Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Sophie Anne Fernandes, Deputy Bill Fraser, Marianne Fredericks, Graeme Harrower, Deputy Henry Jones, Tom Sleigh, Angela Starling and Michael Webank.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 13 September 2016.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 September 2016 be agreed as a correct record.

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director in respect of development and advertisement applications dealt with under delegated authority.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director which provided details of valid planning applications received by the department since the last meeting.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted

Refurbishment of 1-3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 Fredericks Place and

35 Old Jewry including change of use from office (Class

B1) to restaurant (Class A3) and flexible Shop (Class

A1)/Office (Class B1) use at part ground and part lower

ground floors at 1-3 Frederick's Place; and change of use

from office (Class B1) to flexible Shop (Class A1)/Office

(Class B1) use at part ground and part lower ground floors

at 35 Old Jewry. Rationalisation of roof plant and other

associated works.

Proposal: Refurbishment of 1-3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 Fredericks Place and 35 Old Jewry including change of use from office (ClassB1) to restaurant (Class A3) and flexible Shop (ClassA1)/Office (Class B1) use at part ground and part lower ground floors at 1-3 Frederick's Place; and change of use from office (Class B1) to flexible Shop (Class A1)/Office (Class B1) use at part ground and part lower ground floors at 35 Old Jewry. Rationalisation of roof plant and other associated works.

Registered No: 15/01308/FULL

The Chief Planning Officer (CPO) introduced the application and advised the Committee of some additional conditions which were tabled.

The CPO also advised that the objection from the Diocese of London had been withdrawn.

Mr Ken Scott spoke in objection on behalf of Glenn Winter (9 Ironmonger Lane) and Winter Scott LLP (St. Olave’s House) to express concerns regarding the scale,

location and use of the proposed first floor roof terrace and the resultant negative noise, disturbance and overlooking effects to neighbouring properties.

Mr Luke Emmerton, Director of DP9, spoke on behalf of the applicant.

The Committee discussed the proposal in relation to the concerns including the impact on the nearby buildings and spaces, including daylight/sunlight and amenity, and whether or not the proposed roof terrace would give potential for noise generation and overlooking. Discussion ensured regarding the possibility of increasing the height of the balustrades and including planting that would help combat noise and overlooking. A further condition was proposed by the CPO to deal with this matter. The details submitted pursuant to this condition would not be approved without consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

RESOLVED – That the application, upon being put to the vote, was approved.

Vote – Unanimous

Proposal: 2-3 Finsbury Avenue London EC2M 2PA

Demolition of existing buildings and construction of a building arranged over three basement floors, ground and 32 upper floors plus mezzanine and three rooftop plant

levels (168.4m AOD) to provide office accommodation (Class B1) (61,867sq.m); flexible retail uses (for either class A1, A2 or A3) at part ground and mezzanine levels (4,250sq.m GIA); cafe/restaurant uses (Class A3) at 13^th floor level (1,291sq.m); flexible retail uses (for either class A1 or A3) at part ground floor level (248sq.m); a flexible space for office, conferencing, events and/or leisure use

(for either Class B1, D1 or D2) at 13th to 18th floor levels (5,333sq.m) and a publicly accessible roof terrace and associated facilities at 13th floor level; hard and soft

landscaping works; servicing facilities; and other works incidental to the development (total floor area 85,378sq

Registered No: 16/00149/FULEIA

The Chief Planning Officer (CPO) introduced the application and advised the Committee of some amendments to conditions and other amendments to the report which were tabled.

The Committee noted that in addition to providing a substantial increase in high quality office accommodation, the development would also provide public realm benefits including a new pedestrian route, a publically accessible roof terrace, additional retail floor space and an attractive events centre.

Members raised a number of questions in relation to consultation undertaken, the impact on the transport system, the maintenance of the trees and the applicant’s request for a 7 year time limit for the implementation of the planning permission.

RESOLVED – That the application, on being put to the vote, was approved.

