19/00324/FULL

Charters School

Charters Road

Sunningdale

Ascot

SL5 9QY

Provision of a dual use leisure facility for combined school and community to include 25 metre 6 lane swimming pool, 8 court sports hall, gym, dance studio and ancillary accommodation, along with landscaping and parking areas.

A motion to approve the application, contrary to the officer recommendation, was put forward by Councillor Knowles. The motion was seconded by Councillor Clark.

The Panel voted unanimously to APPROVE the application, subject to the satisfactory completion of a Section 106 agreement and subject to the condition that a satisfactory surface water drainage scheme be completed, in addition to a full set of conditions being agreed with the applicant and Head of Planning.

In making their decision to approve the application, the Panel had the following observations regarding the reasons for refusal that were listed in the Officer report:

1. Members agreed that substantial weight had to be attributed to the harm to the Green Belt as a result of inappropriate development and harm to openness as defined by the NPPF.

2. Members were of the view that the screening that had been proposed for the site was appropriate and would therefore not detrimentally impact on the existing street scene. Members were of the view that the assessment of the scale and bulk of the design was subjective, and the assessment should be made with the context of the entirety of the application site having been a school for a number of years being taken into account. As such, no harm was attributed to the impact on the character of the area.

3. Members were of the view that the development would be made sustainable as the majority of the facility’s users would be pupils at Charters School, so they would therefore already be on site and there would not be any increase in private motor car usage for special journeys to use the leisure facilities. It was noted that bike storage facilities were included in the proposals, thereby increasing the sustainability of the application site. Members also took the view that local residents would no longer need to rely on private motor car journeys to other locations in order to access similar facilities to those proposed, thereby further increasing the sustainability of the application site and removing community isolation. As such, no harm was attributed to the location of the site.

4. Members were of the view that this reason for refusal could be overcome by way of attaching a condition.

Regarding the benefits of the application, Members were of the view that substantial weight could be given to the educational and community benefits of the application. Furthermore, moderate weight could be attributed to the economic benefits arising from the development. Members were of the view that cumulatively these benefits would outweigh the substantial harm to the Green Belt such that Very Special Circumstances existed that outweighed the harm to the Green Belt.

(The Panel was addressed by Barbara Hilton, on behalf of Sunninghill and Ascot Parish Council; by Charlie Holden, Jack Jones, Richard Pilgrim and Lynda Yong in support of the application; and by Councillors Luxton, Sharpe and Bateson.)