Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Christopher Hayward (Deputy Chairman), Peter Bennett, Henry Colthurst, Peter Dunphy, Tracey Graham, Christopher Hill, Alderman Robert Hughes-Penney, William Upton QC and Alderman Sir David Wootton.

Apologies were also received from the Director of the Built Environment.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 24 May 2019.

The Committee considered and approved the public minutes of the meeting held on 24 May 2019 as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING

Land Adjacent to 20 Bury Street London EC3A 5AX (page 2) – In response to a Member’s request for an update on this application, the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director reported that the situation was largely unchanged since the last update provided to the Committee at its 24 May 2019 meeting. She added that final drafts were about to be circulated imminently and would then prompt discussions with the GLA around whether they were then content to formally receive these.

10 Bolt Court (page 4) – A Member requested a further update on this particular application. The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director reported that consultation would commence on this once the relevant drawings had been received.

Ludgate Circus (page 6) – A Member reported that TfL were continuing to consult on plans to enforce a 20MPH limit on all of their roads. As part of this, plans had emerged to raise two pedestrian crossings at Tower Hill. The Member suggested that this may therefore set a precedent and that the possibility of doing similar at Ludgate Circus should therefore also be explored once again. The Transportation and Public Realm Director undertook to follow up on this matter with TfL.

Another Member wished to further clarify some of the points made on this item at the last meeting and reported that all arms of the crossing at the junction did already feature countdown timers. He also clarified that right turns from Fleet Street through Whitefriars Street were already banned.

To receive the draft minutes of the Local Plans Sub Committee meeting held on 17 May 2019.

The Committee received the draft minutes of the Local Plans Sub Committee meeting held on 17 May 2019.

RECEIVED.

To consider the following Resolution from the Ward of Farringdon Within and refer it to officers for action, with a report on progress to be provided within three months.

“This Wardmote notes the dangers caused by cycle tour groups in narrow, semi-pedestrianised areas of the City. Despite discussions with City of London representatives, the operators of such tour groups do not appear to have made any substantial changes. There are reports of cyclists colliding with residents, but such collisions have not been recorded. Cycle convoys are seen to travel at speed through narrow cobbled lanes and have been crossing busy roads at unsafe points with participants, including children, not wearing any safety protection.

There is a risk of serious injury to both participants and pedestrians and the Wardmote therefore urges the Planning and Transportation Committee to undertake an urgent review of the terms of licences for such tour groups and confirm the actions that will be taken to improve safety.

The Wardmote further urges the Committee to work with the City of London Police on enforcement measures against cyclists who contravene the Highway Code, to safeguard the interests of pedestrians and other road users.”

The Committee formally received the Wardmote Resolution from the Ward of Farringdon Within concerning cycle tour groups in narrow, semi pedestrianised areas of the City.

The Committee noted that the corporate risk of Road Safety was to be discussed later on the agenda and that this matter appeared to be a sub-set of this. It was therefore decided that the specifics of this should be discussed in the round, under Item 13.

Two Members, one of whom was elected to represent the Ward of Farringdon Within on the Committee, expressed their support for the resolution and suggested that the conduct of these groups in these areas was unacceptable. One Member provided some further context to the resolution, reporting that these groups were frequently observed in Carter Lane and other, similar, very narrow streets and had led to incidents with pedestrians.  

Another Member commented that this should fall under the Transport Strategy and should be addressed, alongside the City of London Police, in terms of behaviours.

RECEIVED.

To consider a resolution from the Audit and Risk Management Committee from its meeting on 7 May 2019.

The Committee received a resolution of the Audit and Risk Management Committee regarding Corporate Risk CR20: Road Safety which was now to be reviewed both in its description and rating in the near future.

The Chair suggested that any debate on this matter also be dealt with at Item 13.

RECEIVED.  

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk detailing outstanding actions from their last meeting:

Updates were provided as follows:

Daylight/Sunlight Training

Members wished to place on record their thanks to Gordon Ingram for the training session that had preceded this meeting and which 18 members of the Committee had attended. Members requested that the presentation slides that had accompanied the presentation be circulated to all. 

