Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Christopher Hayward, Deputy Henry Jones and Chris Punter.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2014 be approved subject to the following being included in Item 5.1 –

“Confirmation was sought as to whether Emperor House South was separate to Emperor House and whether it was able to function as a stand along office building.  Reference was also made to the treatment of the exposed party wall of Emperor House South.”

RESOLVED – That the draft minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2014 be approved.

The Chairman of the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee provided a brief report on the recent meeting of 14 January 2014 and invited any questions/comments –

·         Item 4.7 (Special events) – One Member asked that consideration be given to Services in Churches on Upper Thames Street which are often disrupted by loud music from events.

·         Cycling on the Riverside Walkway – Members noted this was due to be discussed at the next meeting.

·         Members were informed that the single crossing at St Paul’s was being changed through S106 funding.

Report of the City Planning Officer relative to development and advertisement applications dealt with under delegated authority.

The Committee received a report of the City Planning Officer relative to development and advertisement applications dealt with under delegated authority since the previous meeting.

To view documents and plans relating to this application click here.

Registered Plan No.: 13/01004/FULEIA

Proposal:Partial demolition and works of refurbishment and reinstatement to 19-21 Billiter Street; demolition of all other buildings on the site; redevelopment to provide a new building comprising two basement levels and ground plus part 10, 14 and 34 storeys plus plant (total height 170m AOD) containing offices (B1) and flexible retail/financial and professional services/cafe and restaurant uses (A1/A2/A3) at ground floor level; food and drink (A3/A4) uses at levels 13 and 14; change of use at ground and first floor of 19-21 Billiter Street to retail/cafe and restaurant/bar use (A1/A3/A4); the provision of hard and soft landscaping; alterations to Fenchurch Buildings and other incidental works.

The City Planning Officer detailed site and surrounding information to Members and informed the Committee of various amendments to the conditions which had been made available online.

Further to questions, the City Planning Officer informed Members of the following –

·         With regard to planning gain, there would be a contribution of £12m for Crossrail (part S106 (£8m) and part CIL (£4m)) and £6.5m (S106) for the City towards the cost of various enhancement activities.

·         Members were informed that the impact of demolition and construction would be considered in detail and an agreement as to how this was dealt with would be made between the Corporation and the developer.

·         Members were informed that the proposed development included a roof top restaurant and terrace on the lower rise part of the development.

·         A servicing agreement would be drawn up to ensure that all deliveries could be accommodated, especially given that many  deliveries were expected  between 9am and 10am which was the busiest time of the day.

·         Members were informed that there was no further impact on Aviva Tower plaza with regard to loss of sunlight above that caused by the already approved

To view documents and plans relating to this application click here.

Registered Plan No.: 13/01004/FULEIA

Proposal: Demolition of the rear elevation and rooftop structures; works of repair, refurbishment and reinstatement throughout the building in conjunction with the change of use of the ground and first floor to retail/cafe and restaurant/bar (A1/A3/A4) use and the building's integration into the redevelopment of the surrounding site.

The City Planning Officer informed the Committee of various amendments to the conditions which had been made available online.

RESOLVED - That listed building consent be granted for the above proposal in accordance with the details set out in the attached schedule.

A report of the Director of the Built Environment was considered in relation to the adoption and implementation of the City of London Community Infrastructure Levy.

Members discussed the proposed implementation date of the City CIL which was 1^st July 2014 and the Policy and Performance Director confirmed that this would allow sufficient time between the adoption and implementation for most developers to complete outstanding S106 planning obligations and thereby avoid abortive work.

RESOLVED – That,

a)      it be noted that the inspector’s report supported the proposed City CIL and recommended its approval;

b)      the proposed ‘correctable errors’ to the City of London Community Infrastructure Levy Charging Schedule and the Charging Schedule for adoption, with implementation from 1^st July 2014 be approved;

c)      the Regulation 123 List, concerning infrastructure be funded by the City CIL, which sits alongside the City CIL Charging Schedule;

d)      authority be delegated to the City Planning Officer and/or Development Director and/or Director of the Built Environment to approve scaled back s106 Agreements in place of the full form of s106 Agreements in cases where the planning application has been approved subject to a full s106 Agreement, and where it has not been possible to complete the s106 Agreement prior to implementation of the City CIL, and where the delegated officer considers it appropriate to do so; and

e)      a transitional measure be approved to honour proposed expenditure in s106 Agreements, where it has not been possible to complete the Agreements, and where the specific s106 expenditure was relied upon in determining that applications were acceptable.

A report of the Director of the Built Environment was considered which sought approval of the draft City of London Local Flood Risk Management Strategy to be issued for public consultation for a period of at least 6 weeks.

RESOLVED - That,

a)    the attached draft City of London Local Flood Risk Management Strategy be approved for public consultation for a period of at least 6 weeks; and

b)    authority be delegated to the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman to adopt the finalised City of London Local Flood Risk Management Strategy provided that public consultation responses do not necessitate further material changes to the draft document. 

To receive a resolution from the Audit and Risk Management Committee relative to flooding.

This item was considered immediately after Item 6B.

The Committee received a resolution from the Audit and Risk Management Committee which asked them to consider further the scope for engineering solutions to address surface water flooding risks in the Fleet Valley and behind the Thames river walls.  The Director of the Built Environment advised the Committee that existing underground drainage sewers were already very large (enough to accommodate a double decker bus) and could not be expanded except by major engineering works in the constrained locations to make a material difference to the surface water flood risk.  It was clear that no competitive economic case could be made for works of this scale. Therefore flood resistance and resilience measures would need to be prioritised in the areas at risk and elsewhere in inner and central London.  The Director also advised that the rainfall catchment area as shown on the maps in the Strategy that generated this risk covered much of north and west inner and central London including Hampstead Heath. 

As Hampstead Heath was just a small part of this large catchment area (and, because it was not paved, had a slower speed of runoff) it was not a major contributor to the surface water flood risk especially at this distance down the catchment area.  The Committee accepted the Director’s assessment.

RESOLVED – That a response to the resolution be submitted to the Audit and Risk Management Committee.

A report of the Director of the Built Environment was received which provided an update to Members on the activities and progress of the Parking Ticket Office (PTO) over the last year with further details on key service issues over recent years.

The Committee commended the Director and his team for all their efforts.

A question was raised regarding the Policy for Blue Badge holders parking in the City particularly with regard to penalty fares.  The Director of the Built Environment advised that the first parking offence was waived to allow for an explanation of the system to be offered, however, any subsequent offences; the motorist would be subject to a fine. 

A further question was raised regarding night time economy and the working relationship with the Police.  The Director agreed to speak to the Member after the meeting so that a more detailed response could be provided.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

A joint report of the Director of the Built Environment and the Commander of Operations (City of London Police) was received which provided the twice yearly report in relation to the City’s Road Danger Reduction Plan (RDR Plan).

The Committee compliment and congratulated the Director and his team on an excellent report.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

A report of the Director of the Built Environment was received which set out the progress made during Q3 (October – December) against the 2013/16 Business Plan.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Report of the City Surveyor.

A report of the City Surveyor was received which provided an update regarding the management of Public Lifts, Escalators and the Millennium Inclinator.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business.

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.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2014.

RESOLVED – That the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2014 be approved.

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business.