Agenda, decisions and minutes

1.1.  Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Chauhan, Cllr Garasia and Cllr Levy.

2.1  The Sub-Committee members declared an interest in that, prior to the meeting, they had received various correspondence from interested parties objecting to the application at agenda item 5. Cllr Young declared an interest in that she personally knew one of the objectors who had written to the Sub-Committee. The Legal Officer stated that if the Cllr was satisfied that they had not predetermined the application at agenda item 5, had not come to a conclusion and had not discussed with the objector what they knew and that they kept an open mind, then it was up to the Cllr to decide on whether to participate in the meeting. The Cllr was content to continue to participate in the meeting.

3.1  There were no proposals/questions referred by the Council’s Monitoring Officer to the Sub-Committee.

There were no minutes submitted to the meeting for approval.

4.1   There were no minutes submitted to the meeting for approval.

The Planning Sub-Committee members voted on the following recommendation:

To approve conditional planning permission subject to conditions and legal agreement.

Vote

For:  Councillor Stops.

Against:    Councillor Bell, Councillor Hanson, Councillor Joseph,  Councillor Race and Councillor Young.

Abstentions:  None.

Councillor Hanson proposed a motion, seconded by Councillor Joseph, that the Planning Sub-Committee was minded to refuse the planning application.

The Sub-Committee agreed that a report, prepared by Planning Service officers and  outlining the Sub-Committee’s reasons for refusing the application, would be submitted to the next Planning Sub-Committee meeting, on the 6 April 2022, for consideration and the Sub-Committee’s vote.

5.1  PROPOSAL: Partial demolition of existing buildings, retention of 3 storey building and former industrial chimney and redevelopment of the site to provide a mixed use scheme comprising blocks of 2 to 7 storeys and accommodating 5,591 sqm of commercial floorspace (Use Class Eg[i]) at basement, ground, first, second, third, fourth and fifth floor level, 50 residential units at part first, part second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth floor levels (comprising 23 x 1 bed, 17 x 2 bed, 8 x 3 bed, 2 x 4 bed) as well as 127 sqm café floorspace (Use Class E[b]) at ground floor level, landscaped communal gardens, pedestrian link route to the Regents Canal and other associated works.

5.2  POST SUBMISSION REVISIONS: The application has been amended since last presented to committee in 2019. The amendments comprise minor reductions in commercial floor area in order to address updated cycle parking and sustainability standards. Relevant supporting information was also updated to reflect the current policy context and additional viability information has been published online. A re-consultation exercise was undertaken on 29/10/2021 and a further re-consultation exercise undertaken on 07/02/2022 following a further reduction in commercial floorspace to accommodate increased waste storage and the submission of additional information relating to sustainability and fire safety. It is noted that a minor amendment was made on 01/03/2022 to the submitted Fire Statement which added two additional images to the statement. The amended statement has been published online. Given the extent and nature of this change, it is not considered necessary to undertake a further re-consultation.

5.3  The Planning Service’s Major Projects Planner introduced the application report as published. During the course of the presentation reference was made to the published addendum and a number of amendments made to the published report. These amendments included the Planning Service receiving 17 additional objections and receiving a further letter of objection from Iceni Projects Limited, the planning consultants representing the existing occupier on site Holborn Studios. There were also a number of clarifications and corrections to the published report at paragraphs 1.4, 1.5, 3.12.5, 4.7, 5.3.5, 5.3.7, 5.3.14, 5.3.15, 5.2.23. 6.2.2 and 8.2. A new condition, 9.1.51, was also added.

5.4  The Sub-Committee heard from representatives for the objectors who raised concerns about the proposals not meeting several planning policies. 

5.5  The Sub-Committee heard from the applicant who spoke of the history of the scheme and its benefits to the local area.

5.6  During the discussion phase of the Sub-Committee meeting a number of points were raised including the following:

·  The application report recognised the cultural use and value of the existing Holborn Studios. However, officers considered that the application could not be reasonably refused on the grounds that the replacement commercial space was not suitable for the particular operational requirements of a specific occupant;

·  Solicitor letters relating to Tenant Compensation Costs and sustainability consultant RPS’ Review of Sustainability, had been listed as background papers in the report and  were available for inspection on request. Other documents had been published  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

RESOLVED: the contents of the Delegated Decisions document were noted.

6.1  The Sub-Committee noted the document.

RESOLVED: to note the delegated decisions document.

7.1  There were no any other business items.

6 and 27 April 2022.