Agenda and minutes

Steve Presland

The Chairman paid tribute to Steve Presland, who had now retired from the City, although would still be engaged part time leading on mobilizing the City’s new Waste and Cleansing contract. 

The Chairman reported that Steve had worked in several Local Authorites, originally training as an Environmental Health Officer and had also had a stint with Kier in the private sector before coming to the City in 2008. 

The Chairman stated that Steve’s achievements at the City were too numerous to mention, but some highlights included his overseeing of several major contract procurements, including the appointments of our term contractor Rineys and the City’s coordination and delivery of operations for the 2012 Olympics.  The Chairman underlined that this was a highly complex logistical challenge that reflected extremely well on the City and much of what was learned has informed current strategies and practices.

The Chairman went on to report that Steve had overseen transformation of the City’s streets and public spaces including Bloomberg Place, London Wall Place, the areas around Goldman Sachs, and Aldgate Square not to mention many other smaller schemes implemented by the City Public Realm Team.  

It was highlighted that Steve had helped to tackle some of the City’s greatest challenges including engaging with various communities to develop ambitious strategies for transport and freight that will enable the continuing development of the City as a world class Centre for business and culture.  Steve has helped the organisation to learn from the best in the world including visiting New York with the Chairman to meet with their opposite numbers there and share experience. 

Steve’s team are also involved, of course, in every Planning Application that comes before this Committee - it is Steve’s team that assess the transport impacts of development and evaluate the servicing and

Mr Mooney enquired as to whether a number of Members who were resident in the City may, arguably, have a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) in relation to agenda item 17 (Consultation on Noisy Saturday Construction Work Activities in the City of London) given that any decision here could be perceived as improving the local environment and thereby enhancing property values.

The Town Clerk responded by stating that this appeared to be a tenuous link and that the matter would not necessarily engage a DPI.

The Chairman requested that legal advice be sought from the Comptroller and City Solicitor ahead of this Item being considered. The advice would need to provide clarity as to whether those Members who owned property within the City were able to speak and/or vote on the matter or whether this was a matter for personal judgement.

The Assistant City Solicitor (attending the meeting as the Comptroller and City Solicitor’s representative) stated that she did not believe that this would constitute a DPI although would seek final clarification on this.

An Alderman commented that the definition of a DPI involved an appreciable financial loss or gain which was not the case in the matter for determination at Item 17.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 30 October 2018.

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 30 October 2018 were considered and approved as a correct record.

To receive the draft minutes of the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee meeting held on 23 October 2018.

The Committee received the draft minutes of the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee meeting held on 23 October 2018.

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 and advertisement 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.

A Member raised a question in relation to application number 18/00818/FULL for Lamb and Trotter in Aldersgate Ward. She questioned whether Officers were content that all of the signage on site was necessary as it appeared to be excessive. Officers responded by stating that this kind of detail was assessed for all applications and that, in this case, they were satisfied that all of the signs were necessary given that this was a large site.

The Member went on to highlight that several signs were illuminated and questioned whether this was also taken in to consideration given that the site was situated in a residential area. Officers reassured Members that this aspect was also closely monitored and controlled and was, in this case, deemed necessary for the time being.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee considered 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.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain informing Members that the surplus arising from on-street parking activities in 2017/18 was £14.523m, a total of £4.664m was applied in 2017/18 to fund approved projects and that the surplus remaining on the On-Street Parking Reserve at 31^st March 2018 was £29.980m, which will be wholly allocated towards the funding of various highway improvements and other projects over the medium term.

RESOLVED – That, Members note the contents of the report for their information before submission to the Mayor of London.

Joint report of the Chamberlain, the Director of the Built Environment and the Director of Open Spaces.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Chamberlain, the Director of the Built Environment and the Director of Open Spaces detailing the annual submission of the revenue and capital budgets overseen by the Planning and Transportation Committee. The report sought approval to the latest revenue budget for 2018/19 and provisional revenue budget for 2019/20, for subsequent submission to the Finance Committee.

A Member questioned the budget reductions associated with an increase in Indigo enforcement costs given that the organisation had only recently engaged Indigo.

The Chamberlain responded by stating that increases here were attributable to increases in London Living Wage and inflation. The Director of Transportation and Public Realm added that he believed that there had also been an increase in the number of enforcement officers provided by Indigo.

