Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Rehana Ameer, Deputy Keith Bottomley, Peter Dunphy, Marianne Fredericks, Christopher Hill, Oliver Lodge, Natasha Maria Cabrera Lloyd Owen, Graham Packham and James de Sausmarez.

Oliver Sells declared an interest in relation to Item 9 stating that he was a Member of the Bar practising at Inner Temple and also a professional and residential tenant there as detailed on his public register of interests. He added that he had consulted the Comptroller and City Solicitor on this matter who had received advice from leading counsel to suggest that no DPI was engaged on this occasion.

Deputy Alistair Moss (Deputy Chairman) declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to Item 8 stating that he had served as both Chairman and then Deputy Chairman of the Property Investment Board who had dealt with the transactional aspects of 1 Leadenhall Street in some detail. He therefore proposed to leave the meeting when this item was under consideration so as to draw clear lines between the City’s role as landowner and planning authority. He would not speak or vote on the matter.

Alderman Gregory Jones declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to Item 9 stating that he was a Barrister, in independent practice at the bar within the Chambers of Andrew Tait QC, FTB, Francis Taylor Building, Temple, as detailed on his public register of interests.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 20 November 2018.

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 20 November 2018 were considered and approved as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING

Consultation on Noisy Saturday Construction Work Activities in the City of London – In response to a question, the Town Clerk reported that the Port Health and Environmental Services Committee had agreed with this Committee’s conclusion and had also voted in favour of restricting noisy works hours to 09:00 to 14:00.

COLPAI Project on former Richard Cloudesley School site – A Member questioned why this matter had not been brought back to the Committee for further discussion as had been suggested at the last meeting. She also asked that the Chairman update the Committee on the result of his discussions with the Chief Planning Officer on the matter. Finally, she asked what consideration had been given to some obvious ways of solving the problem, such as:

looking at ways to remove the need for the service trench, investigating alternative positions for gas intake and changing roof falls, and retaining the existing boundary wall.

The Chairman reported that, whilst it had been suggested that the matter be brought back to Committee for further discussion it had not formally been ‘called in’. If Members were of the view that this was necessary it would need to a formal, collective decision. He added that, as the Chief Planning Officer had been absent at the time, he had followed up this matter with the Director of the Built Environment after the last meeting who had subsequently discussed the matter with the Town Clerk & Chief Executive.

The Director of the Built Environment clarified that an application had been submitted in relation to condition 5 of the CoLPAI decision and that the applicant had applied to remove four trees and retain one on

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director detailing development and advertising applications determined by the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director or those so authorised under their delegated powers since the report to the last meeting.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director detailing development applications received by the Department of the Built Environment since the report to the last meeting.

A Member noted that discharged conditions were mentioned within the report and questioned whether all such conditions featured here or only those which Officers thought were of the most importance. She added that she had not seen the conditions around the COLPAI trees featured here previously.

The Chief Planning Officer clarified that all delegated decisions were listed within these regular reports to Committee. She added that the report listed full planning applications and was not in relation to conditions only.

Report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Culture Mile Director.

The Committee received a report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Culture Mile Director seeking Member comments on the new draft City of London Visitor Strategy 2019/23.

The Chairman reported that the draft strategy had already been endorsed by both the Culture, Heritage and Libraries and the Policy & Resources Committees.  

A Member commented that it was important to have some reassurance that the Square Mile would still retain a business focus. He added that there was also no mention of security within the strategy at present which should continue to be a priority in the City. The Cultural and Visitor Director reported that one of the main thrusts of the strategy was timing with particular focus on visitors at evenings and weekends. Any crossover with business – such as lunchtimes – would, however, be looked at as part of this.

In terms of security, the Cultural and Visitor Director reported that arrangements formed part of individual events programmes (like City Arts) but he agreed that this should be explicit within the strategy. He went on to clarify that each event went through a rigorous process in terms of security with input from the City of London Police and Highways in terms of things such as vulnerability, crowd safety and public order.

Another Member commented that she was disappointed to see that Leadenhall Market was not mentioned within the draft strategy given that the Guildhall Yard and Old Bailey were. The Cultural and Visitor Director reported that work was being done alongside the Market to look at increasing visitor numbers here, particularly at weekends. This could be referenced within the strategy but, due to financial constraints, this could not be a direct action at present.

