Agenda item

Demolition of existing buildings and erection of a pair of 5- storey buildings plus basements comprising 4 retail units and 1 mixed retail/cafe unit up to 742sq.m, flexible employment space up to 878sq.m and 8 self-contained flats, together with cycle and refuse storage

(Planning application number: P2023/0007/FUL)

In the discussion the following points were made:

• The Planning Officer updated that the Heads of Terms set out in paragraph 15.29 of the officer report are to be included in the Appendix 1 of the report as they were omitted.

·       In terms of key planning consideration, the Planning Officer advised the meeting that the main issues arising from the proposal relate to, Land Use; Design & Conservation; Affordable Housing; Quality of Accommodation; Neighbouring Amenity and Energy & Sustainability.

·       In terms of land use, meeting was advised Planning permission is sought for the redevelopment of 129 – 133 Fonthill Road and 13- 14 Goodwin Street to provide a more effective and enhanced mixed use offer for the site, that the proposed development would maintain three separate shop units at the ground floor on Fonthill Road and the creation of new active frontages to Goodwin Street accommodating flexible town centre uses including retail and food and drink.

·       In addition to the above the meeting was advised that the proposed development also seeks to deliver a small net addition of office floorspace which would, in any case constitute modern good condition floorspace demonstrating a significant improvement over the current provision. The scheme would also include residential P-RPT-COM-Main accommodation which is not currently on site but has benefited from planning consent in earlier planning applications.

·       With regard to retail provision, the Planning Officer informed the meeting that the existing retail is currently provided at 129, 131 and 133 Fonthill Road at the ground floor only, with no retail on upper floors and no retail within the Goodwin Street frontages, however the proposed development seeks to provide basement floorspace dedicated to the retail use, reprovide three shop units at 129, 131 an 133 Fonthill Road and provide retail floorspace for the first time on the Goodwin Street frontage. This results in an increase from the existing 243sq.m to 555sq.m of retail floorspace, which constitutes a net increase of 312sq.m. This is a significant increase on the previous consent (P2021/1955/FUL) where the retail floorspace increased from 336sq.m to 440sq.m (which included the additional café use under E(b)).

·       Meeting was advised that the scheme also proposes a significant provision of basement floorspace for the development to be dedicated to retail floorspace and that this additional provision is essential to provide ancillary floorspace to the retail use and is supported. This has the potential to make a contribution to the preservation of the specialist shopping character of the street by being used as a workshop to make clothing which underpins the specialism of the street.

·       The Scheme maintains and increases town centre retail floor space, increases office floor space and employment offer and provides sustainably located town centre residential accommodation 

·       With regards to residential development, the scheme proposes the provision of 8no self-contained units which are to be laid out on the first, second, third and fourth floor levels at 13 – 15 Goodwin Street. It was noted that the site currently has no residential use although the Council has previously sought to resist residential units within the building through numerous planning application. However, the designation of the site allocation which introduces a residential element to the scheme now implies that this proposed use would be acceptable.

·       In addition to the above meeting was advised that the applicant has also demonstrated that the primary and secondary bedroom sizes, along with internal storage and external amenity areas also exceed the thresholds. Each of the new units are genuinely dual aspect to north west and southeast. With the exception of one unit, the remaining seven all have the living space facing southeast which would be the optimum outlook.

·       With regards to scheme not being able to offer small site contributions, the Planning Officer advised that applicant had submitted a viability assessment demonstrating a deficit of £150,000, that the Council’s appointed assessor has demonstrated that the scheme is in deficit due to a higher than first expected benchmark land value.

·       In light of the above, Members were advised that BPS have recommended that a pre-implementation and a late stage review viability assessment should be carried out and thus secured through a Section 106 legal agreement.

·       In terms of massing and appearance , the Planning Officer noted that taking into account the previous applications on the site, the development proposed now is a comprehensive redevelopment that addresses both the site and the local context holistically, that the various components of the site are now stitched in together across various facades and elevations and the scheme also relates to similar buildings which make a positive contribution to the streetscene.

·       In terms of elevational treatment and materiality, meeting was advised that it is recommended that details of materials including elevational materials, construction detailing for balconies, windows, shopfronts and rooftop plant should be secured through planning condition prior to the commencement of development. In addition planning officer stated that it is considered that the proposed development constitutes a significant improvement on the character and appearance of the streetscene.

·       On the quality of accommodation, the Planning Officer advised that One unit (12%) is designed to be constructed to M4(3) standard, that all units exceed internal size thresholds, that all units are provided with minimum or above external private amenity space, that all units are dual aspect and all units benefit from above compliance levels daylight and sunlight.

·       In terms of daylight and sunlight, meeting was advised that all units meet daylight illumination levels and all units meet exposure to sunlight levels, that as scheme is sufficiently set away from neighbouring residential properties in general there is no sense of enclosure, that any overlooking and loss of privacy will be subject to conditions requiring overlooking mitigation measures on key elevations.

·       It was noted that the nearest residential property to the site is located at 135 Fonthill Road where there are four flats within the building and 5 Goodwin Street which is separated from the application site by a service yard and that while it is unclear what the internal layout of 135 Fonthill Road is, it would appear that there are no habitable rooms within the rear elevation of the first floor level rear projection, that views from the upper level flats would either be too acute to give rise to meaningful overlooking or would be too distant from screen balconies over 12m away.

·       In terms of highway impact, Planning Officer stated that the proposal is car-free with no on-site car parking provided whilst parking near the site is restricted through controlled parking zones. As such, the vast majority of trips to and from the site would be taken via public transport, such as tube/underground, trains and buses.  It was also noted that the level of overall trips generated by the uplift in floorspace of the proposed development is not considered significant and is not expected to have a material impact on local highways or the public transport network.

·       On the scheme’s energy and sustainability, the Planning Officer advised that in terms of carbon emissions, there will be a 48.9% reduction in regulated CO2 emissions under Part L 2021 and 27.4% reduction in total emissions; also a carbon offset contribution of £21388. It was also noted that in terms of sustainable design standards, the scheme will achieve BREEAM excellent, that there will be rain/greywater harvesting, and erection of green blue roof. 

·       In terms of Be Lean, scheme will meet U-values or improve upon recommendations of Islington’s Environmental Design SPD; certified exhaust air heat pump to provide mechanical ventilation and heating/hot water provision is proposed. 35% reduction through Be-Lean.

·       In addition to the above Air Source Heat Pumps have been proposed to provide heating, that mechanical cooling will be required; that,  PV panels are proposed to be included as part of this development and the scheme presently has a UGF Score of 0.3 which exceeds the limit.

·       In terms of planning balance, the Planning acknowledged that although the scheme to a certain degree is in conflict with local policies H3, planning benefits such as maintaining, expanding and enhancing retail, the improvement of office and employment floor spaces, provision of additional sustainable town centre high quality residential accommodation etc outweigh any negative impact of the scheme.

·       In summary, members noted their disappointment with the lack of small site contributions, that there were no issues regarding daylight sunlight loss and welcoming the review mechanisms secured in the legal agreement.
 

Councillor Klute proposed a motion to grant planning permission. This was seconded by Councillor North and carried.

RESOLVED:

That following consideration of the case officer’s report (the assessment and recommendations therein), the presentation to Committee, submitted representations and objections provided verbally at this meeting, planning permission be granted subject to the conditions and informatives set out in amended 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 amended Appendix 1 of the officer report.