Daylight/Sunlight – Alternative Guidelines

It was noted that this would be the subject of a report to the 30 July 2019 meeting of this Committee.

Ludgate Circus

Members noted that this matter had now been removed from the list of outstanding actions following the address from TfL on this matter at the last meeting of this Committee. It was, however, noted that there were ongoing discussions around this and other matters with TfL and other third party stakeholders.

The Chair underlined the importance of these ongoing discussions, recognising TfL as a huge organisation with whom it was important to retain a positive working relationship. He added that he was also currently undertaking a series of meetings with his counterparts in all of the City’s surrounding boroughs.

A Member noted that Ludgate Circus continued to feature on the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee’s list of outstanding actions and cautioned against declaring premature victory in this area.

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 noted that West Sussex County Council were one of the applicants featured in the report. The Chair stated that this was a useful reminder of the diversity of ownership in the City of London.

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 wanted to take the opportunity to flag that he had received feedback to suggest that there had been very limited notification provided to those who would be affected by the proposed development at The Whitbread Brewery.

Another Member questioned whether, once permission had been granted for a development, and works had commenced, could we control the timing of when works were carried out and also whether there were any rules applied as to when the works should conclude. 

The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director reported that, once planning permission had been granted, there was usually a period of three years in which works could commence and planning could not determine a commencement date. Serving any sort of completion notice could be an extremely long and complex process. She added that Officers were notified of when works on a particular site commenced if this was tied to a S106 for example but were not routinely notified of this. 

The Chair suggested that this was perhaps something that Officers could consider further going forward as the length of time that some sites were undergoing construction in the City and the resulting noise and disruption was an increasingly common observation. He suggested that Officers consider what levers were at their disposal to encourage completion within a certain time frame.

Another Member highlighted that some developments led to closures of lanes of traffic or pavements which had very real impacts. In these cases, he argued that there should be enforceable deadlines around completion.

The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director advised that she would look into this matter with relevant

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

The Committee received a joint report of the Chamberlain, the Director of the Built Environment, the Director of Open Spaces and the City Surveyor comparing the revenue outturn for the services overseen by the Planning and Transportation Committee in 2018/19 with the final budget for the year.

The Chamberlain updated the Committee on the proposals put forward by the Director of the Built Environment relating to activities overseen by this Committee to be pursued using some of the underspend to be carried forward. He reported that proposals around the drainage and lighting irrigation of the Guildhall North Plaza Pond and pedestrian modelling had since been rejected and it was suggested that the funding for these activities be met from elsewhere.

RESOLVED – That, the revenue outturn report for 2018/19 and the carry forward of local risk underspending to 2019/20 are noted.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee received a report of the City Surveyor containing details of the two public escalator/lifts where the service was less than 95%.

The City Surveyor highlighted that the Millennium Bridge Inclinator remained a challenge. She added that a full specification for the maintenance of the lift had now been worked up alongside TfL and that a tender document would now be prepared and put out to tender shortly. The City Surveyor also clarified that recent breakdowns of the Inclinator had occurred at weekends but, under the current specification, repairs could not be effected at weekends or bank holidays – this would be addressed within the new specification.

Finally, the City Surveyor made Members aware that, at present, the Inclinator’s compactors were situated at the wrong end of the lift door. Further details around this and any possible remedy would be brought back to the Committee.

RECEIVED.

Joint report of the City Surveyor and the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a joint report of the City Surveyor and the Director of the Built Environment informing Members of the City of London Corporation’s activities at the MIPIM property exhibition in March 2019 and seeking approval for City of London attendance at MIPIM 2020.

A Member highlighted that attendance at last year’s exhibition had been facilitated under budget. He spoke in support of the great opportunities that arose as a result of regularly attending the exhibition and was in strong support of the organisation’s continuing participation here.

Other Members echoed these sentiments and underlined that they felt that it was essential that the organisation continued to be represented at the event, particularly in the lead up to Brexit.

