Agenda and minutes

Venue: Livery Hall - Guildhall

Contact: Gemma Stokley
tel. no.: 020 7332 3414  Email: gemma.stokley@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

Welcome

The Chair took the opportunity to welcome new Member, Adrian Bastow to the Committee and his first meeting. He also wished to formally thank Mr Bastow’s predecessor Barbara Newman for her time served on the Committee as well as for her service as a former Chairman.

 

Apologies for absence were received from Peter Dunphy, Sophie Fernandes, Tracey Graham, Deputy Henry Pollard and James de Sausmarez.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

2.

Members' Declarations under the Code of Conduct in respect of items on the agenda

Minutes:

There were no declarations.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 165 KB

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 1 October 2019.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 3.

Minutes:

The Committee considered and approved the minutes of the meeting held on 1 October 2019 as a correct record.

 

MATTERS ARISING

Ocean Diva (page 2) – A Member noted that no further advice had been provided to the Committee on this case to date and questioned when this would be forthcoming. The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director advised that the application was still under consideration and that the applicant had submitted further information which was now in the process of being reviewed. Officers undertook to provide Members with a briefing note on this application setting out the position to date.

 

The Chair added that he had also met with a number of anticipated objectors to the application last week to hear their concerns.

 

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Outstanding Actions pdf icon PDF 52 KB

 Report of the Town Clerk.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 4.

Minutes:

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

 

Daylight/Sunlight – Alternative Guidelines

A Member noted that the target date for this matter to be completed/progressed had been revised from Autumn 2019 to Winter 2019. He requested that, when target dates were altered, relevant Officers be asked to include a written explanation for this in the report. He went on to question which Winter meeting Members could expect to see a further report on this matter presented to and sought some clarification around the delay. The Chair added that he had also raised the need for further clarity on timing with Officers.

 

The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director explained that it was originally hoped that BRE would revise their guidelines in Autumn/Winter 2019 but that this was now unlikely to occur before mid 2020. It was not felt appropriate to revise the City Corporation’s own guidelines ahead of this but they would be considered as soon as possible after revised BRE guidance was issued.

 

The Member highlighted that he had originally raised this matter in February 2019, as a result of the Wells Court planning application, seeking a practical solution to the issues raised on this. He went on to state that the training offered to all Members of this Committee on daylight/sunlight in July 2019 had been extremely useful and had also referred to the use of radiance. The introduction of a simple technique such as this would, in his view, assist and would not need to await any BRE revisions to guidance. Officers undertook to look in to this matter specifically.

 

Construction Works

A Member commented that there was evidence to suggest that major development works (the ‘Scalpel, having just completed and ‘Gotham Towers’ with work now just commencing) were

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

FLAT 3A, 12 TRINITY SQUARE, LONDON, EC3N 4AL pdf icon PDF 759 KB

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 5.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director regarding a change of use from residential (Class C3) to short-term let accommodation (periods of less than 90 consecutive nights) (Class C3) (83sq.m.).

 

Officers advised that the application related to a second floor flat in 12 Trinity Square which was also located within a Conservation Area. It was noted that ten objections had been received from residents regarding the proposals. Officers concluded by stating that the proposals would have a detrimental impact on residential amenity and would be contrary to the City’s policies. For these reasons, the recommendation before Members was to refuse the application.

 

Members went on to debate the application.

 

A Member stated that he strongly supported the recommendation to refuse the application which was clearly in breach of a number of important policies. He went on to request why such decisions could not be delegated to Officers in the same manner that the issue of telephone kiosks had been previously.

 

Another Member stated that she believed that receipt of more than four objections meant that it was necessary for the application to be put to this Committee. She added that she also supported the recommendation to refuse, highlighting that there was already a purpose built block for short-term lets just to the left of 12 Trinity Square as well as plenty of hotels in this same area. The Member went on to state that the mixing of short-term lets within predominantly residential buildings caused huge problems for residents and that this had been borne out in the recent Enforcement Monitoring report considered by this Committee. A refusal on this would, in her view, send a strong message out to those considering taking similar steps in future.

 

With regard to delegating such decisions to Officers

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Transport for London Funding: LIP Annual Spending Submission 2020/21 And Reallocation For 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 145 KB

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 6.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment covering the provision of Transport for London funding to the City of London Corporation and seeking approval for the projects that will be included in the City Corporation’s 2020/21 Annual Spending Submission of £3.672m.

 

RESOLVED – That, the Committee:

 

·         Approve the projects to be included in the City Corporation’s 2020/21 Annual Spending Submission of £3.672m, in table 1.

