Agenda item

The Committee received a report of the CPO in relation to the demolition of the existing building and erection of a new building at Morley House, 26-30 Holborn Viaduct, and change of use of the lower floors of City Temple.

The CPO advised that planning permission and listed building consent were also being sought for the change of use of the lower floors of City Temple and were attached at items 7b and 7c on the agenda, however all applications were to be considered together.

The Committee was advised that City Temple was in need of modernisation but the church was unable to raise the funds necessary to carry out the works. The owners of Morley House had approached the church with a proposal to refurbish City Temple in exchange for a long lease of the two lower floors of City Temple for flexible office use which was supported by the church. The office space would complement the function of the hotel and the works would secure the long term future of City Temple.

The CPO referred Members to a tabled document in relation to some proposed additional conditions.

The Reverend Dr Rodney Woods was heard in support of the application and reported that without urgent major repair and updating of the building, the City temple’s history and mission would cease as the present situation was unsustainable for the medium to long term and the proposed scheme was the only viable option to secure the future of the church.

Members asked a number of questions in relation to the loss of office space on the Morley House site, servicing arrangements, refuse and waste collections, cycle access and demolition and construction arrangements.

Debate ensued and while members generally expressed support for the application, there was concern relating to servicing and access to a hotel development in a partially-residential area, and the fact that information in relation to how these would be addressed would be secured only through the section 106 negotiation.

A member proposed that the conditions on servicing should be specified by the Committee to ensure that their concerns were addressed, however other members considered that this should be left to officers to take on board the views of members during the negotiation process.

Arising from the discussion the application was put to the vote, the result of which was as follows:

In favour - Unanimous

RESOLVED – That planning permission be granted for the above proposal in accordancewith the details set out in the attached schedule subject to:

(a) the Mayor of London being given 14 days to decide whether to allow the

Corporation to grant planning permission as recommended, or to direct refusal, or to determine the application himself (Article 5(1)(a) of the Town & Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008);

(b) planning obligations and other agreements being entered into under Section 106 of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 and Section 278 of the Highway Act 1980 in respect of those matters set out in the report and in the light of the comments made by members in relation to servicing, the decision notice not to be issued until the Section 106 obligations have been executed.