Agenda item

Variation of Condition 2 of planning permission ref. 14/00779/VAR to incorporate amendments to the ground and first floor retail units, second floor leisure unit, design of the high level glazed canopy, reorientation of the escalators and stairs within the central space and other minor amendments.

The Committee received the report of the Head of Development Management, including the relevant planning history of the site and details of responses to the application.

 

The Development Management Team Leader introduced the report, explaining that the current application proposed further changes to planning application 13/00972/FULM (granted planning permission in 5 February 2014) to accommodate the requirements of Debenhams, which would occupy the new anchor store within the development.  The changes would not alter the fundamental scale and nature of the proposal and would not have any significant additional impacts on adjacent properties or the wider town centre. All other aspects of the approved scheme remained unchanged.

 

Concluding his comments, the Development Management Team Leader drew attention to the update sheet, which included some amended conditions.

 

The Chair opened the debate to Committee Members.

 

Councillor S Williams raised concerns about the management of the covered market, and particularly whether this would compete with the New Watford Market.  In response to a query from the Chair, the Development Management Team Leader advised that this was not a material planning consideration.

 

Following a further question from Councillor Turmaine, the Development Management Team Leader confirmed that some changes to the highway were included in the development. 

 

The Chair moved the officer recommendation.

 

RESOLVED –

 

That conditional planning permission be granted subject to the conditions listed below:

 

Conditions

 

1.         The development to which this permission relates shall be begun before 5^th February 2018.

           

2.         The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved drawings:-

           

AP (02) 0999 P02, 1000 P02, 1001 P02, 1002 P01, 1003 P01, 1004 P01, 1150 P01, 1151 P01, 1010 P01, 1011 P01, 1012 P01, 1015 P01

AP (04) 1152 P07, 0249 P05, 0250 P08, 0251 P08, 0252 P10, 0253 P12, 0254 P12, 0255 P12, 0256 P11, 0257 P11, 0268 P03, 0269 P01

AP (05) 1600 P13, 1601 P07, 1602 P10, 1603 P05

AP (06) 1700 P08, 1701 P02, 1702 P06, 1703 P06, 1704 P02

           

3.         No demolition works or construction of the development hereby permitted shall not take place before 8am or after 6pm Mondays to Fridays, before 8am or after 1pm on Saturdays and not at all on Sundays and Public Holidays, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority. This shall exclude any internal fit-out works of the individual units by tenants.

           

4.         The construction of the development shall be registered with the Considerate Constructors Scheme and shall be carried out in accordance with the requirements of this Scheme at all times.

 

5.         i) The demolition works shall be carried out in accordance with the Demolition Methodology by Keltbray (ref. 1120-MS-001 Rev.01 dated 15/10/15) approved under ref. 15/01487/DISCON. All deliveries and collections shall only be undertaken within the permitted hours, unless otherwise agreed with the Local Planning Authority.

 

            ii) The construction works shall be carried out in accordance with the Construction Methodology and Phasing Plan Revision 03 (Laing O’Rourke, dated March 2016) and the Construction Sequencing Revision C (Laing O’Rourke, dated 08/03/16). All deliveries and collections shall only be undertaken within the permitted hours, unless otherwise agreed with the Local Planning Authority.

 

6.         i) The demolition works shall be carried out in accordance with the Site Waste Management Plan by Keltbray (ref. KBY-CP-SWMP-02 Rev.02 dated 17/12/15) approved under ref. 15/01487/DISCON.

 

            ii) The construction works shall be carried out in accordance with the Site Waste Management Plan Version 1 by Laing O’Rourke (dated 19/01/16).

 

7.         No above ground construction works shall commence until details of all the materials to be used for the external surfaces and finishes of each of the buildings within the development (new buildings and refurbished existing buildings), the existing Charter Palace car park elevations and the first floor walkways have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall be carried out only in accordance with the approved materials.

 

8.         No construction works shall commence until a basement level plan detailing the siting and size of storage facilities for waste and recycling for all of the proposed units within the development has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. No unit shall be occupied until these facilities have been provided in accordance with the approved details, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

 

9.         No unit within the development shall be occupied until a Delivery and Servicing Management Plan has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall be operated in accordance with the approved Plan at all times, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

 

10.       The development shall be carried out in accordance with the BREEAM Interim Certificate – Design Stage achieving a rating of Very Good and BREEAM Fit Out Obligations Manual (Rev.C dated 11^th August 2015) by Hoare Lea approved under ref. 15/01175/DISCON.

