Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Alastair Moss (Chair), Deputy Peter Dunphy, Alderman Emma Edhem, Sheriff Christopher Hayward, Christopher Hill, Alderman Robert Hughes-Penney, Alderwoman Susan Langley, Deputy Brian Mooney (Chief Commoner) and Alderman Sir David Wootton.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held virtually on 30 March 2021.

The Committee considered the late, separately circulated public minutes and summary of the meeting held virtually on 30 March 2021 and approved them as a correct record.

Report of the Interim Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

Prior to the Committee considering a report of the Interim Chief Planning Officer and Development Director regarding the proposed development of Bury House, 31 Bury Street, London, EC3A 5AR, specifically the demolition of the existing building and construction of a new building comprising 2 basement levels (plus 2 mezzanines) and ground floor plus 48 upper storeys (197.94 AOD) for office use (Class E), flexible retail/café use (Class E), publicly accessible internal amenity space (Sui Generis) and community space (Sui Generis); a new pedestrian route and new and improved Public Realm; ancillary basement cycle parking, servicing and plant, a Member raised a point of order and stated that, having read the report and supporting documents, he would find it difficult to make an informed judgement on the application without the benefit of visiting the site, particularly the area around the synagogue. Given that it was likely that a site visit would soon be possible as pandemic restrictions continued to be eased, he questioned whether the Deputy Chair could ask the applicant and the objectors speaking today whether they would object to a deferral of the application to enable this to happen prior to the consideration of the report. Two other Members spoke to endorse these comments.

The Deputy Chair referred Members to late representations, specifically one which   referred to the possibility of a site visit. The Deputy Chair stated that he understood the concerns raised and sought the views of the Interim Chief Planning Officer and Development Director on this proposal.

The Interim Chief Planning Officer and Development Director stated that he was of the view that there was sufficient information before Members for them to be able to make an informed decision on the application. He added that it was nevertheless open to Members to request a site visit if

Report of the Director of Innovation & Growth.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Innovation and Growth concerning the Recovery Taskforce.

The Director introduced the report by stating that the Square Mile faces major challenges but also big opportunities going forward with problems to address and preparations needed for the medium-term, hence the introduction of the Recovery Taskforce. It was reported that the Taskforce had worked quickly over the past six months to bring together teams across the Corporation and draw on key existing Corporation Plans. The report had an ambitious aim – to ensure that the Square Mile is the world’s most innovative, inclusive and sustainable business ecosystem and an attractive place to work, live and visit. The Director highlighted that this was part of a broad package of Corporation activity to tackle the impact of the pandemic on businesses with each having an important and different role to play including the COVID Recovery Fund, the Safe Return to the City promotional activity, a re-opening campaign and this Recovery Taskforce.  The Director explained that, whilst this report did not comprehensively list every action being taken, it looked at what the priorities and focus should be to drive economic growth and ensure long-term success for the Square Mile.   

He highlighted that there were three thematic areas – World-Class Business Ecosystem (in other words thriving businesses with innovation and growth opportunities) Vibrant Offer (retail, hospitality, culture, heritage and recreation) and Outstanding Environments (the right work spaces, environment and infrastructure).

Finally, the Director went on to speak of next steps and stated that the report was approved by the Policy and Resources Committee last week. If this Committee were also to agree it, the next steps would involve a wider Members Briefing on 26 April to fully inform all members of the Court of the plans and

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a Gateway 6. Outcome report of the Director of the Built Environment regarding City Streets: Transportation Response to Support COVID-19 Recovery.

A Member referred to the feedback received on highways changes and the number of respondents and individual responses that were not supportive of the changes remaining in place and asked whether Officers could comment as to whether these responses had been thoughtfully considered as part of the proposed next steps given that there were quite  number of these. Officers assured the Committee that they would be considering all of the comments received as part of this consultation exercise as the measures proposed were reviewed and possibly taken forward as experimental traffic orders. Stakeholder engagement would also take place as part of that process.

Another Member commented that sometimes the Corporation struggled with the granularity in terms of identifying where certain feedback came from and questioned whether, on this occasion, it would be possible to assess the background of the 82% of respondents who had stated that they would not support any of these measures being retained long term and learn whether they were City workers or residents for example. She also questioned whether an Equalities Impact Assessment would also be undertaken as part of this work.

Another Member commented that it was very important to ensure that none of these proposals were doing anything to deter businesses from operating. He endorsed the comments of the previous speakers and underlined that looking in detail at the objections received in detail would be very important.

Officers reported that, as they had flagged in previous reports, they had struggled to get representative feedback as part of this consultation given that the number of people in the City had been very low. There had therefore been a very high number

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee received a Gateway 4C report of the City Surveyor concerning Tower Bridge HV System Replacement and Increasing Resilience.

