Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies were received from Councillors Poyser, Bashir, Hayes and Jackson.

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 per the agenda.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 September 2022 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

Demolition of the existing buildings and structures and the construction of a new building ranging from two to six storeys (plus basement) to provide light industrial floorspace and flexible use floorspace (Use Class E(g)); along with external amenity spaces; associated access and service yard; plant area; car and cycle parking; refuse storage; and other associated works.

(Planning application number: P2022/1067/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

·       Planning Officer requested that wording of condition 11 be amended to read - Details of the delivery & servicing strategy and site-wide waste strategy for the development shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority prior to occupation of the development hereby approved and that the development shall be carried out and operated strictly in accordance with the details and waste management strategy so approved. The physical enclosures shall be provided/erected prior to the first occupation of the development and shall be maintained as such thereafter.

REASON: To secure the necessary physical waste enclosures to support the development and to ensure that responsible waste management practices are adhered to.

·       Since the publication of the report the applicant have  stated how they calculated the proposed £100,000 contribution towards local employment initiatives in lieu of providing on-site Affordable Workspace by taking the cost of training support per person of £2,500 as set out in the S106 SPD and multiplied it by the maximum number of jobs the existing site is understood to have supported at its peak occupancy which is 40 jobs, under its previous use, and cites that this would cover the cost of training / upskilling the previous employment capacity of the site to current job profiles in the area. 

·       Members were advised that the site is a triangular shape at the north eastern end of Vale Royal at the intersection with Tileyard Road and is is located within the Vale Royal/Brewery Road Locally Significant Industrial Site (LSIS), and not located within a Conservation Area nor are there any listed buildings within or in close proximity to the application site.

·       Meeting was informed that previous application was refused on seven grounds on 21 October 2020, and subsequent appeal was dismissed by the Planning Inspector’s letter dated 25 March 2021, and that the content of the decision letter has formed a significant material consideration in the revised scheme for the redevelopment of the site.

·       The revised scheme has resulted in an uplift of floor space to 7,074sqm, that the basement to the part first floor levels one to three will be used for light industrial floorspace (Class G (g)(iii). Also the part first floor to fifth floor levels through to eight, the proposed new building will provide flexible Class E(g) floorspace that is suitable for a range of tenants.

·       The Planning Officer advised that the application does not propose to provide Affordable Workspace as part of the scheme, that the applicant’s planning statement presents a hybrid employment building which will provide flexible workspace potentially suitable to a range of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Demolition of the existing two storey building and erection of a part four and part five storey commercial building comprising light industrial Use Class E(g)(iii), flexible workspace Use Class E (g) and associated cycle and waste storage

(Planning application number: P2022/1543/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

·       Site occupies the northern side of Blundell Street, approximately 30metres from the junction with Caledonian Road, it is not within a Conservation Area. The existing use of the site is as retail in the form of tool hire and internal floorspace is approximately 290sqm.

·       The proposal seeks to erect a part four and part five storey commercial building (above a basement level) comprising 2,206sqm (GIA), 1,286sqm for light industrial Use Class E(g)(iii), 992sqm flexible workspace Use Class E(g) and associated cycle and waste storage. This equates to 55% of the overall GIA floorspace of the building and 45% of the total floorspace of the building respectively.

·       Main planning considerations are land use, height, bulk, scale, design and appearance, impact upon neighbouring residential amenity, transport and highways implications, energy and sustainability credentials.

·       Members were reminded that previous scheme was refused planning permission on 27 January 2021 for 4 reasons notably the  development's failure to propose sufficient industrial floorspace appropriate to the role of the industrial area within a development of largely open Class E floorspace; its excessive height, dominant scale and poor design and materials as it would be overbearing and fail to respect and respond positively to existing buildings and the streetscape; its proposed building's height, bulk and massing therefore causing unacceptable impacts on neighbouring residential amenity in terms of loss of daylight and sunlight and the absence of an appropriate Section 106 legal agreement.

·       The amended resubmission before committee involves the setting back of the upper most storey in order to reduce the scale and massing of the building and its impact upon the streetscene of Blundell Street.

·       In land use terms, the proposal is considered to comply with the overarching land use policy as it would intensify appropriate use within the LSIS and supports the areas industrial designation.

·       Planning Officer informed the meeting that condition 20 is recommended to ensure that the 1,213sqm floor space of the new building can be only be used for light industrial purposes and cannot be changed to other uses within Use Class E (including other uses within(g) such as research and development and/or office) via permitted development rights. In addition Condition 24 will also ensure that the flexible Use Class E(g) floor space of 992sqm open for use as office use, research and development and or/light industrial, shall not be changed to other uses within Class E via permitted development rights

·       With regards design and appearance, proposal has been amended by way of removing a storey and further setting back the fourth floor from the principal elevation, so is now not considered to be harmful to the setting of the neighbouring building or surrounding context, thereby overcoming the previous reason for refusal for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.