The relevant planning authority is Hart District Council (HDC), and the highway authority is Hampshire County Council (HCC). Copies of the submissions and decisions are available to the public at the Hart District Council Planning Portal using the references in the headings below.
2016 – 15/02998/FUL
- Initial application for planning consent following a favourable pre-app consultation
- Demolition of existing double garage and erection of twotorey building for D1 use as Community Nursery with new access and associated car parking and landscaping.
- Condition 8 – No development shall take place on site until details of a scheme for traffic management and safety engineering initiatives has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority, and the use hereby approved shall not be commence until the approved measures have been completed to the satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority. The scheme shall include phasing provisions for both on and off site facilities.
- Condition 12 – The building hereby approved shall only be in used between 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday inclusive and shall not be used at any other time.
- Condition 14 – The use hereby approved shall operate with a maximum of 9 Full Time Equivalent members of staff.
2018 – BROD/15/02998/CON
- Application for discharge of planning conditions containd in Decision 15/02998/FUL
- Conditions fully discharged: 2- external surfaces- 3- surface water drainage- 4-i nternal flood management- 5- tree survey and method statement- 6- vegetation trimming- 7- travel plan- 9- CEMP- 10- landscaping- and 13- contamination
- Conditions partially discharged: 8- The Council’s Highways Officer has reviewed the submitted information and considers it to be satisfactory. I can therefore confirm that this condition can now be discharged.
- In accordance with the provisions of condition 8, the development must be carried out in line with the approved details : B3272 Hawley Road Junction Traffic Management & Safety Engineering Proposals (13/04/16, T.Ellis)
- The Highways Officer has also provided the following informative: “Please note that the applicant would require a minor s278 with the highway authority”.;
2021 – 21/01632/AMCON
- Minor Material Amendment (S73 application) of planning permission (ref: 15/02998/FUL)
- The Minor Material Amendment sought was the removal of condition no 8 as the condition failed the required validity tests
- Condition 8 restated with specific requirement statements as:
- “The scheme for traffic management and safety engineering initiatives associated with the development hereby permitted, shall be fully implemented in accordance with details approved under discharge of condition approvals ref: 15/02998/CON and 19/02006/CON. The use of the development hereby approved shall not commenced until the approved scheme has been completed to the satisfaction of Hampshire County Council in their capacity of Local Highway Authority.”
- Replacement Condition 8 reason:
- “In the interest to achieve a safe pedestrian route for users of the development and highway safety to satisfy policy INF3 of the adopted Hart Local Plan and Sites 2016-2032, saved local policy GEN1 and the NPPF 2021.”
- The previous Condition 13 concerning contamination was replaced with a new condition stating “Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020, the land shall only be used as a Nursery (Land use Class F1) and for no other purpose or use falling within the same Land
Inconsistencies in Approved Consents
- Minor Material Amendment (S73 application) 2021 – 21/01632/AMCON introduced the following inconsistancies :
- Planning Class D1 of the original consent (15/02998/FUL) was re-stated as Class F1. The Business and Planning Act 2020 redfined day nurseries as Class E (f) “Non-residential creche, day centre or nursery”. Use class F1 only allows us as a learning and non-residential institution.
- Re-statement of Condition 8 required full Implementation of details contained in approvals 15/02998/CON and 19/02006/CON.
- 19/02006/CON was an application in 2019 to vary the construction method approved in condition 10 of the original consent (15/02998/FUL) to the entrance door to provide enhanced root devevelopment within the tree root protection area around the main entrance door. This condition was fully discharged and had no relevance to Condition 8.
- 15/02998/CON required the highway development to be carried out in line with the approved details : B3272 Hawley Road Junction Traffic Management & Safety Engineering Proposals (13/04/16, T.Ellis). Despite the detail having been approved by HDC Planning and incorporated into a formal consent document, HDC Highways subsequently rejected the layout and required an alternative arrangement to be submitted for forwarding to Hampshire County Council for a fromal s278 agreement. The specified requirement differed in both layour and location on the highway.
- 21/01632/AMCON was submitted as a Section 73 application and therefore permission granted under section 73 takes effect as a new, independent permission to carry out the same development as previously permitted subject to new or amended conditions. The new permission sits alongside the original permission, which remains intact and unamended. The replacement condition 13 is not present in the original 15/02998/FUL
2022 – Appeal Ref: APP/N1730/W/22/3290378
- In view of the inconsistancies in approvals issued by HDC, a section 78 oppeal was made to re-examine the decision process of Condition 8
- The Planning Inspector found:
- The permitted use class F1 stated in 21/01632/AMCON was agreed to be in error and that the permitted use of the nursery should be use class E.
- 21/01632/AMCON is varied by deleting conditions 8 and 13 and substituting them for the following conditions:
- The Planning Inspector found that the details approved under the approvals did not reflect the works which were agreed between the appellant and the Council’s Technical and Environment Services team (which were subsequently sent to Hampshire County Council for s278 technical approval).
- Condition 8 was therfore ammended to require highway developments to be carried out in accordance with General Arrangement Drawing (D1361-100). This corrected the planning requirement to be in accordance with the layout submitted by HDC Highways for s278 agreement.
HCC s278 – Minor Works Agreement
- Application for an s278 Minor Works Agreement made to HCC in January 2018.
- Requirement described by HDC Infrastructure as a simple engineering solution to higlight the precence of Hawley Green junction and provide a crossing facility incorporating dropped kerbs with tactile paving and appropriate signage on the approach.
- Design Check completed by HCC 12/2021 following a complaint submission
- Design Audit completed by HCC 01/2024
- s278 Legal Agreement concluded 08/2024
- Post construction Stage 3 Road Safety Audit accepted by HCC 01/2025
- Combined Certificate of Completion & Maintenance issued by HCC 10/2025
- The remaining of Condition 8 of the Planning Consents have been fully satified.
- The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGSO) is currently investigating HCC Highway’s conduct