There were changes to the Committee at this meeting: Councillor Jeffree replaced Councillor Johnson. 

Apologies were received from Councillor T Williams.

There were no Disclosures of Interest. 

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 January 2015 to be submitted and signed. 

Copies of the minutes of this meeting are usually available seven working days following the meeting.

(All minutes are available on the Council’s website.)

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 January 2015 were submitted and signed.

Application  for  the  retention  of  existing  façade  to  King  Street,  demolition  of  remaining  building  to  rear  and  erection  of  a  part 4 storey, part 3 storey building   to  provide  a  ground  floor  Class  A1/A2  unit  and  25 flats  with  13  parking  spaces.

The Committee received a report of the Development Management Section Head including the relevant planning history of the site and details of four letters from nearby properties.  Two replies had raised objections, one had raised no objections and the fourth had been generally supportive of the application. 

The Major Cases Manager introduced the report and advised that the s.106 agreement had been received since publication of the report and that consequently Recommendation (B) would not apply. 

The Major Cases Manager then informed that a further objection had been received from a resident whose previous comments on the application had been summarised in the report.  The new objection concerned privacy issues and stated that the minimum distance of 27.5 m from neighbouring homes, as specified in the policy, had not been achieved.  Whilst the comments had been largely similar to previous objections, the resident had asked that the statements were brought to the attention of the Committee.

The Chair invited Mr Simon Warner to address the committee.

Mr Warner explained that he was the Planning Manager for Heronslea Group and that the application addressed the retention of the façade, demolition of the rear aspect and construction of a new building on the site of the former cinema.  The development would include provision for retail and financial or professional services as well as 25 flats and would be of high quality thus enhancing the street scene. 

Mr Warner advised that the current building had been vacant since 2014 and was in a poor condition.  Demolition of the rear element would allow for the construction of a development which would complement the façade and improve the area: the Art Deco features would be retained and additional decoration added.  

Mr Warner emphasised that the development would be policy-compliant, meeting all residential policies.  He further advised that the application had had support from the Highway Authority whose statement within the report had concluded that the proposals were acceptable and would not result in an adverse impact on the public highway. 

The Committee then discussed the application. 

Councillor Jeffree noted the reference to the existing internal decorations and asked how these would be retained.  He also wished for reassurance that the number of affordable units had been agreed with the Council’s Housing department and asked for an explanation regarding the number of such units: four rather than the nine units which would comply with the Council’s policy of 35% affordable housing in all new developments.  Councillor Jeffree noted the consultants’ judgement that the scheme would be non-viable were 35% affordable housing to be included and suggested that it would be wise to have sight of the calculations resulting in this assessment. 

Councillor Derbyshire considered that the design was good and approved the retention of the art deco façade; the design would create a fine corner and would enhance the conservation area.  He agreed, however, that the application was contrary to the relevant policy in not providing 35% affordable housing.   He concurred with Councillor Jeffree and said  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69.