The committee will take items in the following order:

1.      All items where people wish to speak and have registered with Democratic Services.

2.      Any remaining items the committee agrees can be determined without further debate.

3.      Those applications which the committee wishes to discuss in detail.

Apologies had been received from the Head of Planning and Development. 

Councillor Pattinson stated that in the interests of openness and transparency, she had some prior knowledge of the first application for item 5 on the agenda.  

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 July 2021 to be submitted and signed.

The minutes from the meeting on 27 July 2021 were approved and signed.

The Principal Planning Officer (AR) delivered her report.

            The Chair then invited Mr Jim Richards of Nissen Richards Studio to address the committee. 

            Mr Richards explained how Nissen Richards had engaged in the process with the council and also the Design Review Panel.  He praised the process which had gone through two iterations and felt that this had improved the final scheme. 

The Chair thanked Mr Richards and opened the matter to the committee for discussion. 

Comment was made that the scheme before the committee was an improvement and in particular the reduction in height and the improved design, were welcomed.  Members expressed their profound disappointment about the lack of affordable housing and/or commuted sum. 

Clarification was sought on some issues, and the Principal Planning Officer assisted the members by informing them that the pedestrian access from Wellstones had been improved with an internal glass lobby. 

The Principal Planning Officer also assisted the committee regarding their concerns about the light levels in particular rooms in the scheme.  She explained that some of the long kitchens had low light levels but the living areas had sufficient light, with dual aspect windows or balconies.  Where the balconies caused a drop in light levels, this was made up by the other window.   

The committee continued to express their strong disapproval of the lack of affordable housing and also expressed their frustration with the rules on viability.  The Principal Planning Officer pointed out that viability had been robustly tested and there was a late stage review in place, should the costings change. 

The Chair then moved that pursuant to a planning obligation under s.106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 having been completed to secure the following Heads of Terms, planning permission be granted subject to the conditions listed in the Section 106 Heads of Terms and the conditions listed in Section 8 of the officer’s report.

RESOLVED –

That, pursuant to a planning obligation under s.106 of the Town and Country

Planning Act 1990 having been completed to secure the following Heads of Terms, planning permission be granted subject to the conditions listed below:

Section 106 Heads of Terms

i)                    To secure a financial payment to the Council of £2,000 towards the variation of the Borough of Watford (Watford Central Area and West Watford Area) (Controlled Parking Zones) (Consolidation) Order 2010 to exclude the site from the controlled parking zone, thereby preventing residents’ parking permits being issued to the future occupiers of this site.

ii)                  To secure a review mechanism of the viability of the development to be undertaken towards the end of the project (at 75% of flat sales) when actual build costs and sales values of the flats are known. This shall allow a financial payment to be made towards affordable housing provision where the viability of the development can be shown to have improved to provide a financial surplus.

Conditions

1.      Time Limit

The development to which this permission relates shall be begun within a period of three  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

The Principal Planning Officer (AC) delivered his report and the committee noted that an update sheet had been provided to them and also published on the council’s website.   

            The Chair then invited Mr Foster address the committee.  He was critical of the officer’s recommendation to approve the application, citing the Planning Inspector’s comments that the first application was unsuitable for this area.  Mr Foster asserted that the application before the committee was not materially different and he voiced his opinion that the officer was wrong then and was wrong now.  Mr Foster opined that the application had not gone far enough to reduce the harm as mentioned in the Planning Inspector’s report; specifically, the maximum height of the proposed scheme was emphasised before and has not been reduced in the current application. 

            He asserted that the height of the scheme on the St Albans Road side was just one storey less than the original proposal and other parts of the scheme were one, two or three storeys higher than anything nearby. 

            Mr Foster moved on to the parking and stated that the visualisations on the report did not reflect the true picture of what the parking would be like and despite all the landscaping, the appearance would be that of a car park.  He noted that the officer’s report described the situation as “acceptable”, but his opinion was that it was not acceptable and was overdevelopment. 