A Member questioned the ‘Action Area’ around the provision of additional coach parking and dropping off

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee received a report of the City Surveyor containing details of the three public escalator/lifts that were in service less than 95% of the time.

The City Surveyor regretfully reported that the lift at Speed House was still out of service and required a new drive board which was set to be delivered this week. It was hoped that the lift would then return to service. Long term, a programme to refurbish the lift was being brought forward to February 2019. This would render the lift out of service for a period of approximately 3 months but would hopefully reduce the number of occasions on which the lift experienced technical failures/difficulties.

The City Surveyor went on to report that a £250,000 project to refurbish and upgrade all of the City’s public lifts was also planned in order to make all of them as reliable as possible.

A Member questioned how much routine maintenance was carried out on the public lifts. The City Surveyor reported that routine maintenance was carried out fortnightly on all public lifts. Consideration had previously been given to increasing this to weekly maintenance but it had been concluded that there would be no real benefit in doing so.

A Member commented that the Speed House lift had been poorly designed from the outset. Another Member commented on the running costs of the public lifts being more expensive than they should be as a result of poor design and questioned whether the City Corporation had any control over this going forward, in terms of specifying what standards developers should be meeting in the first place. The City Surveyor reported that a public lift specification as now in place and could be shared with developers to ensure that all future public lift installations met the City Corporation’s criteria.

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

Deputy Alistair Moss (Deputy Chairman) withdrew from the meeting for this Item.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director seeking approval for the demolition of the existing building and redevelopment to provide a 36 storey building with 28 floors for office use (Class B1) with retail floorspace (Class A1-A4) at basement, ground and fourth floor, office lobby and loading bay at ground floor, a publicly accessible terrace at fourth floor, 5 floors of plant and ancillary basement cycle parking (63,613sq.m GIA).

The Assistant Director, Planning and Development reminded Members that this follows a previous permission which was granted by the Planning and Transportation Committee on 25th January 2017, which was the subject of an application for a non-material amendment granted on 22nd February 2018. He went on to highlight that this application differs from the previous proposal in the following ways:

• Reduction in retail provision and increase in office space;

• Relocation of the servicing bay from Whittington Avenue to Gracechurch Street;

• Widening of the pavements on Gracechurch Street and Leadenhall Street;

• Reduction in the basement depth;

• Reduction in height;

• Façade refinements; and

• Relocation of the public terrace from level 2 to level 4.

He added that deliveries would be consolidated and would be restricted through the S106 agreement so that they take place outside pedestrian peaks.

He drew Members’ attention to the fact that the planting of five trees was proposed on either side of the loading bay as part of the wind mitigation strategy.

The Assistant Director, Planning and Development reported that the development was adjacent to both the Bank and Leadenhall conservation areas. Overall, it was hoped that the scheme would enhance the retail and pedestrian nature of the area and would be a successful

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

Deputy Alistair Moss (Deputy Chairman) rejoined the meeting.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director seeking approval for the erection of two temporary buildings for a period of 22 months to facilitate the development proposed under 17/00077/FULMAJ (one located within the Inner Temple Garden (1100sq.m GEA) and one located within the Inner Temple Car Park (770sq.m GEA) to provide temporary accommodation for the displaced Treasury Building, Inner Temple Hall and Library functions (Sui Generis use comprising Offices, Education and Training, Hall and Library relating to the Bar and Inner Temple). Associated works to include the dismantling, storage and re-erection of one listed and one unlisted gas lamp and plinth and the provision of a temporary substation and creation of a service compound.

William Upton declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he was a Member of Inner Temple and a tenant at Chambers there. He added that he intended to speak and vote on the matter.

The Senior Planning Officer presented the application. She highlighted that the garden here was a highly valued public amenity. She underlined that, Officers would be in a position to recommend the application for approval if the proposed carpark temporary structure had been smaller and situated further away from the listed buildings.

The Chairman invited the registered objectors to address the Committee, reminding them that they had a total of ten minutes between them to do so. He also drew Members attention to a written objection from Dr. Malecka which had been tabled.

Lord Lloyd of Berwick addressed the Committee, informing Members of the long history of this application. He stated that despite the Inn’s Surveyor writing to all in November 2018 to suggest that it was essential to have the proposed temporary buildings in place, if today’s application were

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment proposing a review and prioritisation of transportation and public realm projects within the Department of the Built Environment (DBE) in order to better utilise available funds to deliver corporate priorities and enable continued development to support economic growth.

