Agenda item

Application for a variation of Condition 13 of planning permission ref. 10/00121/EXT for the redevelopment of the site to provide 4, 5 and 7-storey buildings comprising ground floor retail use and 56 flats without the provision of basement car parking and with the projecting balconies replaced by juliette balconies

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

 

Councillor Derbyshire noted that the amended plans showed that the underground car park had been withdrawn from the scheme.  He asked how the space intended for this car park would be used.

 

The Major Cases Manager explained that the underground car park would not be built as the costs to excavate the area would have been too great. There would be a ground level under croft car park rather than provision in a basement area.

 

In reply to a further question from Councillor Derbyshire, the Major Cases Manager advised that there was currently no basement to the building and that the original proposal would have required expensive additional work.   

 

Councillor Brandon referred to the report and noted that planning permission had been granted in June 2010; he asked whether, since the permission was now out of date, it was too late to change the application.

 

The Major Cases Manager replied that changes had been made to policies at national and local level since the original planning permission had been granted in May 2007 but these changes were taken into account in April 2010 when the planning permission was extended for a period of five years (rather than the usual period of three years).  He added that the Section 106 planning obligation was likely to be completed within the next two weeks.

 

RESOLVED –

 

(A)       That conditional planning permission be granted subject to the completion of a planning obligation under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to secure the following contributions and subject to the conditions listed below:

 

Section 106 Heads of Terms

 

i)          To secure financial payments to the Council of:

 

a)         £138,432 (index linked) towards the provision and improvement of public open space in the Borough in accordance with Policy L8 of the Watford District Plan 2000;

 

 

b)         £37,430 (index linked) towards the provision and improvement of children’s play space in the Borough in accordance with Policy L9 of the Watford District Plan 2000;

 

c)         £2,000 towards the variation of the relevant Traffic Regulation Order to exclude the site from the controlled parking zone, thereby preventing residents’ parking permits being allocated to this site.

 

ii)         To secure financial payments to the County Council of:

 

a)         £25,750 (index linked) towards the implementation of the South West Hertfordshire Transport Strategy and sustainable transport measures in Watford in accordance with Policies T3, T4, T5 and INF1 of the Watford Local Plan Core Strategy 2006-31;

 

b)         £16,905 (index linked) towards the provision of secondary education in accordance with Policy INF1 of the Watford Local Plan Core Strategy 2006-31 and Policy H10 of the Watford District Plan 2000;

 

c)         £33,343 (index linked) towards the provision of primary education in accordance with Policy INF1 of the Watford Local Plan Core Strategy 2006-31 and Policy H10 of the Watford District Plan 2000;

 

d)         £7,865 (index linked) towards the provision of nursery education in accordance with Policy INF1 of the Watford Local Plan Core Strategy 2006-31 and Policy H10 of the Watford District Plan 2000; 

 

e)         £2,302 (index linked) towards the provision of childcare facilities in Watford in accordance with Policy INF1 of the Watford Local Plan Core Strategy 2006-31 and Policy H10 of the Watford District Plan 2000;

 

f)          £511 (index linked) towards the provision of youth facilities in Watford in accordance with Policy INF1 of the Watford Local Plan Core Strategy 2006-31 and Policy H10 of the Watford District Plan 2000;

 

g)         £5,835 (index linked) towards the provision of library facilities in accordance with Policy INF1 of the Watford Local Plan Core Strategy 2006-31 and Policy H10 of the Watford District Plan 2000;

 

iii)        To secure the provision of fire hydrants as required by the County Council.

 

iv)        To secure the provision of 17 affordable housing unitsof which 11 shall be general needs rented (8 x 1 bed and 3 x 2 bed) and 6 shall be for intermediate tenures (5 x 1 bed and 1 x 2 bed).

 

 

 

Conditions

 

1.         The development to which this permission relates shall be commenced before 4^th June 2015.

 

2.         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.

           

3.         Demolition of the existing buildings shall only take place in accordance with the Demolition Method Statement, Demolition Plan and Façade Retention Statement dated 19^th September 2012, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority. No construction shall commence until a Construction Environmental Management Plan has been submitted to and approved by the Local Planning Authority. This Plan shall include details of phasing of construction, contractors parking, the delivery and storage of materials, measures to mitigate noise and dust, wheel washing facilities, plant and equipment and a contact procedure for complaints. The Plan as approved shall be implemented throughout the construction period. 

 

4.         No construction shall commence until the programme of archaeological work set out in the Archaeological Project Design by The Heritage Network dated November 2012 has been undertaken. No part of the development shall be occupied or brought into use until the approved scheme of investigation for archaeological works has been implemented in full. Any evidence, reports or archive generated as a result of the programme of archaeological work shall be deposited within six months of the completion of the work with the historic environment record maintained by the Hertfordshire County Council (with copies provided to the Watford Museum) or such other public depository as shall be agreed in writing with the Local Planning Authority.

