Agenda and minutes

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Councillor Peter Chapman declared a personal interest in item 6 as he is a Member of Burgess Hill Town Council and the land is owned by Burgess Hill Town Council.

The Minutes of the Committee meeting held on 23 January 2020 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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Steve Ashdown, Team Leader for Major Developments introduced the report.  He drew Members attention to the points of clarification and amendments within the Agenda Update Sheet.

He reminded Members that a decision on the application had been deferred by the Committee at the meeting held on 17 December 2019 regarding safety concerns with the access to the development.  The Committee were advised that the access remains the same with a single priority junction proposed.  He highlighted the provision for a gateway feature to north to help support a potential speed reduction.  The Committee were advised that condition three requires that the reserved matters application should be broadly in accordance with the details in the parameter plans, which were for approval as part of this application.  He confirmed that the officers considered the application is acceptable.

Mrs Hayhurst, local resident spoke in objection to the application, she had concerns with safe access to her property. 

Mr Peter Raynor, local resident spoke in objection to the application. He had concerns with the impact on the heritage buildings and the access to his property.

Ms Isabelle Raynor, local resident spoke in objection to the application, she had concerns with traffic flows. 

Dom Smith, agent spoke in support of the application.  He confirmed that additional modelling had been undertaken and the revised traffic analysis assumed that 25% of the pupils would be from Burgess Hill.

Mark Gimingham, agent spoke in support of the application.  He noted that the proposed realignment of the highway and gateway feature should reduce vehicle speeds. He confirmed Section 106 funding for two vehicle activated signs and the traffic regulations order to reduce the speed limit.

Will Cobley, agent spoke in support of the application.  He advised that the current access design offers the safest highway design and noted Section 106 contributions to benefit the local community.

Cllr Dempsey spoke as Ward Member for Hassocks and advised that the Committee should make their decision using the best possible information including the new traffic analysis.  He expressed concern with the access to Hawthorn Cottage which could conflict with West Sussex County guidelines.  He highlighted the data used for the base line in the traffic survey as recent independent surveys indicate higher traffic flows; and commented that the junction was already approaching peak capacity.  He advised that the existing schools in Hassocks meet current need and only 50% of the places in the new school are taken up by the local need. 

The Chairman confirmed that the application had previously been deferred on traffic grounds and West Sussex County Council had assessed the updated information.

Ian Gledhill, West Sussex County Council (WSCC) commented that the Highway Authority had considered the concerns regarding the access.  The inclusion of a right turn lane had been reviewed and the evidence did not justify one. In addition, constraints meant that it may not be deliverable in any event.  The design of the access is based on the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, which is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Members discussed the cost of the provision of a proposed bridleway and the surfacing materials.  They also expressed concern over the long-term quality of the bridleway for users.

The Team Leader confirmed that the proposed that bridleway would be suitable for horse, pedestrians and cyclists, and that West Sussex Public Rights of Way (PRoW) had been consulted.  He noted that a solid surface is not suitable for horses and noted that condition four covers the surfacing of the bridleway. 

The Chairman noted that the bridleway would have combined users and PRoW do maintain rural bridleways.  He highlighted that three quarters of the link is within application DM/18/4979.

As there were no further questions the Chairman took the Committee to the recommendations and the Committee agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED

That permission be granted subject to the conditions set out in Appendix A.

None.