Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Peter Dunphy, Sheriff Christopher Hayward, Deputy Tom Hoffman, Alderwoman Susan Langley, Natasha Lloyd-Owen, Oliver Lodge, Alderman Bronek Masojada, James de Sausmarez and William Upton.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the informal meeting held virtually on 8 June 2021.

The Committee considered the public minutes and summary of the meeting held virtually on 8 June 2021 and approved them as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING

Panel Arrangements – Wider Consultation (page 28) – In response to a question requesting an update on this, the Chair confirmed that discussions were still ongoing in this regard.

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director regarding City Tower and City Place House, 40-55 Basinghall Street London EC2V – specifically demolition of the existing building at 55 Basinghall Street (known as City Place House) and the erection of a thirteen storey Class E building for commercial, business and service use with Class E retail use at ground floor level with works to include partial removal, re-alignment and reinstatement of the Basinghall Highwalk*; partial demolition, reconfiguration and refurbishment of the basement, lower ground, ground and mezzanine floors of 40 Basinghall Street (known a City Tower) for Class E commercial, business and service and retail use works to include the provision of a new lift and staircase between street and Highwalk level and reconfiguration and re landscaping of the existing first floor terrace area; formation of a new pedestrian route between London Wall and Basinghall Street; hard and soft landscaping works including alterations to and within the public highway; other works incidental to the proposed development (49,119 sq. m).

The Town Clerk introduced the item, highlighting that Members had also received a virtual site visit clip as well as an addendum, published and circulated yesterday.

Officers presented the application and began by making a point of clarification with regard to paragraph 249 of the report which implied that passive ventilation was not being proposed on pollution grounds which was not strictly correct. Passive ventilation was not being proposed as, in order for the office building to obtain the proposed sustainability credentials, it needed to operate as a sealed unit. Officers went on to provide a brief summary of the proposal and the main issues. Members were shown a site location plan with Officers clarifying that the application site was made up of City Place House

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director concerning65-65A Basinghall Street London EC2V 5DZ – specifically alteration of 65/65a Basinghall Street to allow for the removal of the existing walkway bridge over Basinghall Street and the installation of a new City Walkway bridge to be delivered as part of the redevelopment of 55 Basinghall/40 Basinghall Street (associated reference 21/00116/FULMAJ).

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

Report of the Town Clerk & Chief Executive.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk and Chief Executive regarding the Protect Duty Consultation Response.

Officers highlighted that this report covered the Corporation’s response to the Home Office consultation on the Protect Duty which was the potential to create or clarify the duty of public bodies and venue operators to protect the public in publicly accessible, crowded spaces. Officers stated that they believed the City Corporation was well placed to respond to this consultation, given the lessons that it had learned through various incidents over the past four years. Members were informed that, generally speaking, reports on security matters were considered in non-public session but this was a public consultation. The request outlined within the report was to delegate the final sign off to the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of both this and the Policy and Resources Committee. It was highlighted that this had already been approved by Policy earlier this month.

RESOLVED – That Members:

·         Note the consultation objectives and City Corporation responses outlined in this report;

·         Delegate the detailed consultation response to the Comptroller and City Solicitor in consultation with the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the Policy & Resources and Planning & Transportation Committees.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment presenting for approval a guidance note advising developers how to carry out Health Impact Assessments on developments with planning applications.

Officers introduced the report by highlighting that an important step forward had been made by London Plan and also the latest version of the City Plan to introduce this requirement that developers should submit Health Impact Assessments when submitting planning applications. This item elaborated on this policy commitment and set out within a guidance note the detailed nature in which they ought to submit these. Officers went on to highlight that this was a proportionate response and that, whilst developers were required to submit an assessment, the degree of detail required was proportionate to the complexity of the case. A table within the report set out how developers could either submit a desktop assessment, a more elaborate, rapid assessment or a yet more elaborate full assessment. Officers explained that the thresholds set out within this table were indictive and that it was likely that, if a case were small but complex, developers would still be required to submit a more complex Health Impact Assessment. Finally, Officers stated that the list on page 241 of the agenda pack referred to the Building Research Establishment methodology but it was recognised that there were other methodologies such as the WELL standard and it was therefore felt that these should not be excluded should developers wish to use these. Officers therefore undertook to add a row to this checklist to encourage developers to use other methodologies besides BREEAM if they so wished.

A Member noted that the checklist included a question as to whether the proposal improved indoor/outdoor sports facilities which he welcomed but he stated that he was of the view

Report of the Director of Open Spaces.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Open Spaces setting out the response to the consultation carried out on the Draft City of London Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) 2021-2026.

Officers reported that the City of London’s BAP aimed to ensure that the City met its obligations towards the protection and enhancement of biodiversity and provided a strategic focus to ensure that biodiversity was considered during decision-making processes. It also provided a framework to ensure that all legislative requirements were met at a local level. It was noted that, in March 2021, this Committee were presented with the then draft BAP for 2021-26 and that draft was then subject to a public consultation process. Appendix A  of the report contained a consultation statement setting out the results of that consultation as well as the changes that had been made to the BAP as a result. Responses to the public on the individual points that they had raised were also detailed.

Members were informed that, should the BAP be approved, Officers would develop a final document with photographs and illustrations to accompany the agreed text which would then be launched later in the year.

