by Trevor Bevins, Local Democracy Reporting Service.
A container store site has been refused for an existing car park site on the Granby industrial estate.
The application had requested 34 containers, most of them 20-foot long, ten of 10-foot length and all 2.6metres tall. All were to be used for ‘lock up and leave’ storage, likely to be used by small businesses or individuals.
The development would have led to the loss of 39 car parking spaces, the 5a Surrey Close site having been in that use since 1986.
Several councillors were unhappy about what might happen to the cars which usually park there with concerns also about the lack of information on traffic movements in and out of the site and the potential impact on biodiversity by the development.
Councillor Louie O’Leary (Littlemoor and Preston), who works on the estate, said the site was under-used for parking, which the tenant who leased the land could stop if he chose. The site itself if owned by Dorset Council and leased out.
“I just don’t see the issue with this personally,” said Cllr O’Leary who pressed for the change of use to be allowed.
An agent for the developer said that no jobs would be created by the changes to storage use which he said was an appropriate one for the site and made better use of the land, rather than for car parking.
Planning officers had recommended refusing the scheme because of a lack of evidence about possible harm to the biodiversity of the area and a risk of increased highway danger.
Despite the concerns the site is said by planning officers to be suitable for the use, given that surrounding buildings are on an industrial site.
Associated works proposed for the Surrey Close development, adjacent to the Dorset Echo offices, included new electric gates, the reconfiguration of the car park and modification of the existing cycle store to make it smaller.
The Dorset Council area planning committee deciding the application on Thursday heard that there had been changes since the proposal was first made, including moving the Palisade fencing further back into the site to allow more planting to help screen the area.
A re-working of the layout resulted in proposals for the bigger containers to be along the edge of the site, the smaller ones in the middle.
Councillors heard that despite several requests the business behind the proposal had not provided information about the environmental impacts of the scheme or further site use information.
Cllr Pete Roper, Portland, said he was initially concerned about the loss of the car parking places and the impact that might have on the estate with drivers having to then seek other spaces, but said his fears had been allayed during the meeting.
Cllr Neil Eysenck (Eggardon) said he was left without clarity on what he described as “some fairly fundamentally issues” and proposed refusal on the ground of highway safety and biodiversity harm.
A 5-5 vote led to the chairman using his casting vote to refuse the application.
