A further response from Mr Tilbury was received prior to the Parish Council meeting on 3 December regarding the levels and provision for sewerage
“Sewage Capacity
I can confirm that the two outstanding planning conditions which are currently in contention (site levels and surface water drainage strategy) do not relate to sewage provision. There are no planning conditions for the approval and subsequent implementation of a specific sewage scheme. However, the developer has other obligations, particularly through the building regulations process. H1 of Approved Document H describes the requirement for an adequate system to carry away foul water drainage (appended below). Having met with the Mulberry Homes technicians yesterday, I was assured that not only is the sewer system to be adopted by Thames Water (hence meeting the building regulation requirement), that Thames have already given Mulberry Homes technical approval for their proposed sewage system. Officers cannot recommend the refusal of condition 4 (site levels) due to sewage implications; it was conditioned to ensure the satisfactory appearance of the development so sewage is not be a material consideration. No connection has been made yet to the existing Thames Water system.
It is the developer’s responsibility to ensure their scheme complies with both planning control, building regulations and all other legal requirements. I understand the concerns about capacity of the Thames Water system and a suspected priority given to new homes but unfortunately the Local Planning Authority cannot address these concerns. It is for Thames Water to manage sewerage capacities as the statutory undertaker and for the approved inspector to sign off each plot. CDC Building Control has not been asked to inspect this development and an Initial Notice has been accepted for NHBC Building Control Services Ltd to undertake this role. Unfortunately because sewage provision is not stipulated in terms of planning, I am not able to provide reassurances other than to confirm that they have other legal obligations with respect to the building control and section 104 (Thames Water adoption) processes.
Mud / Traffic / Working hours / Nuisance Parking
My email to Jane this week should cover the Council’s current position on these issues and I can confirm that they are still actively being monitored including a site visit today. Officers have visited several times already and have not yet seen any direct evidence of nuisance parking by developers or unsatisfactory road conditions. Officers are constantly reminding the developer of their obligations and will continue to visit unannounced. I noted the cones during today’s visit and if permission was not been sought it should be taken up with the Local Highways Authority. The developer has raised concerns about parked vehicles restricting their site access and I can only assume the cones are in response to this.
From my understanding a further meeting with Mulberry will take place early next week and I also hope to carry out another site visit next week, particularly to address an allegation that developments are occurring near to the restricted area (plot 20-29).