public to speak to his co-councillor, as he would be unable to speak on their behalf at the meeting due to planning matters falling under his Cabinet portfolio. He commented that he did not know where the application was in its current status with regard if it was going to the Planning and Development Control Committee or not.
A member of the public queried why derelict land could not have been used for the application. The Chair commented that someone had brought the land and the Council could not stop anyone submitting a planning application as they had to consider by law all applications that were submitted to them.
A member of the public raised concern that the notices for the application had been placed a week late on the site and stated that all residents should be notified of the decision as they had a right to know.
RESOLVED:
that the views of the Fosse Community Meeting on the Fiveways planning application be submitted to the Planning department and be included in the application report.