Agenda and minutes

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

There were no apologies for absence

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.

(b)    Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of  your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c)    Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works,    between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d)     Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e)     Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f)      Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g)    Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

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 24 May 2021 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the Sub-Committees be confirmed as five member Sub-Committees and that the terms of reference be noted.

b)    That the allocation of seats was determined in accordance with the advice in the report.

c)    That Councillors Khondoker, Clarke, Jackson, Klute and Woolf be appointed as members of Planning Sub-Committee A for the current municipal year or until their successors are appointed.

d)    That Councillors Poyser, Convery, Ibrahim, North and Picknell be appointed as members of Planning Sub-Committee B for the current municipal year or until their successors are appointed.

e)    That it be noted that Councillor Khondoker had been appointed Chair of Planning Sub-Committee A and Councillor Poyser had been appointed Chair of Planning Sub-Committee B for the municipal year or until their successors are appointed.

f)     That it be noted that Councillor Woolf had been appointed Vice Chair of Planning Sub-Committee A and Councillor Picknell had been appointed Vice Chair of Planning Sub-Committee B for the municipal year or until their successor are appointed.

g)    That it be noted that any member who was a member or substitute member of the Planning Committee could substitute at any meetings of either Sub-Committee if they had not been appointed as a member of the Sub-Committee.

Demolition of the existing building and the erection of a five-storey (plus basement) commercial building comprising industrial (Class E(g)(iii)/B2/B8) and Class E(g) floorspace; and the provision of associated access, cycle parking and refuse storage.

(Planning application number: P2021/1062/FUL)
In the discussion the following points were made:

·         The Planning Officer presented the scheme, advissing in summary that the proposal increases the amount of industrial floorspace in a sympathetically-design new building which is sensitive to surrounding occupiers.  Inclusive design and sustainable design features have been incorporated as well as well considered servicing and delivery arrangements.

·         The Planning Officer informed the meeting of 2 additional updates, that a contribution of £21,222.36 Highway reinstatement bond has been proposed and that condition 13 be amended to read as follows The 1,555sqm of B2, B8, E(g)(iii) Use Class floorspace - of the Schedule to the Town and Country Planning (Use Class) Order 1987 as amended 2020 (or the equivalent use within any amended/updated subsequent Order) - hereby approved, shall be limited to those uses only and for no other purpose whatsoever, without express planning consent from the Local Planning Authority first being obtained.

·         In response to a question about the lack of affordable workspace in the scheme, the agent acknowledged that the scheme has been designed with flexibility and the requirements of SME’s in mind, that the floor plates are generally modest in size and that given its relatively small size and the industrial nature of the floor it is considered acceptable.

·         On the brick type being proposed for the scheme, the Planning Officer advised that a condition requiring the submission of details of materials for approval is recommended prior to their use. A suggestion by Chair that the condition should make specific reference to solid brick was seconded by Councillor Convery.

·         Members were advised that there is no plan to cook on the site that the applicant offers catering of cold food such as sandwiches and salad hence no need for ventilation flues

·         With regard to a suggestion for the scheme to provide more vegetation and trees on the site, the meeting was advised that this would be sought through details pursuant to condition 21 whilst condition 14requires that green/brown roofs shall be maximised across the development.  

Councillor Klute proposed a motion to grant Planning permission. This was seconded by Councillor Picknell and carried.

RESOLVED:
That following consideration of the case officer’s report (the assessment and recommendations therein), the presentation to Committee, submitted representations, planning permission be granted subject to the conditions and informatives set out in Appendix 1 of the officer report and subject to the prior completion of a Deed of Planning Obligation made under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 securing the heads of terms as set out in Appendix 1 of the officer report.

Demolition of existing office building, save for retention of ground floor façade, and redevelopment to create new office three-storey/set back four-storey building with roof plant, landscaping, cycle parking and other associated works

(Planning application number: P2020/3058/FUL)
In the discussion the following points were made:

·         Planning Officer advised of two updates, that the applicant submitted supplementary information regarding the sunlight impact towards neighbouring properties at 216 Upper Street which indicates that the proposal complies with the relevant BRE guidance

·         Condition 3(b) relating to materials be reworded to read ‘window treatments (including sections and reveals, and details of the limestone surrounds for the upper floor windows) to a scale of at least 1:10. In addition ,condition 31 relating to flat roof will be reworded to read ‘ with the exception of the third floor roof terrace in relation to condition 29, the flat roofs of the development hereby approved, including the first floor rear terrace shall not be used as amenity spaces and shall not be accessed other than for maintenance 

·         In terms of land use consideration, the Planning Officer advised that the scheme would provide additional office floor space within the Employment Growth Area; on site affordable workspace and importantly the vacant site would be brought back into active use, that the scheme is supported by local plan policies.

·         Members were reminded that the building was registered for local listing in Dec 2020, following Committee’s resolution in November 2020 recognising its significance.

·         The Planning Officer highlighted the 3 options that were considered during the pre advice stage and that it is agreed that the proposal before the committee would result in minimal disruption to neighbouring residents and any heritage harm following demolition of the building.

·         Meeting was advised that the proposal will involve a substantial demolition of the locally listed former bank building, retaining only the ground floor shopfront, excavating and extending the basement so as to create a new three storey office building with a fourth floor set back storey and plant at roof level.

·         Officers considered that the retention of the ground floor façade is acceptable, noting that whilst some of the reinstatement of features are welcome, the proposal would cause some adverse impact in the loss of one of the front bays due to the provision of access to the substation at lower ground floor.

·         On the scheme’s harm to heritage assets, the Planning Officer advised  that the extent of the proposed demolition to the locally listed building would cause less than substantial harm to the significance of the non-designated heritage asset and that the level of harm identified would need to be weighed against the merits of the design of the replacement building, as well as the planning balance of the whole application.

·         The Planning Officer acknowledged concerns about the daylight/sunlight loss to neighbouring properties of both 216 Upper Street and 18-22 Edwards Mews, that there were some transgressions however the overall impact is considered to be minor and weighed against the other planning benefits identified.

·         With  ...  view the full minutes text for item 246.