Issue - meetings

Proposal Description: Retrospective change of use of dwelling to allow the premises to be used for supported living for up to 4 adults with learning difficulties (Amended Plans).

The application was introduced and members were referred to the update sheet which provided additional information, which could be summarised as follows:

1.   Site Description (Page 16, Paragraph 3): The text was amended to clarify that the closest residential neighbours were 10-13 Albany Court (rather than 9-13 Albany Court).

2.   Proposal and Sustainable Transport (Pages 17 and 29): To reflect that the facility was at full occupation with four adults, the following amendments were made:

a.   The deletion of the text ‘(currently occupied by three adults)’ from paragraph 2 of the ‘Proposal’ section on page 17.

b.   The deletion of the text ‘each of the’ from paragraph 2 of the ‘Sustainable Transport’ section on page 29.

The following verbal update was also provided to the committee.

1.   Page 16 (Penultimate Paragraph): The reference to a dimension of "0.95 centimetres" was corrected to read "0.95 metres".

2.   Condition 1: The plan relating to the acoustic fencing (Plan Reference: S.NM.417.04 Revision A), which had been omitted from the report, was to be included.

During public participation, Neil March, Hayden Foster, and Cass Palmer spoke in support of the application and answered members' questions.

Cllr Fleuren spoke as a ward member and expressed several points on behalf of residents which could be summarised as follows.

1.   Councillor Fleuren clarified that objections to the application were not objections to assisted living or care facilities.

2.   Councillor Fleuren noted that this was a retrospective application and evidence demonstrated that the change of land use by Acorn Healthcare over several years resulted in noise and disturbance which exceeded that of a residential dwelling and caused harm to neighbouring amenities.

3.   Winchester City Council Environmental Health had received complaints in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, and 2026, and environmental protection officers had expressed concerns regarding the impact on neighbouring residents.

4.   Councillor Fleuren stated that if the committee were not convinced the applicant could mitigate these harms, the application should be refused. If approved, conditions were required to mitigate the impacts.

5.   Councillor Fleuren requested the following six changes to the proposed conditions:

a.   That the condition relating to pleached trees should specify evergreen trees.

b.   That the landscaping conditions include a suitable depth of bed around the property boundary to reduce the possibility of objects being thrown over the fences.

c.   That opaque window treatments were required for any first-floor rooms overlooking Albany Court that were not residents' bedrooms.

d.   That triple glazing be installed on first-floor windows overlooking neighbouring gardens if keeping them closed failed to mitigate noise.

e.   That a condition was required to ensure the garden entrance to flat two was restricted to garden access and not used as the main external entrance.

f.   That other elements were conditioned to reduce the impact on the closest neighbours, as the acoustic fencing fell short of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6