She went on to speak on the increased budget due to ‘Sculpture in the City’ costs and stated that it was important to bear in mind not only the basic costs associated with this but also the value of the exhibits that were on public display. The Chamberlain clarified that this was something that had already been committed to and was now part of the expected City offering.

Another Member requested that the wording of the resolution be amended so that it was clear that this Committee were not approving the report but, instead, recommending it to the Finance Committee for formal approval.

Another Member questioned why no budget increase had been apportioned to street lighting. The Chamberlain clarified that street lighting was a Capital Project and was not therefore featured here as the main report dealt with revenue. He added that the project had commenced in 2017/18, but that the bulk of the costs would be seen for the next 3 years as depicted in appendix 6 of the

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee received a report of the City Surveyor containing details of 1 public escalator/lift that was out of service less than 95% of the time.

A Member commented that he thought that the Committee had previously asked for details of any lift in the City of London estate that was out of service for any period of time. The Chairman stated that he shared this recollection.

The City Surveyor clarified that all previous reports had only detailed those out of service for 95% of the time or less to save Members being bogged down with information on lifts that may have been out of service for just an hour or so.

A Member commented that he was of the view that, as the aim was for 100% of the lifts to be in service 100% of the time, all lift failures should be reported to Committee.

Another Member disagreed with this approach suggesting that it would be impossible to achieve 100% at all times given that these were mechanical objects that could fail at any point in time and without warning.

Another Member agreed with the reporting of all failures given that even minor outages could have maximum impact for those with mobility issues.

The Chairman put the matter to the vote with votes cast as follows:

-       Those wanting all lift/escalator failures reported to Committee – 6 VOTES;

-       Those wanting to maintain the status quo with reports continuing to detail those lifts/escalators out of service for 95% of the time or less – 13 VOTES

It was therefore agreed that the City Surveyor would continue to report to Committee on the same basis.

In response to further questions, the City Surveyor reported that a trial project providing the public with real time information on any lift outages

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Planning Officer setting out the controls and standards for the provision of ventilation and extraction systems for restaurants and cafes.

The Chairman reminded the Committee that this report had been produced in response to a question previously raised by a Member of the Committee.

The Member in question thanked the Chief Planning Officer for a valuable report which satisfactorily addressed the questions he had previously raised. He went on, however, to suggest that a closer look at the Policy and how it related to planning issues was now required so that the City of London Corporation could adequately address as opposed to having to continually resolve these issues.

The Member referred to paragraph 3 of the report which quoted Policy DM 21.3 of the Local Plan which seemed to be a relatively restricted element of the policy. Paragraph 4 of the report, however, went a little further stating that ‘…ventilation louvres should not be sited on adjoining footways’. Whilst this was pleasing to read, the Member was concerned that this did not appear to be a direct quote from the Policy. He stressed the need to be clear on this matter within the City’s own Policy and asked that the point that there should be no discharging of fumes on pedestrians was adequately reflected within it going forward.

The Member went on to refer to paragraph 8 and the standard condition for hot food premises on extraction that was featured here. He highlighted that the condition referred to flues not giving rise to nuisance to other occupiers of the building or adjacent buildings. He felt, however, that it should also refer to not creating a nuisance for the general public and asked that the wording here be reviewed to take account of

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Department of Built Environment on the Road Danger Reduction & Active Travel Plan 2018-2023.

Officers reported that the plan had been developed with the aim of reducing the annual number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) in traffic incidents in line with the Vision Zero target.

The Chairman underlined the importance of the plan to this Committee.

Officers went on to highlight that data had revealed that goods vehicles remained the most dangerous on the City’s roads in terms of pedestrian death and serious injury There was also a rising trend of pedestrian collisions with two wheeled vehicles – both bicycles and motorcycles.

Members were informed that consultation showed high support for the Plan and that the amended document had therefore retained the ten original steps but modified them to reflect comments from the consultation process.

Officers went on to report that engagement would be a key element in delivering the plan and reaching intended targets, particularly given that data showed that 70% of collisions in the City occurred on TfL roads.

An Alderman stated that he was fully supportive of the proposed plan and any steps necessary in terms of achieving Vision Zero. He went on, however, to question why the City’s 2022 target was so high in relation to the Mayor’s target for that same year. He also questioned why the 2020 target had been set back in 2013.

Officers reported that the 2022 target was set against a baseline year of 2009-2014 as set by TfL. This period had, unfortunately, seen a 65% increase in KSI’s for the City of London Corporation and the organisation had therefore adopted a linear approach to hit the 2030 target. He added that the organisation had failed to hit the 2013

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment regarding the provision of Transport for London (TfL) funding to the City of London Corporation.

