Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Christopher Hayward and Alderwoman Susan Pearson.

Deputy Alastair Moss declared an interest in specific sites referenced in the non-public discussion on Item 9 - City Plan – Tall Buildings. He left the room for the discussion relating to these sites.

To agree the draft public minutes of the meeting held on 23 May 2023.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes of the last meeting held on 23 May 2023 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Planning and Development Director.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Planning and Development Director, which set out how policies in the City Plan could be updated to ensure that there would be a sufficient supply of offices to meet future demand.

An Officer stated that the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) emphasised the importance of planning for economic growth and productivity. Local plans such as the City Plan were expected to set out a clear economic vision which proactively encouraged sustainable economic growth. The London Plan focused on economic growth in the central activity zone of which the City was a core part. It recognised the importance of supporting the Central London office market.

Members were informed that GLA Economics had published updated employment projections in 2022 and these showed continued growth in employment in the square mile with a levelling off in the long term. To inform the updated City Plan, a study was commissioned by Arup and Knight Frank to look into the future of offices in the square mile. They considered the way in which offices were being occupied, demand, future challenges and opportunities. Andrew Tyler, one of the proprietary partners and Head of Commercial Development at Knight Frank gave a presentation. He stated that the City market extended to about 112million square feet. This equated to approximately 56million square feet in the City core, 9 million square feet in Aldgate, 18 million square feet in Clerkenwell and 20million in Midtown. Prime rents in the City for a non-tower building were £75 per square foot compared to the West End average of £125 per square foot. Take up of offices in the City in 2022 was 5.78million square feet. There were currently 7.8million square feet of development schemes under construction in the City. 2.8million square feet was already committed.

Report of the Planning and Development Director.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Planning and Development Director, which set out proposed amendments to City Plan policy on tall buildings, including where they might be appropriate and inappropriate; permissible heights within areas appropriate for tall buildings; and approaches to ensure development would conserve the special historic and architectural interest of Bevis Marks Synagogue.

An Officer stated that in 2021, a Regulation 19 consultation was undertaken on the City Plan. The Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority raised an issue of non-conformity with the City plan stating that there was a need to identify appropriate areas for tall buildings within the Plan and there was a need to consider impacts on the Tower of London world heritage site. Concerns were raised by historic England about tall buildings coming forward in areas that could be harmful. Historic Places requested that specific strategic views be taken into account as well as strategic views set out in the London view management framework. There were also responses from the London Sephardi Trust and the Spanish and Portuguese Farsi community raising concerns particularly over the impact of tall buildings on historic buildings and their setting and in particular in relation to Bevis Marks synagogue in the City.

Members were informed that in order to address these issues, an extensive piece of work had been undertaken. A three-step process had been undertaken. The first step involved identifying appropriate locations for tall buildings, determining suitable building heights within those locations and evaluating potential developments impacts. The second step used three-dimensional modelling to undertake a complex sieving exercise to identify and analyse the character areas to assess their sensitivity to tall buildings. A range of criteria was considered including character and form of those areas, the strategic townscape, heritage and views and the

There were no questions.

City Plan Timetable

An Officer stated that the City Plan work programme had been reviewed. He reported that good progress had been made on a number of studies, particularly with the office piece which was a core piece of work. There had been strong steers from the Sub-Committee and public consultation was currently being undertaken, plus work was taking place with transport colleagues to align with the transport strategy. Officers wanted to ensure that this could be fully analysed and considered that the programme would benefit from a shift in timescales, submitting the City Plan to the Sub-Committee in September rather than July and to a special meeting of the Planning and Transportation Committee in mid-November 2023. It would then be submitted to Policy and Resources Committee and the Court of Common Council. Public engagement would follow in February and March 2024.

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.

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.

Non-public report of the Planning and Development Director.

The Sub-Committee considered a non-public report of the Planning and Development Director which included maps and images of proposed tall building areas and heights.

RESOLVED - That Officers continue to progress work on the City Plan based on Members’ views on the proposed policy direction in relation to the policies on tall buildings, informed by the areas and heights presented to them.

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

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