 

5.         The development shall only be carried out in accordance with the detailed works for the retention, renovation and refurbishment of the façade of the existing building on the High Street frontage, as contained in the Façade Retention Statement dated 19^th December 2012 and the Schedule of Works dated 15^th May 2013, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

 

6.         The development shall only be carried out using the following external materials, as shown on drawing nos. 1416-7-2A, 1416-7-3A, 1416-7-4A, 1416-7-5A and 1416-7-6A (W. Griffiths & Glass), unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority:-

           

                          PermaRockMetallocryl Render in colours Silver and Copper

Metsa Thermowood timber cladding

Trespa Meteon laminated panels in colour Spring Green (A3723)

Euroclad Vieo metal cladding system

Windows and external doors - powder coated aluminium

External stair - galvanised metal with perforated infill panels

Balconies - translucent structural glass balcony panels in clear glass and orange tinted glass with brushed stainless steel handrails and patch fittings

 

7.         The development shall only be constructed in accordance with the threshold levels shown on drawing no.988_1-10 (W Griffiths), unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

 

8.         The development shall only be carried out in accordance with the hard and soft landscaping scheme shown on drawing nos. 988_1-9 and 988_7-4 Rev.C (W Griffiths) and detailed in the email dated 27th June 2013 from Chris Griffiths, unless otherwise approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.  No part of the development shall be occupied until the approved scheme has been implemented and the works carried out shall thereafter be retained as approved at all times.

 

9.         The development shall not be occupied until the cycle store on the fifth floor has been constructed and Code Streetpods have been installed to accommodate 18 cycles, unless otherwise approved in writing by the Local Authority. The cycle store shall be retained at all times..

 

10.       No part of the development hereby permitted shall be occupied until the refuse, recycling and cycle storage areas shall have been provided as approved, and all these areas shall thereafter be retained solely for these purposes.

           

11.       No affordable housing units shall be located on the first or second floors of the rear building in any of the units numbered 1.1 to 1.6 inclusive or 2.1 to 2.6 inclusive which face north-east or south-west, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority.

 

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

 

                          988-1-1B, 2E, 3E, 4E, 5E, 6E, 7E, and 8F;

988-2-1D, 2D, 3F, 4F and 5F.

 

Informative

 

1.         This planning permission is accompanied by a unilateral undertaking under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to secure financial contributions towards the provision or improvement of public open space, children's play space, education facilities, childcare, youth facilities, library facilities and sustainable transport measures within the Borough of Watford. In addition the agreement secures a contribution towards the variation of the Borough of Watford (Watford Central Area and West Watford Area) (Controlled Parking Zones) (Consolidation) Order 2006 to exclude future residents of the development from entitlement to residents parking permits. The agreement also requires the provision of necessary fire hydrants to serve the development and the provision of 17 affordable housing units.

 

2.         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.

 

Drawing numbers

 

(B)       In the event that no section 106 planning obligation is completed by 2^nd October 2013 in respect of the Heads of Terms set out above, the Development Management Section Head be authorised to refuse planning permission for this application for the following reasons:

 

1.                  The proposed development fails to make provision for public open space or children’s play space, either in the form of on-site works or commuted payments, and as such is contrary to Policies L8 and L9 of the Watford District Plan 2000.

 

2.                  The proposed development fails to contribute towards the implementation of sustainable transport measures forming part of the South West Hertfordshire Transportation Strategy, either in the form of off-site highway works or commuted payments, and as such is contrary to Policies T3, T4, T5 and INF1 of the Watford Local Plan Core Strategy 2006-31.

 

3.                  The proposed development fails to contribute to the provision or improvement of education and community facilities (youth facilities, childcare, libraries and healthcare) in the Borough and as such is contrary to Policy INF1 of the Watford Local Plan Core Strategy 2006-31 and Policy H10 of the Watford District Plan 2000.

 

4.                  The proposed development fails to make the required affordable housing contribution pursuant to Policy HS3 of the Watford Local Plan Core Strategy 2006-31.

 

            5.         The proposal fails to make appropriate provision to restrict on-street parking in the surrounding Controlled Parking Zone and as such is contrary to Policy T24 of the Watford District Plan 2000.

 

6.         The proposal fails to make provision for fire hydrants to serve the development and as such is contrary to Policy INF1 of the Watford Local Plan Core Strategy 2006-31 and Policy H10 of the Watford District Plan 2000.