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By 3 votes in favour
(Councillors Anna Bradnam, Corinne Garvie, Peter Sandford), 3 votes
against (Councillors Henry Batchelor, Peter Fane, Heather Williams)
and 1 abstention (Councillor Tumi Hawkins) and on the Chair’s
casting vote, the Committee refused the application for the
following reasons:
 
1.    
The Protected Village Amenity Area is open and rural
in character and derives from the preservation of this area of
undeveloped land within the framework where they protect important
amenity in providing a setting for buildings or offer tranquil area
where there is minimum activity. The proposed development would
erode the tranquillity and the function of the Protect Village
Amenity Area which provides a very open visual penetration through
the site and through the open countryside. Accordingly, layout and
location of the dwellings on the proposed sites would harm the
existing open, dispersed and rural landscape of the surrounding
area and would erode the green verdant landscape that runs east of
the village boundary. This results in a poor design layout that
would not contribute positively to its surroundings and be
inappropriately located thus, creating an urban feel to a rural
landscaped character. The development would therefore have a
significant adverse impact upon the character of the area, contrary
to Policy NH/11, NH/2 and HQ/1 of the South Cambridgeshire Local
Plan 2018 and Paragraphs 135 and 139 of the NPPF (2024).
2.    
The scale, location, intensification of residential
use and the attendant domestic paraphernalia of the proposed
dwellings would be at odds with the rural setting and will not
preserve or enhance the conservation area and would harm the
setting of the Grade II Listed Building of no.94 High Street. No
public benefits have been demonstrated to seek to outweigh the less
than substantial harm to the heritage assets. The proposal would
give rise to a harmful impact on the identified heritage assets and
fails to comply with the provisions of the Planning (LBCA) Act
1990, Paragraphs 212 and 215 of the NPPF (2024) and South
Cambridgeshire Local Plan (2018) Policy NH/14.
3.    
The design and layout of the proposed access
demonstrate that the proposal has taken into
account the importance of all moderate to high quality trees
within the site. However, the proposed design layout of the access
is unacceptable as it would be within the canopy area and the Root
Protection Area (RPA) of tree T7 which is a high value category A
tree which have a Tree Protection Order (TPO). Therefore, the
proposal is contrary to Policies NH/2, NH/4 and HQ/1 of the South
Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018
4.    
Insufficient information has been submitted to
demonstrate that the development would provide comprehensive
biodiversity enhancement plan. Given the character of the site, the
proposal could lead to a significant loss of biodiversity and has
not demonstrated that opportunities have been taken to achieve
appropriate on-site additional biodiversity enhancement and the
protection of the River Mel due to an insufficient buffer of 8m
within the private garden of the proposed development. As such, the
proposal fails to accord with the Environment Act (2021), Policy
NH/4 of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan (2018), the Greater
Cambridge Shared Planning Biodiversity Supplementary Planning
Document (2022) and Paragraphs 187 and 193 of the NPPF
2024.
5.    
The proposed habitable rooms in the roof space of
Plots 1 to 2 would not provide adequate living condition for future
occupiers. The submitted floor plans show bedrooms with only a
rooflight which would provide poor outlook and, the size of the
rooflights do not appear to provide adequate lighting to these
rooms. No daylight and sunlight assessment has been done to
demonstrate these rooms would receive sufficient light. As such,
there is insufficient information to fully access the light quality
of these rooms. Therefore, the proposal fails to comply with Policy
HQ/1 of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018.
6.    
The submitted plans have not shown the provision of
waste storage within each plot. The collection point for the waste
would be on the kerb of the High Street which is some distance
between 61m to 136m. The information submitted is insufficient to
demonstrate that the proposal would adequately provide waste
collection from each plot within the required drag distance of 30m
of the RECAP guidance (2012). Therefore, the development is not in
accordance with Policy HQ/1 of South Cambridgeshire Local Plan
2018.
7.    
Insufficient information has been submitted with
respect to drainage calculations for the entire drainage system
plus climate change events. Additionally, a proposed detailed
drawing of surface water drainage, infiltration tests, management
arrangement and water quality have not be provided. In the absence of this information, the
proposed scheme is not supported in drainage terms and is contrary
to South Cambridgeshire Local Plan Policies CC/7, CC/8, CC/9 and
National Planning Policy Framework paragraph 181 and
182.