Agenda and minutes

Councillor Khan welcomed everyone to the meeting. Members of the Committee and officers introduced themselves.

Apologies were received from Councillors Donovan, Chowdhury, Convery and Ward.

There were no declarations of substitute members.

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a)     Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

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This applies to all members present at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The order of business would be as the agenda

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2017 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

Erection of a 12 storey extension to the existing 16 storey building and a 3 to 6 storey

extension to the existing podium block up to 7 storeys to provide additional

office (Use ClassB1a) floorspace; recladding of the existing building to match

the materials of the extensions; change of use of part of the ground floor accommodation to flexible Class A1 (retail) and A3 (restaurant/cafe) uses; demolition of single storey structures and the erection of 6 storey block adjacent to the

western elevation to provide 25 affordable dwellings; alterations to the

public realm, including landscaping and highways improvements and

other associated works.

(Planning application number: P2016/3939/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         Planning Officer informed the meeting of a correction with the Heads of Terms of the committee report that stated that work placements during the construction phase should be provided for 13 weeks instead of 26 weeks.

·         Planning Officer advised Members that if planning permission was granted the application would be subject to a Stage II referral to the Mayor of London and that a Section 38 and a Section 278 agreement would be required in relation to the public realm and highways works which is to be secured through the Section 106 agreement.

·         A stopping up order would be required for Blue Anchor Yard and Errol Street in order to deliver the scheme which would be secured through the s106 agreement.

·         The Head of Terms regarding the phasing of the delivery of the housing and affordable workspace had been updated to note that both affordable housing and affordable workspace would be handed over prior to first occupation of the office floorspace.

·         Planning Officer advised of corrections to Committee report. Paragraph 10.147 final sentence should state that the harm would be ‘relatively minor’. Paragraph 10.304 penultimate sentence should refer to ‘loss of daylight’ only.

·         Members acknowledged that the public benefit of the scheme outweighed any harm to the heritage assets as the scheme offered affordable homes; work space suitable for small businesses; public realm improvements and a significant uplift in office floor space on the site.

·         The Committee noted that the erection of a further 12 storeys was not a significant departure from Council’s Tall Building Policy as the existing building is a ‘tall building’.

·         The Committee requested that details and sample of brickworks/cladding material be submitted to the Chair and Vice Chair of the Planning Committee for approval.

Councillor Klute proposed a motion requesting that details and sample of the cladding material to be agreed by both the Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee. This was seconded by Councillor Poyser and carried.

RESOLVED:

That planning permission be granted subject to conditions set out in the officer report and the additional condition above regarding the details and sample of the cladding materials, subject to s106 legal agreement heads of terms for the reasons and details as set out in Appendix 1.

Redevelopment of the site consisting of demolition of the existing garage structure, refurbishment of the Grade II listed former Verger's Cottage and former Sunday School building to provide 413 square metres (GIA) of office floorspace (Use Class B1), refurbishment and conversion of the Church building to provide 7 private residential units (2 x 1-bed, 4 x 2-bed and 1 x 3-bed) and construction of a new 5-storey building with basement below to provide 792 square metres (GIA) of community floorspace (Use Class D1) and ancillary cafe,132 square metres of office floorspace (Use Class B1) and 18 affordable residential units (7 x 1 bed, 9 x 2 bed and 2 x 3 bed), resulting in a total of 25 residential units (9 x 1-bed, 13 x 2-bed and 3 x 3-bed), along with associated landscaping, access, parking and public realm works.

(Planning application number: P2015/0330/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         Members were informed that although Islington Arts Factory would be relocated to a new facility in the basement of the scheme, it would not necessarily meet the requirements for other communal users.

·         Members were advised that although rent increase was not a material consideration, it was important that both Islington Borough Council and the City of London continued its support of  the Islington Arts Factory via grants.

·         A suggestion to impose a condition that the proposed D1 Use space could only be used for the purposes of an Arts Centre (not used with B1 purposes) within the D1 Use Class category was noted.

Councillor Klute proposed a motion for a condition to ensure that the work space is secured for the purposes of an Arts Centre. This was seconded by Councillor Khan and carried.

RESOLVED:

That planning permission be granted subject to conditions in the officers report and the additional condition outlined above regarding the continued use of the work space by the Arts Centre and subject to s106 legal agreement heads of terms as set out in Appendix.

Refurbishment and conversion of Grade II listed former Verger's Cottage and refurbishment of former Sunday School building to provide 413 square metres (GIA) of office floorspace (Use Class B1), including repairs to and reinstatement of window glazing and frame, along with demolition of link extension to the rear.

(Planning application number: P2016/5054/LBC)

RESOLVED:

That Listed Building Consent be granted subject to the conditions set out in Appendix 1 of the officer report and subject to Planning Permission being Granted for the planning application P2015/0330/FUL.

Demolition of six dwellings, the central podium, garages and one retail unit and the construction of 54 new dwellings (including 27 homes for social rent), provided as infill developments, an additional seventh floor on existing residential blocks and a new part 7/part 8 storey corner building with associated private amenity space, bicycle storage, a new landscaped courtyard garden and improvements to the public realm. The application also includes the provision of 146.8sqm of retail floorspace to replace the demolished unit.

(Planning application number: P2016/4634/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         The Planning Officer clarified an error in the report about shared ownership as there was none in this scheme.

·         The Planning Officer advised that the new proposal would create 54 new homes, new retail unit, improved access to the dwellings and new landscaping  including community and growing gardens

·         With regards to landscaping, the meeting was advised that the communal garden would be built on top soil in its entirety and that throughout the application process residents were adequately consulted either on open days or written letters.

RESOLVED:

That planning permission be granted subject to the conditions and director level agreement securing the heads of terms for the reasons and details as set out in Appendix 1.

Use of premises as a hostel providing residential accommodation for hotel staff (Sui Generis).

(Planning application number: P2016/2405/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         The Planning Officer advised that although the loss of a care home was a material consideration, the Council had provided adequate replacement accommodation for the previous occupants.

·         Members informed Members that condition 3 which required the applicant to paint the roller shutter that covers the entrance to the basement black should be deleted as the applicants had undertaken the works.

·         The Planning Officer informed that the applicant would still be required to address concerns relating to equity of access and mobility, sustainability and carbon reduction.

·         Members were advised that the new bathroom arrangements for the flats flanking Goswell Road/Percival Street junction would have to be carried out prior to completion of the development and 5 new trees to be planted along Cyrus Street, to be secured by two clauses in the legal agreement.

RESOLVED:

That planning permission be granted subject to conditions as set out in Appendix 1.