Planning board member felt “pilloried” after councillors voted against changes at a tree business

Cllr Robert Taylor felt the committee was being convinced to change their minds after turning down Carrier Landscapes’ proposals for Lindrick Dale Nursery.

The retrospective application asks for a widened access off the A57, among other changes at the 12-hectare site at Lindrick.

RMBC officers recommended approval but there were 18 objections so the matter went to the planning board, where it was rejected by six votes to five last Thursday (14).

Members heard from objectors who were concerned about road safety. Cllr Clive Jepson, vice chairman of Anston Parish Council, said visibility at the entrance made this an “accident waiting to happen”.

Applicant Duncan Carrier said there had been 31 HGV movements this year, nine of which involved articulated lorries. The business was employing locals and had planted 8,000 trees and 61,000 shrubs this year, he added.

Simon Gammons, RMBC highways development control officer, said visibility met industry standards, and there had only been one accident causing an injury on this stretch of the A57 in five years.

After the board voted against the application, there was a suggestion of a half-hour adjournment for members to speak with officers to formalise the reasons for rejection.

But Stuart Evans, the council’s planning lawyer, said: “Any consideration for reasons for refusal needs to be in an open forum. We can’t do it in closed session.”

Further discussion took place in the town hall chamber with officers who had recommended approval, after which there was the suggestion of voting to defer the matter for an agreement to be reached between the applicant and RMBC over vehicle movements.

Cllr Taylor said: “I’m a bit uncomfortable with this process, where the application has been put in front of us, we’ve had a democratic vote, we’ve voted to reject it and we sort of get pilloried into a position where we’ve had to have a long, drawn-out discussion about how we justify that.

“We have a number of different opinions coming in and it all seems to me that it’s to try and convince you not to go the way you’ve voted.”

Chair of planning Cllr Alan Atkin said: “You have to have reasons for refusal because that will then be the subject for the developer to go to appeal.

“You went against the officer recommendation, I asked you as members to put forward a reason for refusal and you couldn’t decide between yourselves.”

The matter was deferred until January 18.