Agenda and draft minutes

To receive and record apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Lloyd and Howard. Councillor Patrick attended as Councillor Lloyd’s deputy.

To receive the minutes of the site briefing held on 11 August 2020.

Notes from the Site Briefing were received.

To receive and record declarations of interests from members present in respect of the various matters on the agenda for this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

Proposal:        Demolition of existing dwelling and business units and construction of a 2/3 storey building to provide 19 flats and 2 commercial units with vehicle and bicycle parking and a bin store.

Additional Information

The site was the subject of a Site Briefing by the Site Viewing Working Party.

Proposal:       Demolition of existing dwelling and business units and construction of a 2/3 storey building to provide 19 flats and 2 commercial units with vehicle and bicycle parking and a bin store.

The Committee considered the written report and recommendations from the Head of Planning to grant permission.

The Committee received the supplementary information, circulated prior to the meeting which:

1)               included the minutes of the Site Briefing held on 12 August 2020;

2)               gave responses to the information requested at the Site Briefing by Members of the Site Viewing Working Party which included:

a.           the size of the flats;

              b.           an annotated East elevation with explanations of each room facing, and whether the windows be sealed or not;

              c.           fire safety provisions for the rooms with sealed windows from building control; and

              d.           hard copies of the building layouts in a size clear enough to read;

3)               gave a revision to the officer’s recommendation to grant permission to reflect the additional approved plans laid out in Condition 2; and

4)               included a Schedule of Accommodation for the proposed development.

All members confirmed that they had read the above supplementary papers prior to the meeting.

The members received a presentation from the officers outlining the report and answering questions raised in the Site Briefing and individual members of the Committee since the agenda was published.

There had been 3 deputations made in respect of this application. In response to issues raised in the deputations, officers stated that:

a)           Condition 4 ensured that the developer would submit a construction method statement which included a phased process, and in doing this could take account of the needs of Herons Autos during the demolition and construction of the site;

b)           the width of the proposed new access would be 5m, which was in excess of the standard 4.8m requested allowing for 2 cars to pass one another with room to spare;

c)           the new access would be more direct, more visible, and safer for customers than the access across the site at present;

d)           there were 24 proposed parking spaces for the site which did give a modest shortfall for office users, however there were other nearby parking spaces available and other sustainable transport methods nearby to be used instead of a car to reach the office space;

e)           the local Highways authority had requested the council look at pedestrian routes in the construction method statement in order to ensure safety guidelines were met;

f)            the Environmental Health officers had raised no objections to the revised plans; and

g)           the applicant had expressed their plans to speak directly to Herons Autos should permission be granted.

In response to questions by Members of the Committee, the officers advised that:

i             the access for construction would be different to the final access once construction was complete, and the plans showed the doors into the building which would ensure that residents  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.