Agenda, decisions and minutes

1.1  Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Joseph and Cllr Levy. 

2.1  None.

3.1  None.

4.1    There were no minutes for consideration at the meeting.

5.1    There was a brief introduction from the Hackney Council’s Planning Service on the proposed application. Initial proposals were to demolish the existing buildings at 4 Christopher Street, excluding the front façade of 56 Wilson Street, and redevelopment of the site with the erection of a building of up to 20 storeys. The Committee heard from representatives from the architecture practice AHMM, DP9, a specialist planning consultancy and real estate development companies EDGE Technologies and Mitsui Fudosan UK.

5.2  Following the presentation a discussion ensued a number of points were raised including the following:

·  It was noted that with the previous consented scheme the historic south west corner facades would be retained, however this was not the case with the current proposals. Solutions were available; setting back the building or having step downs but this would result in a compromised office floor space. The developers took the view that the public benefit of providing better floor space outweighed the loss of the facade. However, it was recognised that this still needed to be agreed upon. The Design Review Panel (DRP) had suggested that demolition could be justified if the architectural solution was of the highest quality. The developers could look at options to retain the facade, however, it was recognised that it would be challenging; the construction required to retain the facade would lead to a more carbon intensive approach. If the facade was to be retained, a small part of the floor plate would be affected;

·  The building was  currently used by the London Stock Exchange as a data centre;

·  The Trampery was a social enterprise providing workspaces, venues, training and management services and who had put forward proposals for the development of the Ground Floor plan area of the site. The Trampery wanted to keep its floor spaces flexible in order to cater for a wide range of tenants/companies and to provide the space quickly. Some tenants would have different requirements such as screening rooms or an event space;

·  The developers explained that having more than a metre of setback on the Wilson Street side of the site was not seen as more beneficial than creating a set of steps. It was suggested that a better balance was to be found by creating four tiers to the north elevation. One metre was not considered noticeable and it was felt that it did not change the feeling of the street. Reducing the tower element would have a major benefit and on balance the proposals were better at enhancing the street compared to the previous consented scheme;

·  The scheme was office-led. Residential housing was not part of the proposals. The proposals were in keeping  with the character of the surrounding area which was primarily offices;

·  The developers were striving for the best possible cycle parking offer for the proposals taking into the account the constraints of the site. To incorporate the proposed number of cycle parking spaces, 1150, two tier cycle stacks would have to be used. It was hoped  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.