There were no apologies for absence.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 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 12 March 2015 were submitted and signed.

An application for the demolition of the existing building and redevelopment of the site with the erection of a building up to 10 storeys in height comprising 4,648m² office floorspace (Class B1(a)) and 44 residential flats.

The Committee received a report of the Development Management Section Head including the relevant planning history of the site.

The Chairman invited Mr Peter Jeffery to speak to the Committee in support of the application. 

Mr Jeffery stated that the proposal was an opportunity to provide a first class grade A development in Clarendon Road.  The aim was to have a crane onsite this year.  It was felt that the Gresham House building was a blight on Clarendon Road.  A viable solution had been proposed.  He commented that a new and dynamic approach to the area should be progressed.  Mr Jeffery added that during discussions with officers they had been provided with the rental details of the current tenants.  He said that the building had reached the end of its life and he asked the Committee to give the applicant the opportunity to redevelop the site.

Mr Jeffery advised that the application had been submitted based on officers’ and Members’ support for other schemes in Clarendon Road.  The applicant had sought officers’ advice prior to submitting the application through pre-application discussions and had spent £300,000.  As part of the discussions the applicant had been advised that a mixed use, employment led scheme would be suitable for the site. 

Mr Jeffery then spoke of the current rental levels being achieved in Clarendon Road, circa £18 up to a maximum of £22 per square foot, and the higher figure officers had told the applicant to use of £25 per square foot when they calculated the viability of the scheme.  The officers’ recommended figure was a 30% uplift on the current highest rental charges in Clarendon Road.  He commented that if such a rental level was achievable development would already have taken place. 

Mr Jeffery said that there was a small opportunity to build at this location due to rising costs.  The applicant had given an undertaking that they would enter into to a legal agreement specifying that the office element of the proposal would be delivered at the same time as the residential element.  For over 18 months the applicant had worked with officers and the scheme had been deemed acceptable.  It had taken time to work through the proposals prior to the submission.  He had been disappointed when the Council had appeared to have performed a ‘U-turn’.  The applicant had vested a significant sum in the planning application.  Mr Jeffery finished by thanking the Committee for their time and he hoped that he had put forward a compelling case as to why the application should be approved.

The Chair noted Mr Jeffery’s comments about the prolonged discussions between the applicant and officers.  He asked the Major Cases and Enforcement Manager to respond.

The Major Cases and Enforcement Manager advised the Committee that initial discussions had taken place at the same time as discussions had been held regarding the 32 and 36 Clarendon Road schemes.  At that time all schemes were being considered for mixed use development.  The employment study had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.