Plans to build seventy two homes on the edge of Paulton have been sent back to the developers in the first test of a new green planning policy — but it was not the main issue for most councillors.

Bath and North East Somerset Council’s planning committee voted on February 8th to defer their decision on whether to grant planning permission for the development by housing association LiveWest, in the first decision made under new planning rules passed by the council last month.

The housing association had wanted to build seventy two homes on part of the old print works site in Paulton, just off Oxleaze Way. Either one hundred percent or thirty percent of these would be affordable housing, depending on whether certain conditions were removed.

But the planning application, which was submitted last year, was not compliant with the new planning rules adopted last month which require new housing developments must be net-zero. Renewable energy must be generated on site or, in exceptional circumstances, developers may be able to pay into a carbon offsetting fund.

Councillor Duncan Hounsell, a member of the planning committee, said: “This is the first development where we have our new set of policies. It just seems perverse that the very first time they are not being applied.”

For many councillors, the “crucial” issue was not compliance with the council’s new housing policy but instead over the building of a nursery and a roundabout, and how many of the homes would be affordable.

LiveWest said that it could only get the funding to deliver one hundred percent of the houses as affordable homes if two “grampian conditions” were removed. If the conditions stayed in place it said only thirty percent of the homes could be built as affordable, as the Homes England grant money behind the development would expire.

The conditions would have meant that the development would have to wait for a new roundabout on the junction of Oxleaze Way and Paulton Road and a new nursery, which were supposed to be part of the development of the print works.

These are known as “grampian conditions” because they depend on things outside of the developers control.

Councillor Shaun Hughes said: “My concern here is that we are being given […] two scenarios. Scenario A, we get oe hundred percent affordable houses but we have to drop the conditions. Scenario B, we only get thirty percent affordable houses but we keep the conditions."

“And to me neither of those scenarios are acceptable; clearly, the conditions are there for a reason.”

Councillors voted to defer the decision for two months in order for LiveWest to find a way to build the full amount of affordable housing without removing the conditions.

Mr Hounsell said this would also give time for a report into embodied carbon on the site to be carried out and for the developers to make plans to contribute to the carbon offsetting fund, as now required under council policy.

Councillor for Paulton Liz Hardman addressed the meeting to object to the application which she said was for a “disproportionate” amount of homes. She said that the roundabout should have been built in 2010 and the nursery should have been built in 2015.

She said: “Paulton has been hugely let down by the [Bath and North East Somerset] planning system. Two very important considerations, two very important parts of the development, two very important parts of the S106 agreements have not been put in place.

“So the developers have been able to get away without having to build these commitments and I would hope that today you make sure that these actually are put in place.”

Councillors voted to defer the decision to no later than April 26th.

The local plan partial update, which brought the new green policies into effect in Bath and North East Somerset, was passed almost unanimously, with only three abstentions, by a session of full council on Thursday January 19th.

John Wimperis