The Assistant Director City Public Realm informed Members that additional information regarding the Pre-Project Proposals listed in Table D as requested by the Chairman of the Projects Sub Committee had been tabled. He clarified that this information related to projects that were not yet at the formal project stage but that would be archived for the time being with these being revisited if the opportunity to do so or additional funding should arise.

He went on to remind Members that they had previously requested the prioritisation of these projects in accordance with emerging Corporate policies. Officers were now looking to Members to approve the methodology if the approach.

Members were informed that the report also proposed a spending plan for S106 funds that complies with the terms of the agreements which generated the funds and mitigates the impacts of the related developments. 

The Chairman thanked Officers for the huge amount of work that had gone in to drawing this information together.

A Member stated that he was very pleased to received the additional information (tabled) but highlighted that some of the projects listed here, such as the Christ’s Hospital Artwork, had already been delivered by other means. The Assistant Director City Public Realm undertook to review and amend the table accordingly.

A Member asked for further information as to the origin of some of the points raised within the table provided for additional information.

A Member questioned how some of the larger, corporate projects such as the relocation of the

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment regarding Lane Rental.

The Assistant Director (Highways) reported that this report had been requested by Members following wider government discussions on this matter. He added that whilst there were clearly some intuitive benefits around Lane Rental there were some significant disbenefits for the City Corporation. This was not, however, to say that the matter should be totally dismissed and the evolving Transport Strategy would be a good opportunity to keep the matter under review going forward.

The Chairman reported that the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee had been supportive of the recommendations.

A Member suggested that the organisation should continue to be in close discussion with utilities working on the City’s streets and provide incentives for completing works on time. The Assistant Director (Highways) recognised the need for this but also referred to the lobbying power of the utility industry.

In response to a concern regarding specialist materials like granite setts, the Assistant Director (Highways) reported that some materials were held in a depot in the City.

RESOLVED – That, Members agree:

·         that the City work with other highway authorities to establish whether a ‘critical mass’ of Lane Rental streets in Central London can be established (paragraph 12, Option 3);

·         to keep matters under review in conjunction with the aims & objectives of the forthcoming Transport Strategy;

·         that officers continue to identify & promote safe and effective ways of working that help reduce the duration of works on City streets.

Report of the Policy and Performance Director.

The Committee considered a report of the Policy and Performance Director advising Members of a proposal to introduce charges for the discretionary elements of the City Corporation’s Street Naming and Building Naming Numbering service as a contribution to the running costs of the service.

In response to a question as to why our proposed charges were higher than elsewhere, Members were informed that this was due to costs being slightly higher. He added that this work was essential in order to register all addresses correctly for the benefit of the emergency services.

RESOLVED – That, Members:

·         Approve the introduction of charges for the discretionary elements of the Street Naming and Numbering function; and

·         Approve the schedule of charges set out in Appendix 1, to be applicable from 1^st April 2019.

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee received a report providing Members with an overview of past, present and future work undertaken to better understand and evaluate the wind microclimate in the City, especially in relation to determining development proposals.

Members received a presentation on the work undertaken to date. Officers reported that they were working alongside the Wind Industry regarding the methodology used. Members were shown a wind model that had been produced depicting all of the City’s existing developments as well as those currently in the pipeline. Comparisons had also been drawn between the City and other major Cities such as New York and Paris where the City had compared favourably in both cases.

Members were informed that international guidelines were also about to be published for the first time around wind and cycling in terms of both safety and comfort. Complex studies had also been carried out combining daylight/sunlight hours with wind studies.

Interestingly, Officers reported a correlation between high polluting highways and areas of enhanced wind conditions.

The Corporation’s Wind Effects and Tall Buildings document had now been published and it was hoped that the Microclimate Guidelines document would also be published in the near future.

A Member thanked Officers for all of their work in this area. He requested a before and after study of wind conditions around the Walkie Talkie building. He added that the organisation should also be looking to make standards tougher for developers particularly amidst moves to make the City more pedestrianised.

Some Members called for greater clarity around what targets developers in the City should currently be working to after mitigation.

Another Member stated that he would like to see the organisation taking the opportunity to share and promote its own guidance with other Local Authorities and perhaps internationally given the level of expertise it

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment relative to Major Highway Activities 2018 and 2019.