·         Approve delegated authority for the Director of the Built Environment to approve reallocations of the 2020/21 Corridors and Neighbourhoods grant of up to £100,000 with the financial year;

·         Approve reallocations within 2019/20 to a total of £202,904, as set out in table 3, appendix 1.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Climate Action Briefing Implementation pdf icon PDF 83 KB

Joint report of the Director of Innovation & Growth, the Director of the Built Environment and the Director of Open Spaces.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 7.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a joint report of the Director of Innovation & Growth, the Director of the Built Environment and the Director of Open Spaces regarding Climate Action Briefing Implementation.

 

The Chair thanked Officers for a very important and well written document.

 

A Member agreed that the document was massively welcome and urged Officers to try and move even quicker on this matter if possible. She went on to speak of whole life carbon impacts noting that the document failed to address this point. She highlighted that the Bloomberg building had recently been criticised on this point and that she would therefore welcome seeing it specifically mentioned. The Director of the Built Environment accepted that this should be part of the scope here.

 

Another Member raised the issue of office lights and keeping these to a minimum at night which would be a ‘quick win’ in terms of dealing, to some extent, with carbon emissions. He reported that he had visited offices within his own Ward and examined their Building Management Plans. Lights were operated on a Passive Infrared sensor system (PIR) with some on 100 sq. m. per switch and set to illuminate for 1 hour at a time. There were currently no regulations on this but the Member felt that this was something that could be developed and the issue addressed by way of programming.

 

A Member stated that, whilst he was supportive of this document, he wanted to caution against ‘virtue signalling’ and claiming success for the contributions of the City’s Open Spaces. He also questioned the statement within the report that the 2018 freeze had been caused by man made global warming and asked if this was scientific fact and had any source. A second Member stated that it was important to have a clear understanding of

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

The Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy Monitoring Report pdf icon PDF 45 KB

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 8.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment  detailing the progress made in securing and implementing financial and non-financial planning obligations secured under the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Regulations 2010, Section 106 (S106) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the London Plan, in the financial year 2016 to 2019.

 

The Deputy Chair thanked Officers for a very interesting report. He noted the considerable sums received under both S106 and CIL and sought assurances from Officers that all such sums would be spent on relevant projects as opposed to returned to developers after a certain period of time. He added that there was no obligation for developers to extend the timing to enable fee expenditure.

 

Another Member questioned, under S106, when new calculations for affordable housing contributions would be finalised. He added that there was urgency around this mater which had now been running for some time. He went on to state that the governance of these funds seemed obscure and that, whilst he was clear in terms of the percentage of CIL funds attributed to the Department of Built Environment, for example, he wasn’t as clear for other Departments/areas. Another Member interjected to state that it was surprising to see how out of touch/unrealistic S106 currently was on affordable housing contributions. This was easily illustrated by the unit costs associated with the COLPAI scheme detailed within the report.

 

Another Member questioned how funds were allocated and how this linked with the organisation’s Education work for example. He noted that the report referred to Local Employment and Training funded by S106 funds but suggested that, if funds remained unspent, there was easily much more that could be done in terms of Work Experience for example.

 

A Member echoed concerns around the amount of CIL

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Lunchtime Streets - first year review pdf icon PDF 64 KB

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 9.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment reviewing the first year of Lunchtime Streets events.

 

A Member, also the serving Chairman of the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee, reported that he felt that this was a very useful start but that his Sub Committee were very strongly of the view that more could be done here. He spoke of further events not necessarily at lunch time but on school days to coincide with the end of the school day for example. He added that Members will know their own Wards/areas best and welcomed any ideas they might have as to where future events could be hosted. The Member concluded that the impetus for this had initially come from Chancery Lane Association and had had fantastic support from local businesses.

 

The Deputy Chair congratulated all on the huge success of this initiative to date. Others echoed their support and congratulations.

 

A Member spoke of the event in St Mary Axe which was situated within her Ward. She stated that the fact that this had already been designated as a pedestrian priority street was a useful foothold in to the Lunchtime Streets initiative. She added that businesses had been very much on-side with this too with no concerns as to effects on deliveries and the like. She stated that the events had also received lots of positive media support and coverage and urged Officers to press on with this work going forward.

 

One Member expressed some concern that the surveys referred to had been taken of those who had participated in the events and could therefore be considered as self-selecting. He added that the closure of Chancery Lane had been previously considered but rejected by this Committee and questioned whether there was therefore an ulterior motive

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Public Lift Report pdf icon PDF 76 KB

Report of the City Surveyor.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 10.