A Member highlighted that a large part of the organisation’s costs (approximately £50k) were associated with the City model and questioned whether this was still considered appropriate given that the City utilised 3D modelling which might be more interesting and cost effective to present going forward. Officers clarified that the figure mentioned was for the City model but also hire of the meeting room site for which the organisation received a 50% discount when compared with commercial rates.

Officers went on to report that funding had been received from various sources, including Innovate UK, to develop a virtual reality model of the whole of the City of London. This would be an 18 month programme but it was hoped that at least some of the work on this would be available as part of next year’s exhibit. Officers also clarified that the traditional City model was always a fantastic centrepoint for the City’s exhibition site and that this was always evolving with the addition of new model buildings where necessary.

A Member noted that it was no longer the case that

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a quarterly report of the Director of the Built Environment regarding the Department of the Built Environment Risk Register.

Officers highlighted that, as detailed within the resolution of the Audit and Risk Management Committee at Item 6, Risk CR20, relating to Road Safety had had its rating increased to 12. The risk was also to be reviewed in its description and would therefore differ from the wording contained within Appendix 2. Members were informed that Summit Group would assess the suitability of the newly proposed description at a meeting scheduled to take place next week and that a ‘deep dive’ of the risk would also take pace on 16 July 2019. The Chair of the Planning and Transportation Committee and the Member who had originally moved that the risk be reviewed would be invited to attend and provide input at this session.

A Member noted that it was hoped that the risk rating and score would decrease by half by the end of the year and questioned whether it was intended that this be achieved by decreasing the impact on the risk as Appendix 2 seemed to suggest. He stressed that reducing the likelihood of this risk should be more of a priority. Another Member seconded this view and stressed that he had already raised this with Officers suggesting that the methodology and how this was applied could also be looked at going forward.

Officers reported that, as soon as the risk of death was present as an outcome of a risk, that risk was defined as ‘level 8’ in terms of impact. The risk could therefore never, even if the likelihood of it was rare, be anything lower than an amber risk.

The Chair stated that he was delighted that the Audit and Risk Management Committee

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment regarding the London Bridge Waterproofing and Bearing Replacement works.

RESOLVED – That the Committee note the change in the start date for these works.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment updating Members on the potential impacts of Brexit for the Department of the Built Environment.

RESOLVED – That, Members note this report and that further update reports will be made to subsequent meetings of the Committee as appropriate.

Telephone Kiosk – Fleet Street

A Member referenced a telephone kiosk situated on Fleet Street outside the Old Bell public house. He stated that this traditional style telephone box had now been defaced by various advertisements and, given that it was situated in a narrow space he, regrettably, questioned whether this could be removed and, if possible, re-located elsewhere.

The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director reported that this had been a BT telephone box but had been sold to an advertisement company and now had no telephone function – Officers were currently seeking legal advice as to whether or not they could pursue prosecution. She added that this Committee had previously taken a view that they were keen to preserve such telephone boxes following a lengthy report on the matter two years ago. She stated that she believed that this particular telephone kiosk was a category ‘K6’ but not a listed ‘K6’ but undertook to clarify this and report back on the matter.

Another Member reported that the wider issue of telephone boxes had been discussed at a Homelessness and Rough Sleepers breakfast event earlier this morning. There had been a plea to have those situated along Mansell Street removed given that they were no longer utilised (other than for criminal activity) and obstructed the pavements here.

Cannon Street

A Member commented that many retailers at Cannon Street (which was situated within his Ward) had complained about the disruptive and long running utility works in the area. They questioned whether they were able to reclaim or receive a discount on business rates as a result of this. The Comptroller and City Solicitor undertook to liaise with colleagues in the Chamberlain’s Department and report back to the Member and his Ward colleagues on this matter.

Signage at Bank Junction

A

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration.

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 No(s).

                             19                                                              3

                             20                                                          3, 5 & 7               

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 24 May 2019.

The Committee considered and approved the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 24 May 2019 as a correct record.

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 31^st March 2019.

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

The Chair raised items concerning Crossrail and the Ocean Diva.