RESOLVED – That Members receive the report.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment regarding the revised National Planning Policy Framework.

Officers reported that, generally, there had been a shift towards housing with a reduced focus on the economy which was not necessarily in the City’s long-term interests. The City Corporation had responded on the housing delivery test methodology highlighting the risks for the organisation were the government to be inflexible in their approach to this.

RESOLVED – That, Members note the publication of the revised NPPF and the key implications for the City of London set out in the report.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment updating Members on the programme for remedial works to Thames Court Footbridge over Upper Thames Street between Queenhithe and Little Trinity Lane.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment updating Members on changes in the Building Regulations that will take effect on 21^st December 2018, which are the first following the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14^th June 2017.

In response to questions, the District Surveyor reported that he was aware of two private residential blocks in the City that had failed the fire test. One was being addressed by Housing and the other was a Hotel that was in the process of being rectified.

RESOLVED – That, the report is received.  

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment regarding the risk management procedures in place within the Department of Built Environment.

A query was raised around target scores increasing within the appendix to the report and also to the fact that the current Risk Score for DBE-TP-03 was referred to as both increasing and decreasing within the same report. Officers undertook to respond to these queries in writing to the Member concerned outside of the meeting.

RESOLVED – That, Members note the report and the actions taken in the Department of the Built Environment to monitor and manage effectively risks arising from the Department’s operations.  

The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director and the Director of the Built Environment to be heard.

The Director of the Built Environment reported that the risks arising from Brexit would be a standard agenda item for all grand committees going forward. In future, it would take the form of a short written report.

The Director referred to issues around recruitment, procurement and supply – all of which were being dealt with at a corporate level as opposed to being specific to this Committee.

In terms of the continuing attractiveness of the City as a place for business, this work was being headed up by Economic Development with input from the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Policy and Resources and of this Committee.

Finally, it was highlighted that MIPIM would be taking place just a fortnight ahead of the planned date for Brexit in March.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk detailing outstanding actions since their last meeting.

Updates were provided as follows:

Ludgate Circus

The Transportation and Public Realm Director reported that the surveys had now been completed with the results which detailed the movements of pedestrians, cars and bicycles being analysed at present. It was expected that a report detailing the results would be submitted to the Committee in January 2019 and would go some way to increasing safety awareness.

Committee Tour of the Bloomberg Building

The Chairman reported that this was currently being organised to take place in the New Year. Information would be sent to Members in due course.

Daylight/Sunlight Training

The Chief Planning Officer undertook to arrange this for the New Year.

Planning Applications

A Member questioned whether consideration might be given to hearing just one major application each meeting. He also asked if consideration could be given to hearing residential applications in the evening.

The Chairman clarified that it was not always possible to ensure the timing of applications so that only one per meeting was considered. He added that Officers could look to bring forward proposals around residential applications (which were admittedly rare) being considered at evening meetings going forward.

Bowater House, Golden Lane

A Member questioned whether an application for a mobile phone installation had been received for this property. The Chief Planning Officer reported that she was unaware of any such application to date but undertook to look in to this matter further and respond to the Member.

Embankment Works

In response to a question, the Chairman clarified that the planned closure of Embankment would now no longer be necessary.

Crossrail

In response to a question regarding further delays to Crossrail, the Chairman stated that he was not aware of any knock on effects for the City.

Committee Terms of Reference

A Member questioned whether consideration might be given, in due course, to the introduction of a panel system for the consideration of major applications so that Members might be more significantly involved in the plans from an earlier stage.

He highlighted that the Committee had only recently considered and rejected the option of a panel system. A Member commented that Members did receive sufficient warning of applications coming forward both within the Committee papers and also as Ward Members.

Committee Dinner

The Chairman reminded Members that the Annual Committee Dinner was scheduled to take place on 21 February 2019 at Carpenters Hall.

Next Meeting

The Chairman reminded Members that the next Committee meeting was scheduled to take place on 29 January 2019 following the cancellation of the 8 January 2019 meeting.

MOTION – That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED– That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

            Item No.                                              Paragraph(s)

             24 -25                                                 1 & 3

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2018.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2018 were considered and approved as a correct record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk advising Members of action taken by the Town Clerk since the last meeting of the Committee, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman; in accordance with Standing Orders Nos. 41(a) and 41(b).

There were no questions raised in the non-public session.

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration in the non-public session.