The Transportation and Public Realm Director clarified that the City of London Corporation must provide an application detailing projects that the organisation wish to take forward. If Members were content to approve this report it would subsequently by submitted to TfL. This report would also be submitted to the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee in early 2019.

A Member commented that he was disappointed that the Sub Committee had not had the benefit of reviewing the draft plan ahead of the grand Committee as this seemed to be a missed opportunity for a more detailed review.

RESOLVED – That, the Draft LIP Delivery Plan 2019/20 – 2021/22 for consultation with TfL, statutory consultees and the public.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment covering the provision of Trasport for London funding to the City of London Corporation.

A Member referred to reference at the end of the report that officers will monitor the expenditure of Transport for London grants to ensure that they are fully spent. She added that the Committee had previously produced a list of project which would be ‘nice to do’ as opposed to essential, she suggested that this list might be consulted should there be any remaining funds. She stated that additional funding had been gained in the past in this way.

The Transportation and Public Realm Director undertook to look in to this and also reminded Members that this did not prevent the organisation from looking at alternative streams of funding for these types of projects.

RESOLVED – That, Members of the Planning and Transportation Committee:

·         Approve the projects to be included in the City Corporation’s 2019/20 Annual Spending Submission;

·         Approve delegated authority for the Director of the Built Environment to approve reallocations of the 2019/20 Corridors and Neighbourhoods grant of up to £100,000 within the financial year;

·         Approve the allocation of the additional awarded sum of £106,822 for 2018/19 to the delivery of Legible London; and

·         Approve the submission of a Liveable Neighbourhoods bid for the City Cluster.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment regarding the discontinuance of the Broad Street House City Walkway, the 99 Bishopsgate City Walkway and the 55 Bishopsgate City Walkway.

An additional paper detailing the land ownership of the walkways was tabled.

The Committee were informed that the walkways had previously been closed temporarily due to a structural installation and Members were now asked to consider their permanent discontinuance. Officers reported that the building owners were supportive of this approach as they had recently reported problems with rough sleepers and litter in these areas. Officers added that they had also almost reached the point of legal agreement on allowing for safe fire egress from all buildings that currently rely on the walkways.

A Member sought clarity on the proposed usage of the walkways by property owners going forward. He also questioned whether the bridge depicted in yellow on the tabled sheet would be removed should the decision to discontinue the walkways be taken. Officers clarified that the walkways would continue to be available to property owners for fire egress and that the bridge would remain in place so that City of London Corporation staff could continue to access the area for maintenance. The area would simply be closed in terms of public access. Having said that, the long term ambition would be to remove the structure and proposals around this would be brought back to this Committee in dues course.

RESOLVED – That, the Committee:

1.    Resolve to discontinue the Broad Street House City Walkway (CW45), the 99 Bishopsgate City Walkway (CW6) and the 55 Bishopsgate City Walkway (CW70 on a date to be determined in the terms of the resolution set out at Appendix 1 to this report; and

2.    Delegate authority to the Transport Planning

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Town Clerk advised the Committee that, at the request of the Director of the Built Environment and with the agreement of the Chairman, this item had been withdrawn.

ITEM WITHDRAWN

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment setting out the City Corporation’s approach to the collection and allocation of carbon offsetting contributions associated with development in the City, which will assist in the move to a Zero Emissions City.

A Member highlighted that Garrard House appeared twice within the list of potential carbon offsetting contributions detailed at Figure 1 within the report. She went on to refer to the carbon offsetting/absorption of trees and the role of the City’s Open Spaces in this area. She suggested that it was important that this continued to be emphasised given that these spaces made a considerable contribution to the City’s move towards zero emissions.

In response to questions, Officers reported that new developments were expected to reduce carbon emissions as per the Local Plan. If this was not the case then financial contributions were required. Funds received in this way had to then be spent within the Square Mile to improve existing building stock and therefore contribute to the lowering of the City of London’s performance/footprint in terms of carbon emissions. He concluded by clarifying that this was additional funding as opposed to replacement funding.

RESOLVED – That the proposed approach to carbon offsetting for the City is noted.

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection seeking a decision on the standard noisy construction hours arrangements for Saturday mornings in the City of London.