 

11.       The development shall be carried out in accordance with the ‘Details of a Surface Water Drainage Scheme’ by Cundall (ref. RPT-021) approved under ref. 15/00830/DISCON.

 

12.       Piling or any other foundation designs using penetrative methods shall not be permitted other than with the express written consent of the Local Planning Authority. The development shall only be carried out in accordance with the approved details.

 

13.       No shop front shall be installed on any retail unit within the development (new buildings or refurbished existing buildings), the cinema or the leisure unit until a detailed shop front design guide has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The shop front design guide shall include details of materials, signage zones, lighting, windows and doors. All shop fronts to the retail units, cinema and leisure unit shall be installed in accordance with the approved design guide and shall be retained at all times, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

 

14.       No shop front shall be installed on any restaurant unit within the development or any unit fronting on to High Street until the details of the design and materials of the shop front and the signage zone has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The shop front shall only be installed in accordance with the approved details and shall be retained at all times, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

 

15.       Within 12 months of the commencement of construction works, a hard landscaping and street furniture scheme for all areas within the public realm, based upon the Council’s adopted Streetscape Design Guide, shall be submitted to the Local Planning Authority. This shall include samples of the materials to be used for all pedestrian routes, public squares and areas of public highway at ground and first floor level and details of all street furniture to be used. No hard landscaping works shall be carried out until a scheme has been approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall only be implemented in accordance with the approved scheme.

 

16.       Within 12 months of the commencement of construction works, a comprehensive lighting scheme for the development (to include the new and existing buildings, the existing car park elevations, the pedestrian routes at ground and first floor levels and the new public spaces), shall be submitted to the Local Planning Authority. No lighting works shall be carried out until a scheme has been approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall only be implemented in accordance with the approved scheme.

 

17.       No construction works shall commence until detailed drawings of each of the proposed new buildings have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. These drawings shall show relevant extracts of each building at a scale of 1:20 of the detailing of the buildings (i.e. window reveals, treatment of gables and parapets, brickwork patterns, etc.). The development shall only be constructed in accordance with the approved details.

           

18.       Within 12 months of the commencement of construction works, detailed drawings of the elevations to Grove Walk pedestrian walkway and the ground floor elevation to Beechen Grove (to include details of shop fronts and all other treatments to the elevations, and materials) and the underside of the roof of Grove Walk and the canopy on Beechen Grove (to include any cladding, materials and lighting), shall be submitted to the Local Planning Authority. No works shall be carried out until details have been approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall only be constructed in accordance with the approved details.

 

19.       Within 12 months of the commencement of construction works, details of the design and materials of the high level glazed canopy and its supporting structures shall be submitted to the Local Planning Authority. No works relating to the glazed canopy shall be carried out until details have been approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall only be constructed in accordance with the approved details.

 

20.       No part of the development shall be occupied until the existing intu Watford Travel Plan has been updated, submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The Travel Plan shall be implemented as approved at all times.

 

21.       No construction works shall commence until ground level and basement level plans detailing the siting of the proposed cycle parking provision for employees and visitors within the site have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. This provision shall comprise a minimum of 40 spaces at ground level for visitors and a minimum of 82 spaces for employees.

 

22.       No unit within the development shall be occupied until details of the design of the cycle parking facilities for employees and visitors have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The approved facilities shall be installed in accordance with the details approved pursuant to Condition 22.

 

23.       No part of the development shall be occupied until the following highway improvement works, as shown in principle on drawing nos. 2013-1325-DWG-205B and 210A (ttp consulting), have been completed:-

 

i)   Realignment of pedestrian crossing across bus lane on Beechen Grove.

ii)  Improvements to pedestrian crossing on Beechen Grove.

iii) Improvements to exits from basement and Charter Palace car park.

 

24.       (a)       Works of demolition or construction shall only take place in accordance with the programme of archaeological works set out in the Written Scheme of Investigation for Archaeological Building Recording (Final Draft, 6^th January 2016) (Waterman) and the Written Scheme of Investigation for an Archaeological Watching Brief (AOC Project No. 32772, January 2016) (AOC) approved under ref. 15/01761/DISCON.

 

(b)       The development shall not be occupied until the site investigation and post investigation assessment has been completed in accordance with the programme set out in the Written Scheme of Investigation approved under (a) above and the provision made for analysis and publication where appropriate.