RESOLVED – That the Committee:

1.    Agree that a 99-year lease of the existing Diesel Generator room is granted to UKPN for installation of their substation, in order to significantly reduce the risk of power failure to the bridge and to the income generating exhibition

2.    Approve a project cost increase of £346,000 for a change to the project scope following an opportunity to implement a known HV control system whilst improving the network resilience and future proofing the existing bridge lift system (with this additional budget will be requested as part of the Gateway 5 budget)

3.    Note the revised total estimated cost of the project at £6,076,293 (excluding risk) if the change in scope is approved

4.    Note the revised total estimated cost of the project at £8,238,003 (including risk) if the change in scope is approved

5.    Approve Option 1 - the partial integration of the existing bridge lifting and new HV SCADA systems and approval to grant a 99-year lease for a sub-station to UKPN.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment advising Members of the findings of the Building Control’s review into their fees and charges from service users during 2020.

RESOLVED – That the Committee:

·         Approve the new ‘City of London Building Control Charges Scheme No 4: 2021’

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment concerning the declaration of 100 Bishopsgate as a city walkway.

In response to a question, Officers highlighted that a plan of the proposed new city walkway was included within the report.

RESOLVED – That the Committee:

1.    By resolution declare to be a city walkway the new walkway at 100 Bishopsgate named Clerk’s Place and Wrestlers Court, on a date to be determined, in the terms of the resolution set out at Appendix 1 to this report

2.     Delegate authority to the Deputy Transportation and Public Realm Director to insert an appropriate date for the declaration to come into force.

Report of the Interim Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee received a report of the Interim Chief Planning Officer and Development Director providing Members with a list detailing development and advertisement applications determined by the Interim 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 Interim Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee received a report of the Interim 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.

Recommendations of the Policy and Resources Committee re: the Planning Process

A Member reported that the recommendations of the Policy and Resources Committee on the Planning Process had been opposed in a petition that had been signed by almost 1260 to date including City residents. He noted that the recommendations of the Policy and Resources Committee were due to be put to the full Court for consideration but did not appear on the April Court agenda and questioned why this had been postponed.

The Deputy Chair reported that he was not aware of this matter having been postponed. The Assistant Town Clerk reported that the petition was on the April Court agenda but that the recommendations of the Policy and Resources Committee were not. She went on to explain that the intention was that the petition, after being received by the Court, would be forwarded to the relevant Committee for consideration so that they could take this into account before any report on future recommendations could come forward.

Another Member questioned whether the recommendations of the Policy and Resources Committee due to come forward to Court would be considered at a virtual or in-person meeting. She went on to state that she understood that the recommendations of the Policy and Resources Committee were very vague with little detail on the constitution of Panels for example and questioned why therefore only half a recommendation would be put to the Court. She also questioned whether there would be an opportunity for this Committee to feed into proposals ahead of the Court of Common Council. Officers reported that any decisions around in person/remote meetings would be made by the Court of Common Council later this week. The Deputy Town Clerk undertook to provide a written response to members of the Committee around next

Pavement Licences

The Deputy Chair reported that this had become an unnecessarily contentious issue in his view. He sought the assistance of all members of the Committee in terms of flagging where there were obstacles being put in the way of businesses (often very small businesses) looking to obtain pavement licences by any part of the Corporation. He went on to state that he felt that some of the recent responses of the City Corporation had been totally disproportionate and he urged the Committee to do all that it could in the coming weeks to encourage outdoor business activity to assist businesses in their economic recoveries.

The Deputy Chair added that he was also of the view that the timings attached to pavement licences were too restrictive with recommended closure at 9.30pm.

A Member spoke to concur with the comments made by the Deputy Chair and reported that she had informed Officers that she intended to raise this matter at Committee. She added that she had also emailed the Assistant Commissioner and the Commander to flag the overly cautious approach of the City Police with regard to the risk of terrorism in relation to the granting of these licences and thanked them for their response. The Member went on to state that some premises who, for many years, had had tables and chairs outside without incident were not a terrorism risk. The Member thanked Officers and the Police for revisiting this issue and reported that she understood that a matrix system was now in place. She hoped that, going forward, the partial licences granted to date would also be revisited along with those that were initially refused. With regard to timings, the Member highlighted that pavement licences were temporary licences that the government had instigated to allow businesses to have

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)

                          15 – 16                                                                     3

                          17 – 18                                                                      -

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held virtually on 30 March 2021.  

The Committee considered the non-public minutes of the meeting held virtually on 30 March 2020 and approved them as a correct record.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered and approved a Gateway 5 report of the Director of the Built Environment regarding – Blackfriars Bridge Parapet Refurbishment and Bridge Re-Painting.

There were no questions raised in the non-public minutes.

There was no additional, urgent business for consideration.