Agenda item

Change of use of ground floor of building from Class B1(a) offices to Class A1 retail for use as a retail foodstore; and change of use of first floor from Class B1(a) offices to a mix of ancillary Class A1 retail use and Class B1(a) use. Installation of new shopfronts and other associated alterations.

Officer’s recommendation:  PERMISSION

The Development Control Officer introduced the report and briefly described the proposal.  He drew the attention of the Committee to the addendum and reported the following amendments and additions to the report since it had been published:

(i)      Page 11, Paragraph 7 amend ‘and 1000 to 1600 Sundays’ to read ‘and for a maximum of 6 hours between 1000 to 1800 on Sundays’

(ii)    Page 12, Paragraph 12; 1 additional support comment received.

(iii)   Page 13, 1 additional request from occupant/owner of no.22 Percy Road to be consulted on the proposal and requesting details of the application be posted (request received this week).

(iv)  Page 22, Condition 48 Remove ‘AD007 REV 05’ and insert ‘AD007 Rev 06 received by the Council on 19 July 2011’

(v)    Page 22, Add additional condition to read: ‘No external ducting, extraction or air conditioning equipment shall be installed without the prior written consent of the Local Planning Authority. REASON: To protect the visual appearance of the area and the amenities of nearby residents.

(vi)  Page 24, Condition NS07 amend ‘and 1000 to 1600 Sundays’ to read ‘and for a maximum of 6 hours between 1000 to 1800 on Sundays, Bank Holidays and Public Holidays.’

(vii) Page 24, Condition NS08 amend ‘or after 4pm’ to read ‘or after 6pm’.

(viii)           Page 24, Add additional Informative to read ‘NI04: In respect of the discharge of condition NS09 details of a scheme for the installation (and retention) of electric vehicle charging points should be included with any details submitted to the Council’.

[As this application was classified as a ‘major application’ according to the LBRuT criteria the Chairman had discretion to alter the speaking rules as required]

The Committee heard representations against the application from Mrs Brown, Mr Brown and Mr Hainsworth.

The Committee heard representations in support of the application from Mrs Sim, Mr Garrett, Mr Soones and Mr Dean.

In addition responses to Councillor questions were allowed from pre-registered speakers Mr Abbott and Mr Foxall.

The Committee heard a representation from Councillor Roberts who spoke as an interested Councillor.

The Committee considered the information received, the points raised by speakers and the additional information referred to in the addendum.

In particular the committee discussed the following points:

(i)      The safety of children at the local school, in particular the possibility of a safety survey being conducted should the application be granted permission and the store open.

(ii)    That the store would have a Green Travel Plan to encourage staff to walk or take public transport to work.

(iii)   That the time required for marketing could be reduced owing to the comprehensive methods employed.

(iv)  Committee members clarified the size of lorries and the number and times of delivery with officers.

(v)    The reasonableness of speaker requests for an access road to be funded by the applicant.

(vi)  On questioning, the Development Control Officer reminded the Committee that the advice from central government and emerging policies was that competition and choice should be encouraged.

(vii)Officers advised the committee that Network Rail would object to a pedestrian crossing nearer to the level crossing on the grounds of safety.

(viii)                       That the restriction of parking to one hour may be overly restrictive for shoppers and should be considered when discharging condition NS09.

It was RESOLVED:

That the application be APPROVED subject to the conditions and informatives set out in the officer’s report and the following additional conditions and informatives:

Conditions

1. Safety audit to be conducted on implementation.

2. Traffic Surveys to be conducted at 3 and 6 months after completion.

Informative – The appropriateness of the one hour limit for short stay parking be considered as part of the discharge of Condition NS09.