Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies were received from Councillors Jackson and McHugh.

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.

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(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 as per the agenda.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 27^th November 2023 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

Demolition of the existing buildings and construction of a part 5, part 6 and part 7 storey building with basement, comprising Class E(g)(i) Office floorspace, including the provision of affordable workspace, alongside Class E(a) Retail, Class E(b) Food and Drink and Class E(d) leisure uses at ground, lower ground, and basement levels. The proposals also comprise the delivery of a dedicated off-street servicing yard and the delivery of cycle parking alongside the provision of landscaped roof terraces and wider public realm works at grade, and all associated and ancillary works (Departure from Development Plan)

(Planning application number: P2022/2893/FUL)

Demolition of the existing buildings and construction of a part 5, part 6 and part 7 storey building with basement, comprising Class E(g)(i) Office floorspace, including the provision of affordable workspace, alongside Class E(a) Retail, Class E(b) Food and Drink and Class E(d) leisure uses at ground, lower ground, and basement levels. The proposals also comprise the delivery of a dedicated off-street servicing yard and the delivery of cycle parking alongside the provision of landscaped roof terraces and wider public realm works at grade, and all associated and ancillary works (Departure from Development Plan)

(Planning application number: P2022/2893/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

·       Chair reminded meeting that following committee’s decision to defer the application in October 2023 the whole application would not be revisited but consideration would be limited to the 3 reasons for deferral.

·       Planning Officer informed the meeting that between the 12 October 2023 committee meeting to the publication of the agenda, 13 additional objections were received raising the number to the 183 reported in the deferral committee report. However since the publication of the deferral committee report, a further 16 representations have now been received raising the total number to 199.

·       In terms of Affordable workspace, planning officer clarified that the scheme provides a 13.6% of the uplift in Class E(g)i office floorspace for market rent and a 12.1% of the total uplift in Class E(g)i office floorspace.

·       Planning Officer reminded meeting reasons for deferral at the last meeting in October, to allow for further assessments and mitigation proposals relating to the impact on daylight and sunlight to all of the neighbouring properties with failing BRE measurements;  the setback of the upper two floors to be increased and detailed on a separate section, drawings to demonstrate that the sight lines have been positioned correctly and for the applicants to revisit their consultation with local stakeholders.

·       The revised application shows that the sixth floor has been further set back from the main elevation of Epworth Street along the ‘factory’ element and the fifth and sixth floor chamfered corners along the Paul Street elevation have also been stepped-back further from the main elevation.

·       The Planning Officer stated that the reduction in height and mass to western most module to Epworth Street sees a substantial reduction in both height and mass which creates an enhanced neighbourly relationship in relation to the properties on the opposite side of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 97.