Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Douglas Barrow, Mark Bostock, Deputy Peter Dunphy Christopher Hayward, Alderwoman Susan Langley, Oliver Lodge, Natasha Lloyd-Owen, Alderman Bronek Masojada, Andrew Mayer, Graham Packham and William Upton.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 26 October 2021.

The Committee considered the public minutes and summary of the last meeting held on 26 October 2021 and approved them as a correct record.

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director relative to 115-123 Houndsditch, London, EC3A 7BU, specifically demolition of existing buildings and construction of a new building comprising four basement levels (plus one basement mezzanine), ground floor plus 23 upper storeys, including office use (Class E), flexible retail/café use (Class E); community space (Sui Generis), ancillary basement cycle parking, servicing and plant; new public realm and highway works; and other works associated with the development.

The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director introduced the application and referred to the late representations and accompanying addendum report published and circulated yesterday. He began by highlighting that the site in question was to the south west of the Middlesex Street Estate and north of Houndsditch. He reported that the existing buildings were four buildings built in the 1980s as a comprehensive redevelopment and were somewhat unexceptional and unwelcoming. When sharing the existing site plan, the Chief Planning Officer drew Members’ attention to Clothier Street which ran north-south through the existing site. The proposed removal of this was one of the key elements of this scheme. Under the proposed scheme, Clothier Street would be stopped up, removed and replaced by new public realm on the periphery. He went on to remark that Clothier Street had had a rather transient life  and shared maps from the past depicting how the previous street pattern had been more east-west. It was reported that Clothier Street itself had only been established in the 1980s and that the name itself was not of great antiquity given that it was introduced in 1906 in recognition of the former Cloth Market which was in the area. 

Members were shown images of the entrance to Clothier Street approaching from the North with the Chief Planning Officer describing it

Joint report of the Executive Director Environment and the District Surveyor and Environmental Resilience Director.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Executive Director, Environment and the District Surveyor and Environmental Resilience Director seeking Member approval for adoption of the City of London Riverside Strategy 2021.

Officers introduced the report by stating that it was actually a refined version of a report which originally went to Committee this Summer as a draft for public consultation. This consultation had now concluded and had attracted approximately 70 responses from all major stakeholders. In general, the responses were supportive of the Strategy which was very reassuring. That being said, there had been some suggestions for changes, particularly around the need for greater emphasis on protecting biodiversity during any changes to the river frontage and the foreshore as well as the need for better integrated designs to ensure that access was maintained along the riverside walk as well as to and from the river during the changes to the river defenses that would be necessary as a consequence of this strategy.

Members were informed that this was a pioneering report and it was recognised that this would need to change and evolve over the course of the next few decades to come. Nevertheless it was felt that this was a good starting point and would put the City Corporation in a good position to address these serious issues not least in the aftermath of the recent COP26 conference, at a time when climate action was at the forefront of people’s minds.

The Chair spoke of the importance and excellence of the report.

RESOLVED – That Members of Planning and Transportation Committee recommend for onwards approval to the Policy and Resources Committee, the text of the draft Riverside Strategy for adoption.

Report of the Executive Director, Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Executive Director, Environment detailing how Officers are managing the cumulative impacts of construction works to minimise disruption to residents and nearby occupiers and setting out the processes in place which help to minimise the impacts of construction by collaborative working, use of planning conditions, Planning Performance Agreements (PPAs), Code of Constuction and Considerate Contractors Scheme all of which encourage early engagement and consistent dialogue with residents and other neighbouring occupiers.

Officers introduced the report highlighting that, since October 2020, a new Development Liaison Manger had been appointed, a post that sat within Planning but worked collaboratively across the Corporation. The role involved acting as a single point of contact between developers and the Corporation from the time an application came in for pre-application to scheme delivery to allow for a more efficient scheme delivery process and to resolve complex development challenges. As part of this, scheme delivery planning performance agreements had been introduced whereby applicants and contractors entered into a performance agreement with the Development Liaison Manager attending regular project meetings during the course of construction to ensure that there was an ongoing dialogue and as a means of intelligence sharing. This allowed first hand knowledge of what was happening on site and gave Officers the ability to foresee, manage and mitigate any construction impacts.

Members were informed that regime to collect a construction levy through Section 106 was now also in place which allowed for additional resources to monitor construction impacts on site. It was reported that this was all over and above regular face-to-face meetings that took place between Highways and Environmental Health Officers and contractors to co-ordinate the construction of schemes, the Code of Construction and the Considerate Contractor Scheme, planning conditions and licensing regimes.

A Member questioned exactly what

Report of the Executive Director, Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Executive Director, Environment setting out the progress made during Q2 of the 2021/22 Departmental Business Plan.

A Member referred to Appendix B and highlighted that the brackets convention in the final column of the table here was incorrect and that it should actually be presented as over with brackets and under as set out in the title. He went on to state that he was interested to see that the only reason that the Department was projecting an overspend at present was  because a contingency cost was being forecast. He questioned how this contingency had been arrived at and why there appeared to be no attempt to ameliorate this cost in terms of the final outturn.

Another Member also referred to Appendix B, noting that the first half was well within budget whilst the second half was certainly not. He sought an explanation on this.

Officers responded to report that the contingency was based around the fact that the Department of the Built Environment had unidentified savings of approximately 12% in relation to the Target Operating Model and that these had not yet been identified at the start of the year and were still being developed before coming to this Committee early next year. For this reason, they were marked in Appendix B as contingency as opposed to unspecified savings.

In response to a question from the Chair, it was reported that it was too early to say at this stage whether the Department would achieve the 12% savings. As Members were aware, the Target Operating Model for this department was quite complicated given that it would bring together two and a half existing departments into one new department, would involve multiple different funding streams and different elements of City Cash, City Fund

To receive the draft public minutes of the Streets and Walkways Sub-Committee meeting held on 12 October 2021.

The Committee received the draft public minutes and summary of the last meeting of the Streets and Walkways Sub-Committee held on 12 October 2021.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk detailing the Committee’s list of outstanding actions.

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.

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 detailing development applications received by the Department of the Built Environment since the report to the last meeting.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Barbican Podium

A Member drew attention to the fact that the Middlesex Street Estate residents, in their presentations today, had referred to the fact that the nearest play areas for their children were some distance away. This suggested that they did not perceive the Barbican Podium which was much closer by as a place to go for recreation. This was the biggest open space in the City and an issue that therefore clearly needed to be addressed. The Deputy Chairman agreed with this point and stated that the map used by the objectors today demonstrated that the Barbican Podium was widely perceived as not being a public space. He reported that he had been trying to persuade Officers that it should be incorporated within Open Spaces so that it became formally recognised as such and a place that was open to children and adults wherever they might live in the City.

Another Member commented that Mansell Street residents, including himself, also failed to see the Barbican as a publicly accessible open space.

A Member stated that one of the difficulties with the Barbican highwalk was access to it. She commented that, in previous years, parking meter surplus had been used to install an escalator from near the rotunda up to podium level which had made a huge difference to numbers accessing the area. She reported that she had also observed that the benches around the lakes were frequently occupied by people who visited regularly and took lunch here. She added that she was also aware that the London Wall West group were currently looking at raising the profile of the small, wooded area here.

Another Member highlighted that the areas referred to by the objectors today were proper, larger areas for ball games. She reported that Golden Lane had exactly

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)

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 26 October 2021.

To receive the draft non-public minues of the Streets and Walkways Sub-Committee meeting held on 12 October 2021.

There were no questions in the non-public session.

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