Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Marianne Fredericks, Deputy Christopher Hayward, Deputy Natasha Lloyd-Owen and Alderwoman Susan Pearson.

There were no declarations.

To agree the draft public minutes of the meeting held on 21 September 2022.

MATTERS ARISING

A Member asked if there had been any feedback from developers on the Suicide Prevention Planning Advice Note. An Officer advised that no feedback had been received but the measures were being implemented within schemes. The City had been shortlisted for an award on this piece of work.

A Member asked for an update on stakeholder engagement. An Officer stated that stakeholder engagement events would be held in the next couple of months. This was later than intended due to the process of appointing consultants and mapping out the engagement work. The first series of engagement events would be on the key area of Change and exploring this in more detail. The feedback would be reported back to the Local Plans Sub-Committee and then the Planning and Transportation Committee when the Plan was submitted to the Committee in October 2023. The Officer confirmed that the delay in the consultation would not delay the progress of the City Plan and it was still on track to be delivered within the scheduled timetable.

In response to a Member’s question about the scheduling of meetings, an Officer advised that although the 19 May 2023 meeting had been cancelled, Officers were looking to schedule another meeting for early September 2023. The September meeting would give Members of the Sub-Committee the opportunity to see the whole plan and provide feedback. A Member suggested that this would not leave much time for amendments before the plan was submitted to the Planning and Transportation Committee and that it could be beneficial to hold this in July. An Officer stated that they would look into this.

An Officer advised that the May Sub-Committee meeting would explore issues around residential use and hotel demand, the June meeting would explore issues around office demand and tall buildings and

Report of the Planning & Development Director.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Planning and Development Director which outlined changes that had been made to the way whole lifecycle carbon (WLC) of a development was measured and assessed through the planning system and the increased importance that had been given to encouraging the retrofit of existing buildings. This report sets out how policies in the City Plan could be updated to reflect these changes.

An Officer stated that the draft City Plan reflected the Corporation’s Climate Action Strategy in seeking to secure a net zero carbon square mile by 2040. He advised that since the previous version of the plan was drafted, the London Plan had been adopted and further guidance had been issued advising that reuse and retrofit should be prioritised in the planning system. There had also been increasing awareness in recent years of the need to consider the WLC of the built environment. As an intermediate step towards tackling WLC in the City, a Whole Lifecycle Optioneering Planning Advice Note was developed and this had recently been adopted by the Planning and Transportation Committee. It had been put into practice in the new schemes coming forward allowing the carbon intensity of different design approaches to be considered at an early stage. As the City’s plan was taken forward, there would be an opportunity to expand on this approach ensuring the City remained in general conformity with the London Plan and complemented the work on carbon options guidance.

The Officer stated that there were a number of places in the draft City Plan where there was the potential to give greater emphasis to a retrofit first approach. Firstly, the overall spatial strategy could be updated to recognise the importance of the WLC of new development and to promote the retrofit and refurbishment of existing

Report of the Planning & Development Director.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Planning and Development Director which set out the potential ways that policies in the City Plan could be amended to reflect responses received in relation to culture, public uses and public spaces during the previous Local Plan consultation and the City Corporation’s Destination City objectives.

The City’s destination vision sought to renew the square mile making the city a leading destination for visitors and workers, increasing footfalls seven days per week and creating places in the City that would draw in cultural attractions, events and unique experiences. Developments were already required in the draft City Plan to provide cultural plans setting out how they would contribute to enriching the City’s cultural offer. Policy S12 required development to provide open spaces at street level and incorporate areas of publicly accessible open space or other facilities at upper levels. These spaces were being developed and the Roof Garden at 120 Fenchurch Street had been approved, as had the Migration Museum. In addition, the archaeological display at Vine Street had recently been opened. A cultural planning framework was being developed in conjunction with consultants Publica and colleagues in the Destination City team were helping to provide the strategic framework for understanding the cultural make-up of the City and how this could inform new development in different parts of the square mile.

The Officer stated that in the City Plan, there were some key policy shifts that could help to reinforce the delivery of cultural and other public spaces, and this was in response to consultation responses received in previous rounds of engagement. There was a need to ensure that the spaces created were inclusive and accessible and were celebrating the rich heritage of the City as the key reason people wanted to visit.

An Officer stated

There were no questions.

The Chairman stated that this was the last meeting of the civic year. He thanked Members and Officers for their work.