As we continue to listen to you and develop more detailed designs for South Canterbury, changes to the masterplan are sometimes required. In planning legislation, if these are considered small, they fall within a 'Section 96a' application which allows minor changes to an existing planning permission without requiring a full new application. Because these changes are classified as 'non-material', they do not require public consultation, and the decision rests with the Local Planning Authority.
We have now reached that stage and hope it's helpful to summarise our first S96a application here. We propose to:
- Remove the previously approved Phase 1a (for 140 homes) and its associated planning conditions, meaning this area will revert back to outline consent. The detail for this area will now come forward through a Reserved Matters Application. This also requires a small tweak in the description of the consent to reflect the removal of this area.
- Make small changes to the main street alignment and internal road layouts to create more space for drainage and reduce road construction.
- An adjustment to the location of supporting infrastructure, which is now more closely grouped.
- Update the technical wording within select planning conditions and make minor refinements to parameter plans to reflect our evolving designs and ensure that South Canterbury develops in the most co-ordinated way possible.
- Make some small changes to green spaces, some of which will be a little larger than before. Overall provision of green space remains in line with what was originally approved, with the changes helping these spaces function much more effectively for the community.
In short, these changes will all make South Canterbury a better, more workable place and all involve relatively minor changes to the original plan.
Please do get in touch if you'd like to discuss them.
The full details to view the application online are as follows:
Link: https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/planningsearch
Reference number: CA/26/00685
Given the length and complexity of a project like South Canterbury, there are likely to be future applications of this sort. We will of course continue to keep you updated here as soon as they are submitted.