Agenda item

Valid planning applications received by Department of the Built Environment

Report of the Interim Chief Planning Officer and Development Director.

Minutes:

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.

 

Officers reported some major applications had been received since the report to the last meeting – namely Custom House for a new proposed hotel scheme and 55 Gracechurch Street for an office-led development scheme. It was anticipated that these would come to Committee in due course and it was expected that further, similar, large applications would be coming forward in the coming months.

 

The Chair thanked Officers for all of the work that was continuing to happen behind the scenes at both application and pre-application stage.

 

The Chief Commoner questioned whether Officers were seeing continued vitality in term of planning applications and whether they had any sense as to whether the City was likely to return to full occupancy going forward. Officers reported that the Planning Department remained very busy in terms of pre-application discussions and that, at the present time, they were seeing an almost unprecedented level of new schemes coming forward at the pre-application stage. Officers and developers were hopeful that these pre-application discussions came forward as planning applications. The Chair added that he felt that it was important that Members vocalised this point as much as possible. He added that there were some sound policies coming forward in the form of the new City Plan, the Transport Strategy and others and it was evident here that both international and UK based developers were still very much interested in investing in development in the City in the medium and longer term.

 

Another Member requested that some publicity and press coverage be given to the two large applications reported by Officers now that they were in the public domain as the receipt of these applications would appear to be encouraging in present circumstances.

 

Members discussed the need to balance residential and office developments going forward as part of the City’s recovery. The Chair commented that emerging policies were very clear on where certain types of development were and were not appropriate and that the current pandemic had increased focus on the most efficient use of available space in all sorts of ways. The City would respond to demands as they emerged although it was not expected that any changes going forward would be so seismic that office space for businesses would no longer be required.

 

In response to comments around a return to Guildhall, the Director of the Built Environment underlined that a number of her staff had been present in the City throughout the pandemic delivering vital services such as cleansing and waste collection. She added that the Guildhall was now open for staff to return if necessary and that a lot of her team were now visiting the City to carry out things such as site and building control inspections and were now also taking the opportunity to access the Guildhall too.

 

Members also suggested that the amenities made available to both residents and businesses in the City would need careful consideration going forward – this included access to free Wi-Fi and the provision of supermarkets and other essential stores.

 

At this point, the Chairman sought approval from the Committee to continue the meeting beyond two hours from the appointed time for the start of the meeting, in accordance with Standing Order 40, and this was agreed.

 

RESOLVED – That Members note the report.

 

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