The Chairman sought clarity from the Comptroller and City Solicitor as to whether certain members of the Committee arguably had a DPI in relation to this item and whether their ability to speak and/or vote would therefore be affected. The Assistant City Solicitor confirmed that the Comptroller and City Solicitor endorsed the advice previously provided by the Town Clerk at Item 2 He did not consider members who owned property in the City had a DPI here as any  property interest would be too remote  to the subject of the report. She added that it was, however, a matter for each member to decide, and the City Solicitor can only speak for himself, but as far as he is concerned in his role as Monitoring Officer, he is happy to confirm that he has no expectation of any self-referrals being made by any member due to their participation in this agenda item.

The Director of Port Health and Public Protection provided Members with some background to this issue and highlighted that it was something that the Port Health and Environmental Services Committee had requested Officers to look at and consult upon. It also had implications for the Planning and Transportation Committee as this Committee took decisions on conditions which could be applied to planning applications. Members were informed that a three-month consultation process had taken place around the suggested hours and that the results of this consultation were detailed within the papers.

The Director also went on to highlight the potential options now open to Members around juggling construction times between the needs of residents and necessary construction activities.

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 he and the Deputy Chairman would be meeting with TfL on this matter on 30^th November 2018. He added that TfL had informed the City Corporation that the signal timing review had progressed well and was substantially complete. The City were now therefore pressing for a date when it would be released.  The Scoot installation was scheduled for the New Year and Officers were requesting confirmation of a target date for this.

He concluded by stating that, unfortunately, TfL had declined to fund the agreed survey due to financial constraints. However, the City Corporation had decided to undertake the survey itself which was due to commence next week. A report on the results was expected to be available in mid-December 2018.

Blackfriars Bridge Underpass

The Chairman reported that he proposed to now remove this issue from the Committee’s list. It was suggested that, given that the underpass was still in a poor state, the matter be referred to the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee to keep track of until such time as urgent safety works were progressed.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

COLPAI Project on former Richard Cloudesley School site

A Member stated that she understood that the developer of the COLPAI project on the former Richard Cloudesley School site had requested to discharge Condition 5, which required the retention of the trees in the boundary of the site adjoining the Golden Lane Estate allotments. The developer was now of the view that these could not be saved. The Member asked the Chairman if he was able to confirm that all the correct consultation would be undertaken and that proper consideration of possible changes during detail design had been explored to enable the trees to be retained.

The Chairman confirmed that an application to discharge Condition 5 had been submitted to both the City and Islington to seek the removal of the existing trees. He informed the Committee that an arboricultural report had been submitted which concluded that the trees need to be removed to enable the development to be built. In accordance with standard procedures, Open Spaces had been consulted on the submission and it was anticipated the it would be determined under delegated authority in due course.

The Chairman went on to state that he was aware that approximately 30 letters of objection to the submission had been received to date despite the fact that no neighbourhood consultation was carried out as it was not required for the discharge of conditions.

A Member commented that, given that the developer in this case was the City of London, he was very disappointed that the designs could not be changed to allow the trees to remain.

The Chairman stated that he intended to discuss this matter further with the Chief Planning Officer going forward.

A Member questioned whether the developer might consider planting replacement trees on the site. Officers noted this suggestion.

Crossrail City Residents Forum

A Member reported that the Crossrail City Residents Forum had been disbanded as it was previously anticipated that Crossrail would be up and running at this stage. TfL had, however, continued to take this up and would continue meetings around this for both businesses and residents. The Member encouraged anyone with a transport related issue to attend the next scheduled meeting on 29 November 2018 at 6.15pm here at Guildhall.

Daylight/Sunlight Training

A Member requested that Officers look to offer appropriate training on this matter for Members of the Committee going forward.

TfL Control Room Visits

The Chairman reminded Members of the visits to the TfL Control Room scheduled for Thursday 22^nd and Thursday 29^th November. He reported that there were still spaces available for each visit and asked any Member who was interested in joining to inform the Town Clerk at their earliest opportunity.

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.                                  Exempt Paragraph(s)

22-23                                                   3

24                                                   3, 5 & 7

25-26                                                   -

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 30 October 2018.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 30 October 2018 were considered and approved as a correct record.

To receive the non-public draft minutes of the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee meeting held on 23 October 2018.

The draft non-public minutes of the Local Plans Sub Committee meeting on 23 October 2018 were received.  

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment informing Members of arrears of invoiced income as at 30^th September 2018.

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.