Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Oliver Sells QC (Deputy Chairman) Douglas Barrow, Peter Bennett, Deputy Peter Dunphy, Deputy Tom Hoffman, Shravan Joshi, Oliver Lodge, Natasha Lloyd-Owen, Deputy Edward Lord and Deputy Henry Pollard.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes of the informal, hybrid meeting held on 11 January 2022.

The Committee considered the public minutes and summary of the hybrid, informal meeting held on 11 January 2022 and approved them as a correct record, subject to the addition of the point below.

MATTERS ARISING

Moor Lane (page 6) – A Member stated that he had been in email correspondence with Officers on this matter since the last meeting and had been informed that a report had also been issued to the Chair. He questioned whether the Chair was in a position to share this report with the wider Committee. Officers confirmed that this paper had been issued to the Chair and, by way of an update, reported that negotiations were continuing with the developer following the public consultation feedback received. Officers undertook to provide Members with further detail in writing. The Member stressed the importance of this issue and the need to find a resolution to this.

15 and 16 Minories and Land Fronting Aldgate High Street, 62 Aldgate High Street: Deed of Variation in Respect of Affordable Housing Matters: Planning Permission 15/01067/FULL (page 7) – A Member reported that the Housing Sub Management Committee had had a very detailed discussion on this at their most recent meeting where a lot of concern had been raised as to the City’s Affordable Housing Policy on payments in lieu and the current costs of this. The Member understood that this would now result in a resolution to this Committee and the Policy and Resources Committee requesting a meeting with Officers to outline these concerns and ensure that the City was delivering on affordable housing and were receiving the level of payments required with all of this reflected in the refreshed Local Plan. Another Member spoke to clarify that the resolution of the Housing Management Sub Committee was actually that the Chair

Report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Planning Officer and Development Director regarding 61-75 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1 2FD – specifically, the redevelopment of the site for a new building comprising two basement levels, lower ground, ground plus 12 upper floors including purpose built student accommodation and associated amenity space (Sui Generis), flexible cultural/community use at part ground and lower ground floor levels (Sui Generis), a publicly accessible roof terrace, a pedestrian route through the site, hard and soft landscaping, together with ancillary plant and servicing; and associated enabling works.

The Town Clerk introduced the item and also referenced the Officer Presentation slides and two addendums that had been published and circulated.

Officers presented the application stating that the site in question was located close to two conservation areas – Smithfield Conservation Area and Newgate Street Conservation Area. The grade I listed church of St Sepulchre was also adjacent to the site with the former Snow Hill Police Station which was Grade III listed to the north. Members were informed that the application was for a 12-storey, purpose built student accommodation scheme with associated student accommodation amenities and facilities, a publicly accessible roof garden, a public route through and a ground floor cultural and community space and associated servicing bay and cycle parking. As noted in the papers, it was reported that the building was demolished in 2020 under an application for prior approval such that the existing site was now empty.

Officers shared some visuals of the proposed scheme and highlighted that the proposal did involve the loss of office space which was generally resisted in policy terms but could be acceptable where the proposed alternative use would meet the wider objectives of the Local Plan. In this case, the applicant proposed to deliver a high-quality student accommodation

Report of the Executive Director, Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director, Environment proposing several amendments to a draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for the Barbican and Golden Lane Conservation Area following comments received as part of a public consultation undertaken during May, June and July 2021.

RESOLVED – That the Planning and Transportation Committee:

·         Agree the amendments to the Barbican and Golden Lane Conservation Area SPD as set out in appendices B and C.

·         Resolve to adopt the amended Barbican and Golden Lane Conservation Area SPD (appendix D).

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain informing Members of the surplus arising from on-street parking activities in 2020/21, how much of this had been applied in 2020/21 to fund approved projects and the surplus remaining on the On-Street Parking Reserve at 31^st March 2021.

A Member referred to the surplus and spoke of the temporary barrier in place on London Bridge between pedestrians and traffic. He questioned at what point this would be turned into a permanent barrier and who would be responsible for taking this initiative. Officers responded to state that, as this was a security matter there was a limit as to what could be reported publicly. However, he clarified that the City were actively working with Transport for London on a resolution for this matter.

RESOLVED – That Members note the contents of this report for their information before submission to the Mayor of London.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk setting out its 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.

Skateboarding and Public Realm Design

A Member raised a question about skateboarding and public realm design, particularly in Vine Street. Permission for student accommodation had been granted here and, at the time, Members were told that Vine Street would be semi-pedestrianised with trees planted here to soften the noise impact for nearby residents and also to mitigate any overlooking of properties. She stressed that whilst the area had been beautifully paved, there was no planting here and it now looked like an ideal space for skateboarders and was currently being frequently used for this purpose. This was causing a lot of aggravation and conflict for security staff of sites in the area. The Member went on to report that the area was also being used by students living here for drinking games late at night. She went on to state that the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee had spoken on many occasions about the need to design out skateboarding and ensuring that when public realm was designed, anti-social behaviour was also designed out. This did not seem to be happening in practice. The Member questioned why Ward Members had not been consulted on the change of plans and lack of planting in this space. She stressed that if these problems were not going to be designed out (which was the preferred route) then more resource would need to go into policing the resulting issues.

Another Member supported this view and agreed that the same mistakes could not continue to be made. As Chairman of the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee, he undertook to look into this matter further and asked that Officers prepare a future paper on the matter for consideration.

The Chair asked that Officers respond directly to the Member on this matter and also copy him and his

Peter Murray’s Speech at the Annual Committee Dinner

The Chair referred to the speech given by Peter Murray at the recently held annual Committee dinner and suggested that it might be helpful to circulate this to all Members to facilitate further discussion.