Vote: 16 in favour, 1 against, 0 abstentions

1)            That planning permission be granted for the above proposal in accordance

with the details set out in the attached schedule subject to:

(a) the Mayor of

The Committee received a report detailing the consultation proposals for the Historic Environment Strategy.

RESOLVED - That agreement be given for the draft text of three documents subject to minor amendments and corrections (one of which is a proposed SPDs) of the Historic Environment Strategy, attached as Appendices 1 - 3 to the report, be issued for public consultation for six weeks commencing in October 2016.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment which set out a proposal to develop a distinct Look and Feel Strategy for the public realm in the area covered by the City’s Cultural Hub, located in the north-west of the City.

RESOLVED – To

a)        Approve the initiation of the Look and Feel Strategy, utilising up to £350k from the Cultural Hub funding allocation in the Town Clerk’s local risk budget, derived from 2015/16 corporate underspend; and

b)        note that the release of each phase of funding will be authorised by the Town Clerk on the recommendation of the officer level working party overseeing this programme.

The Committee received a report in relation to the upgrading of the on-street Pay & Display machines.

Members were advised that there were currently around 90 on-street parking Pay & Display (P&D) machines in the City offering customers the option to pay for parking by cash.  A reduction of about a third was currently underway to reduce operational costs, mainly targeting places where there was more than one machine in close proximity.

Members noted that the machines were now over 10 years old and approaching the end of their useful life. They were becoming more unreliable, spare parts were becoming harder to find and maintenance costs were increasing.

However, upgrading all the existing machines at this point would not allow the testing of whether drivers parking in the Square Mile were ready to embrace a full ‘mobile payment only’ solution and it was therefore proposed to select areas in the City to move to a ‘phone payment only’ solution based on the current assessment of ‘mobile payment’ usage and monitor public reaction, and where a high degree of cash usage remains, the existing P&D machines would be upgraded.

RESOLVED – To agree:

1)            To upgrade those machines where cash usage remains high in order to address the underlying maintenance issue of aging machines in those areas;

2)            To run a six month cashless trial in areas with very low cash usage in order to gauge the impact and public reaction; and

3)            That a report back to Members on the results of that trial be made before deciding to continue with further upgrades or a wider removal of cash payment, albeit should there be immediate adverse consequences of introducing the trial, officers would report this back to Members more quickly.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment which provided information on the major highway works for 2016/17.

The Committee was advised that the volume of activity taking place in the Square Mile had placed increasing demands on the City’s highway network. In particular, the sheer scale of schemes such as Crossrail, the Bank Northern Line upgrade and the imminent Thames Tideway project meant that long-term co-ordination of works was vital to keep the City moving.

In addition, the City currently had the largest volume of building development taking place since 2008, and although this was traditionally the sign of a thriving Square Mile, this activity brought with it a need for road space, additional streetworks connections and additional heavy vehicle traffic.

RESOLVED – To receive the report.

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection that advised Members of the award of £990,000 in funding over three years from the Mayor of London’s Air Quality Fund to implement a Low Emission Neighbourhood (LEN). Members noted that the 17 measures included in the bid document, which had been circulated electronically by the Town Clerk, outlined what actions the funding was being spent on.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee received a report of the City Surveyor in relation to the public lift service.

Members were advised that following the request at the last meeting to arrange a site visit for those members interested in seeing how some of the public lifts and escalators worked, a visit had been arranged for Tuesday 25^th October at 2.00pm.

Should this not be convenient for some Members, alternative dates could be arranged.

In response to a question concerning Queensbridge House raised in advance of the meeting, the Member concerned advised that a response had been provided by email.

Local Plan Consultation - All Member Briefing

The Chairman reported that this had been arranged for Monday 17 October 2016 at 8.30am.

Planning and Transportation Committee Annual Dinner

The Chairman reported that this had been arranged for Tuesday 22 November 2016.

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 Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.