Agenda and minutes

Councillor Khan welcomed everyone to the meeting. Members of the Committee and officers introduced themselves and the Chair outlined the procedures for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillors Picknell, Kay and Ward.

There were no declarations of substitute members.

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

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§  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.

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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 per the agenda.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2017 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

Demolition of the existing building and the construction of a seven storey, plus basement, building providing 6,369 sqm of B1 (business) floorspace, including 279sqm as 3no. flexible B1/D1 (non-residential institutions) SME units accessed from Angel Mews.  Internal substation, cycle storage, and bin stores, roof level plant enclosure, photovoltaic panels, outdoor terraces, and associated works.

(Planning application number: P2017/0297/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         The Planning Officer informed the meeting that no additional representations had been received from neighbouring residents since the publication of the agenda.

·         Members were advised of a typographical error - On page 16 of the report, paragraph 6.1 where the existing floor space states 1,800sqm that it should be 2,431sqm. Also that the site PTAL as noted on page 15/para 5.2 as “6b”, and on p44/para 10.122 as “6a”, is correct but should read PTAL “6a/b”.

·         In response to concerns about the loss of light to the windows on the lower floors of Angel House, the case officer acknowledged that the additional height as a result of the proposal would have an impact but in the view of officers was not to such an extent to warrant a refusal.

·         A neighbour was concerned that in addition to other developments around the area, the proposal would result in further unacceptable impacts on neighbouring amenity. She was also concerned that the scale of the proposal would result in loss of reduced daylight and the use of the outdoor terraces would result in an increase in noise and loss of privacy. The resident raised concerns about the accuracy of the noise report especially with the additional noise that would be generated from the proposed plant being sited on the top floor of the building.

·         With regards to the noise pollution from the plant, the agent informed the meeting that some of the plant would be sited in the basement and that condition 19 in the report would ensure that noise levels from the proposed plant had been assessed.

·         With regard to the use of the outdoor terraces especially as the proposal was for an office development, the case officer confirmed that the third floor terrace has been omitted from the plans. A suggestion to amend condition 9 requiring that the outdoor terraces would not be used after 17.00 on weekdays and would not be used at weekends was put forward and agreed. Questions were raised regarding the privacy screens and it was acknowledged that privacy panels were included as part of the proposal.

·         Members acknowledged that there were neighbouring amenity impacts with respect of daylight and that concerns are never ignored but that the guidelines should be considered and applied flexibly as stipulated by the BRE Guidance. Additionally Members stated that planning decisions require a balance between the benefits and harm of a scheme and that in this instance the benefits of increased employment floorspace, a welcome high quality design for this site which is otherwise in a dilapidated state and given that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 357.