            The lack of affordable housing was poor considering the need for this within Watford. 

            He concluded by asking the committee to protect the residents from an oversized flatted development and to refuse the application. 

The Chair thanked Mr Foster and invited Mr Mark Jackson, the applicant’s agent to address the committee. 

Mr Jackson opened by pointing out that this was a brownfield development and noted that the previous scheme had been rejected.  This rejection had been addressed by engaging a new architect to take a fresh view and the scheme had been designed with not only the current local plan, but also the emerging local plan in mind. 

He cited various favourable statistics, such as the 127 new homes and generation of £2.6million through CIL to be secured through the development. 

The scheme had noted the feedback from local residents and the scale, massing and height had been reduced over the site, whilst preserving a link to the existing locally listed building with subtle styling cues. 

This development was worthy of support boasting improved links to Garston Park.  Watford Borough Council’s declaration of a climate emergency was also addressed by the scheme, with a range of measures to mitigate and reduce the carbon footprint, going beyond the current policy.  The car parking levels were below the current maximums within the policy and an extensive cycling infrastructure was included.  There was also a car club provision and extensive facilities for electric vehicles. 

Mr Jackson admitted that all this change and improvement had affected the viability of the scheme, with no on-site or off-site contribution, but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

The Development Management Manager delivered his report and reminded the committee that there were some late updates that had been provided and had been published online. 

The Chair thanked the Development Management Manager and invited Mr Stephen Harrington, Director of Regal Clarendon to address the committee.

Mr Harrington briefly described the proposed changes to the application and added that demolition had started the day before.  He went on to describe the positive benefits of the scheme:

·        The immediate generation of 380 full time jobs.

·        1200 jobs once the scheme completed.

·        The generation of £87 million per annum for the local economy.

·        The sustainable nature of the development.

·        Improved well-being of people returning to office accommodation. 

Mr Harrington went on to explain the real estate academy that was set up by his company.  This offered support to military veterans and local people with 120 completing a five week course to assist them with securing skills and jobs. 

The Chair thanked Mr Harrington for his presentation and reminded the committee that this scheme had already obtained planning permission, so this application was only for minor changes and enhancements.  Many of these changes had been made in the light of the Grenfell disaster.  He then handed the matter to the committee for debate. 

Members were in general approval of the proposed changes and they commended Mr Harrington for the innovative idea of a skills academy. 

The Chair moved to approve the officer’s recommendation that, pursuant to a Deed of Variation under s.106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 having been completed to secure the following Heads of Terms, planning permission be granted subject to the conditions listed below (and including the updates):

RESOLVED –

To accept the officer’s recommendation to approve the application that, pursuant to a Deed of Variation under s.106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 having been completed to secure the following Heads of Terms, planning permission be granted subject to the conditions listed below (and including the updates):

Deed of Variation Heads of Terms

i)                    To secure a total financial contribution of £2,008,241 in lieu of on-site affordable housing. (i.e. uplift from £1,650,000 to £1, 858,241 allowing for indexation, plus an uplift of £150,000)

ii)                  To secure a financial payment to the Council of £2,000 towards the variation of the Borough of Watford (Watford Central Area and West Watford Area)(Controlled Parking Zones)(Consolidation) Order 2010 to exclude the site from the controlled parking zone, thereby preventing residents’ parking permits being issued to this site.

Conditions

1.      The development to which this permission relates shall be begun within a period of three years commencing on the date of this permission.

2.      The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved drawings (as updated):

1152-PL-AA90 SITE LOCATION PLAN

1152-PL-AA00 - GROUND FLOOR PLAN

1152-PL-AA01 - 1ST FLOOR PLAN

1152-PL-AA02 - 2ND FLOOR PLAN

1152-PL-AA03 - 3RD FLOOR RESIDENTIAL

1152-PL-AA04 - 4TH FLOOR RESIDENTIAL 3RD FLOOR OFFICE

1152-PL-AA05 - 5TH FLOOR RESIDENTIAL 4TH FLOOR  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.