Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies were received from Councillor Mackmurdie.

There were no declarations of substitute members.

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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 B2 and B1.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 October 2019 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

Construction of a two storey roof level extension and six storey side extension to the existing building to create 1,418 sqm GIA of additional office (Class B1(a)) floorspace, a nine storey side extension on the eastern elevation to accommodate an additional lift, reconfigured entrance to Martha's Buildings, new hard landscaping scheme on Martha's Buildings, roof terraces at seventh and eighth floors, installation of new plant equipment and provision of cycle and refuse stores. (Departure from Development Plan).

(Planning application number: P2019/2450/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         The Planning Officer informed the meeting that the application site is located on the southern side of Old Street, adjoining the western side of Martha’s Buildings and not located within a Conservation Area, however the Bunhill Fields/Finsbury Square and St Luke’s Conservation Area.

·         Members were advised that the proposal provides an additional 1,418sqm of B1(a) office floorspace and Affordable Housing contribution of £226,880 and a contribution of £288,660 towards Affordable Workspace.

·         The Planning Officer advised that the proposal will result in the height of the building being increased from 27metres to 32 metres which amounts to a tall building. Members were also advised that the proposed extensions, alterations and additions to the existing building would result in improvements to its overall appearance. The proposals also include a new hard landscaping scheme on the Martha’s Buildings access road and the creation of roof terraces at seventh and eight floors for use in connection with the office accommodation.

·         On the question of whether the proposed material was sympathetic with the original building, the meeting was advised that a condition would be imposed requiring details and samples of all external facing materials including windows and a sample panel of brickworks and mortar will be submitted for approval.

·         With regard to sunlight and daylight loss, the Planning Officer advised that findings of the BRE report submitted confirms that overall the nature of the transgressions above the BRE guidance threshold were minimal and it only affected few units.

·         On the departure from the Tall building policy, the Planning Officer advised that although the site is not located in one of the areas designated in the Finsbury Local Plan as appropriate for a tall building, it has been demonstrated that the building would not be substantially taller than its neighbours and would not significantly change the skyline and was not in conflict with the aims of the policy in relation to relative heights and was acceptable in the site’s local context.

·         On the suggestion to reduce the height of the building in line with the policy on tall buildings, the agent informed the meeting that having tested the proposal, working with council officers, its full consideration by the Design Review Panel and the daylight assessment with minimal digressions, not much further could be done.

·         With regard the impact of the scheme on neighbouring amenity, Members were advised that the proposal would not result in unacceptable impacts on neighbouring residential nor office amenity, including any loss of daylight  ...  view the full minutes text for item 129.

Two storey roof extension to the existing building to create additional office space (B1a Use Class) along with associated refurbishment and external alterations.

(Planning application number: P2018/3191/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         The Planning Officer reminded the meeting that following Committee’s consideration of the item at its meeting in September, a decision was taken to defer the item in order to allow officers and the applicant to have further discussions with TFL and consult with neighbouring residents on seeking revised delivery and servicing arrangements in consultation with TfL and neighbouring residents.

·         Members were informed that following the meeting on 24 September 2019, the applicant met residents, subsequently sent emails and completed a letter drop to invite neighbouring residents and ward councillors to discuss their main concerns. In addition, planning and highway officers undertook a site visit with TfL representatives to observe existing operations and discuss potential alternative options for deliveries and servicing.

·         The Planning Officer acknowledge that revised plans for both the ground floor of the building and transport statement had been submitted by the applicant which addressed amenity concerns raised by objectors at the September meeting.

·         In response to the delivery and servicing arrangements around the scheme, the TfL representative present advised that considering it is a red bus route, creating a loading bay on Holloway road would impact on bus operations in terms of bus journey time, raise issues of highway safety as buses would need to travel out of the designated bus lanes, which effectively introduces a number of additional hazards.

·         The TfL representative informed members that loading bays in that area would be difficult to enforce by TfL as it was considered highly likely that it would also be used for both drop off and pickups associated with the nearby station, and other local activities, with the result that the bay would potentially not be available to commercial vehicles legitimately attempting to service the building. Members were reminded that with this particular location, siting a loading bay in that vicinity would be challenging especially, with the additional attraction of being in close proximity to Upper Holloway Station.

·         On the suggestion of possible relocation of the bus stop on Holloway Road during construction work, members were reminded that considering this is a lesser scheme than the previous two applications, TfL would not agree to the temporary closure of the bus stop.

·         TFL also highlighted the number of bus journeys which take place every day on this stretch of road and contrasted it with the number of deliveries expected to the premises in question.

·         On the possibility of restricting personal deliveries to the occupants of the office development especially with online shopping and deliveries, the agent advised that although this would be difficult to enforce, the applicant would be willing to work with officers if an exact wording of the restriction, to be included as an informative.

·         The Planning Officer informed that the delivery and service management plan to be finalised through condition stipulates hours  ...  view the full minutes text for item 130.