Minutes:

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

 

A Member questioned if the Millennium Bridge Inclinator was subject to a new maintenance contract yet. He also questioned the vandalism of the Blackfriars Bridge lift and what steps might be taken to avoid this reoccurring.

 

A Member expressed concerns around the amount of time that the Millennium Inclinator had, again, been out of service and questioned if it would be possible for Members to see a service history for the Inclinator.

 

The City Surveyor state that the Millennium Inclinator was not yet under a new maintenance regime which was still to be resolved. Kone had not fixed the Inclinator on this occasion and the company that had affected the repairs were also now being consulted on maintenance going forward. She added that providing a full service history for the Inclinator would be problematic but that Officers remained optimistic that a new maintenance regime would resolve the ongoing issues.

 

With regard to Blackfriars Bridge, the City Surveyor stated that vandalism was a real issue here with the doors being forced open to gain access and specialist parts required to fix this. The installation of CCTV cameras had been considered as a solution.

 

A Member referred to the lift between London Wall Place and Salters Hall which was frequently out of service and questioned whether this was one of the City Corporation’s lifts. The City Surveyor undertook to look in to this matter and report back but stated that she believed that this lift was part of the development. Another Member added that this lift had been an important part of bringing the walkway here back in to use but that there had been

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

DELEGATED DECISIONS OF THE CHIEF PLANNING OFFICER AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR pdf icon PDF 106 KB

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 11.

Minutes:

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.

 

RECEIVED.

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12.

VALID PLANNING APPLICATIONS RECEIVED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT pdf icon PDF 69 KB

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 12.

Minutes:

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 referred to application 19/00939/FULL at 8 Paternoster Row, EC4M 7DX. He noted that it included the installation of extract louvres and that this would therefore be the perfect test case for the condition approved by this Committee on these in what was a particularly sensitive area.

 

RECEIVED.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

13.

DEPARTMENT OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: 'BREXIT' UPDATE pdf icon PDF 56 KB

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 13.

Minutes:

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

 

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

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

14.

Questions on matters relating to the work of the committee

Minutes:

Yellow Line on Coopers Row

A Member referred to yellow lines at Coopers Row which were situated outside the Novatel Hotel and directly opposite a taxi rank – a matter she had raised previously here. She asked that Officers consider the installation of a Give Way/Stop Sign along this road at the junction with Peyps Street.

 

Hammett Street

A Member referred to cars parking on both sides of the roads in this street which, with the recent opening of a new hotel here, also made it difficult for vehicles to navigate through.

 

Tables and Chairs Policy

A Member referred to the fact that there was a clear policy within the Transport Strategy to avoid obstructing pavements and pavements were increasingly widened for this reason. However, some establishments’ use of tables and chairs was contradicting this work and the Member requested that a report around policy and enforcement on this be brought back to Members.

 

East/West Smithfield

A Member questioned if an architect had now been appointed and underlined that this work should not be undertaken in siloes. The Director of the Built Environment undertook to report back to the Member on this matter but assured him that the work would be carried out collaboratively.

 

At this point, the Chair sought approval from the Committee to continue the meeting beyond two hours from the appointed time for the start of the meeting, in accordance with Standing Order 40, and this was agreed.

 

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

15.

Any other Business that the Chairman considers urgent

Minutes:

London Bridge Waterproofing and Bearing Replacement

Officers spoke to request Delegated Authority to proceed in relation to this project.

 

Members were reminded that the project had been due to proceed on the Complex route as it was estimated to be over £5m. However, tender returns had now been returned for under £5m making it eligible for the Regular route. Delegated Authority was requested

as the preferred contractor was keen to sign contracts soon to meet the original timeline set outa nd awaiting the next meeting would delay the project.

 

RESOLVED – That, Delegated Authority be granted to the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chair and Deputy Chairman of the Planning and Transportation Committee and the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Projects Sub Committee to progress this matter.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

16.

Exclusion of the Public

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.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 16.

Minutes:

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.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

17.

Non-public minutes

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 1 October 2019.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 17.

Minutes:

The Committee considered and approved the non-public minutes of the last meeting held on 1 October 2019 as a correct record.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

18.

Report of Action Taken Between Meetings

Report of the Town Clerk.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 18.

Minutes:

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

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

19.

Non-Public questions on matters relating to the work of the Committee

Minutes:

There were no questions in the non-public session.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

20.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS THAT THE CHAIRMAN CONSIDERS URGENT AND WHICH THE COMMITTEE AGREES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WHILST THE PUBLIC ARE EXCLUDED

Minutes:

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

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.