 

25.       No unit within the development shall be occupied until details of all externally mounted air handling plant serving that unit, including its acoustic performance, have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. All such plant, including any associated mitigation measures, shall achieve the noise levels set out in the Environmental Noise Survey Report, reference 19403/ENS1 Revision 2 dated September 2013, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority. Before any unit is opened to the public, the plant and any associated mitigation measures shall be installed, and thereafter shall be maintained, in accordance with the details approved by the Local Planning Authority. For the purposes of this condition, a unit shall be construed as including any part of any building to which the public are admitted and that is capable of being occupied independently of any other part and, for the avoidance of doubt, shall include any part used as a restaurant, shop or for leisure purposes.

 

26.       No common parts of the development shall be occupied until details of all externally mounted air handling plant serving those parts, including its acoustic performance, have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. All such plant, including any associated mitigation measures, shall achieve the noise levels set out in the Environmental Noise Survey Report, reference 19403/ENS1 Revision 2 dated September 2013, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority. Before any of the common parts of the development are opened to the public, the plant and any associated mitigation measures relating to that part shall be installed, and thereafter shall be maintained, in accordance with the details approved by the Local Planning Authority. For the purposes of this condition, the common parts of the development shall be construed as including any part of the development to which the public are admitted which do not fall within the definition of “unit” in Condition 26.

 

27.       No construction works shall commence until details of the acoustic performance of the building fabric of the cinema and leisure units have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority, demonstrating compliance with the requirements set out in the Environmental Noise Survey Report, reference 19403/ENS1 Revision 2 dated September 2013, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall be constructed in accordance with the approved details.

 

28.       Before any restaurant unit is occupied, details of the equipment to be provided for the extraction and filtration of fumes and/or odours produced by cooking and food preparation shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. For the avoidance of doubt, no fume extraction equipment shall be externally mounted on the vertical facades of any part of the development. Before any restaurant unit is opened to the public, such equipment shall be installed as approved, and thereafter maintained in full working order at all times, in accordance with the details approved by the Local Planning Authority.

 

29.       Palace Charter car park shall open for use by the public at all times during which any retail unit, restaurant unit, the cinema or the leisure unit are open and it shall not be closed to the public until at least one hour after the closure of the last unit within the development.

 

30.       The development shall be carried out in accordance with the Project Remediation Strategy by Laing O’Rourke dated 14^th January 2016.

 

31.       No occupation of any part of the permitted development shall take place until a verification report demonstrating completion of works set out in the approved remediation strategy and the effectiveness of the remediation has been submitted to and approved, in writing, by the local planning authority. The report shall include results of sampling and monitoring carried out in accordance with the approved verification plan to demonstrate that the site remediation criteria have been met. It shall also include any plan (a “long-term monitoring and maintenance plan”) for longer-term monitoring of pollutant linkages, maintenance and arrangements for contingency action, as identified in the verification plan. The long-term monitoring and maintenance plan shall be implemented as approved.

 

32.       If, during development, contamination not previously identified is found to be present at the site then no further development (unless otherwise agreed in writing with the local planning authority) shall be carried out until the developer has submitted a remediation strategy to the local planning authority detailing how this unsuspected contamination shall be dealt with and obtained written approval from the local planning authority. The remediation strategy shall be implemented as approved.

 

33.       No infiltration of surface water drainage into the ground is permitted other than with the express written consent of the local planning authority, which may be given for those parts of the site where it has been demonstrated that there is no resultant unacceptable risk to controlled waters. The development shall be carried out in accordance with the approval details.

 

34.       Upon opening of the development to the public, the pedestrian route shown on the approved drawings between High Street and Beechen Grove, via the realigned Meeting Alley and Grove Walk, shall be made available and kept open to members of the public to pass and repass on foot and shall not be gated or closed off by any means, either temporarily or permanently, to prevent the passage of pedestrians unless required in connection with temporary maintenance, improvement or emergency works.

 

35.       No works of any nature shall be carried out to the listed building until a detailed scheme for the refurbishment and restoration of the front façade of the building, to include the removal of the existing exterior paint and the reinstatement of the original design of the ground floor windows, has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The works to the building shall only be carried out in accordance with the approved details.

 

Informatives

 

1.         In dealing with this application, Watford Borough Council has considered the proposal in a positive and proactive manner having regard to the policies of the development plan as well as paragraphs 186 and 187 of the National Planning Policy Framework and other material considerations, and in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2010, as amended.

 

2.         The approved Sewer Impact Study by Thames Water Asset management (ref. X4503-719, SMG 1589, v2.0 Feb 2015) concludes that no improvements are required to the foul sewer network arising from the development.