Members requested that the Golden Lane Estate and the Barbican also be included within this plan given that both had valuable green assets. Officers confirmed that the Plan applied to the whole of the Square Mile.

RESOLVED – That Members of the Planning and Transportation Committee recommend for onward approval to the Open Spaces and City Gardens Committee the text of the final draft Biodiversity Action Plan 2021/2026 for adoption.

Report of the Environmental Resilience Director.

The Committee discussed a report of the Environmental Resilience Director concerning the

Riverside Strategy for Public Consultation.

Officers introduced the report by stressing that whilst this was not part of the City’s Climate Action Strategy it was intended to work alongside it to create a working, accessible riverside. It was underlined that the strategy was the first of its kind for any riverside local authority.

A Member remarked that he Thames Estuary Partnership (TEP), of which the City Corporation were partners, had developed a range of schemes to soften the edges of the estuary for the benefit of marine life, including methods of adding biodiversity to flood barriers. He commented that the simplest method to enliven a vertical wall was to fix large wood shelves at different elevations between high and low tide, with the shelves designed to catch river water with each tide and be rapidly colonised by marine growth. He underlined that it was essentially analogous to a terrestrial green wall, but with the absence of any maintenance or irrigation. The Member suggested that the Blackfriars Tideway riverside walls would, for example, benefit from ledge marine growth such as this. Officers confirmed that increasing biodiversity along the river was one of the City Corporation’s key objectives. They stressed that this document was only draft at this point in time and that they would therefore be happy to work with the Member to ensure that the wording around this was correct and that an increase in biodiversity along the river was genuinely achieved.

A Member spoke to emphasise that this really needed to have wide consultation to ensure maximum input and a document that was fit for purpose. The Member suggested that details on who was to be consulted and how would be useful. Officers underlined that they intended

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment considering the risks managed by the Department of the Built Environment that fall within the remit of the Planning and Transportation Committee.

A Member commented that risk DBE-02 seemed to have been at the same level for some time now although there was a desire to reduce the impact with a target date of December 2020. Officers undertook to respond directly to the Member on this point.

The Chair highlighted the importance of the CR-20 Road Safety Risk and the work being undertaken around mitigating this as set out within the report.

RESOLVED – That Members note the report and the actions taken in the Department of the Built Environment to monitor and manage effectively risks arising from the department’s operations.

To receive the draft public minutes of the Streets and Walkways Sub-Committee meeting held virtually on 29 April 2021.

The Committee received the draft public minutes of the Streets and Walkways Sub-Committee meeting held virtually on 29 April 2021.

A Member sought clarity around the Museum of London gyratory project which seemed to have been renamed as the St Paul’s gyratory project and questioned whether this was included in the brief for the London Wall/Bastion House Master Plan work. The Chair requested that Officers respond directly to the Member on this matter.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk setting out their list of outstanding actions.

The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director reported that the Barbican and Golden Lane Conservation Area SPD would now be submitted to this Committee in September 2021 as the consultation period had now been extended from 9 July – 30 July 2021.

RESOLVED – That Members note the report.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee received a public lift report of the City Surveyor for the period 22/05/2021 – 10/06/2021.

A Member underlined with concern the number of hours that the various lifts had been out of action during this period.

RESOLVED - That Members note the report.

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director providing Members with a list detailing development and advertisement applications determined by the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director or those 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 providing Members with a list detailing development applications received by the Department of the Built Environment since the report to the last meeting.

RESOLVED - That Members note the report.

Taller Buildings and Efficient Use of Land

A Member asked a question of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director noting that, as a planning authority, this Committee naturally focused on the issue of natural resources and materials, particularly the re-use and recycling of building materials and whole-life carbon minimisation. He went on to question, however, use of land, noting that taller buildings such as those on the Barbican estate used scarce amounts of land more effectively and efficiently which was also a benefit. The Member questioned whether, as a Planning Committee, it was valid to consider this as a factor which could be balanced against the drawbacks of taller buildings.

The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director stated that he felt that this could be taken into consideration by Members and that locating high density development in one place which was well served by public transport was, for example, a very sustainable use of precious urban land.

Riverside Walkway around Queenhithe

A Member requested an update on the completion of the riverside walkway at Queenhithe either to him personally or to the next meeting of this Committee. Officers undertook to provide this.

Kay English – City of London Corporation Traffic Manager

The Chair, on behalf of the Committee, congratulated Kay English on her recent award of the British Empire medal in the Queen’s birthday honours. He underlined that the richly-deserved award was presented for services to transport management, including work done during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chair outline that Kay had had a 44 year career in the public sector to date including spells with the City of Westminster, the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, the London Borough of Lambeth and now almost 12 years with the City of London Corporation.

The Deputy Chair added that he was filled with admiration for Kay and other officers who, like her, had remained on the front line during this pandemic and continued to undertake their duties and underlined that she was a sterling example of dedication to public service.

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(s)                                                      Paragraph No(s)

                             18                                                                           3

                            19-20                                                                       -

To agree the non-public minutes of the informal meeting held virtually on 8 June 2021.

The Committee considered the non-public minutes of the meeting held virtually on 8 June 2021 and approved them as a correct record.

A Member raised a question regarding suicide prevention.

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