Agenda item

Ludgate Square Construction

A Member asked whether businesses were given prior notice of street closures and relevant advice, particularly where the street closure would not necessitate the closure of those businesses, so that they could advise their clientele of the restrictions on access to them.

The Executive Director of Environment advised that in this case, businesses had been consulted one week prior to the start of construction, but accepted the view that this could have been done earlier. However, appropriate signage was installed quickly following notice of the issues for businesses after the closure, and the works would soon be complete.

21 Moorfields

A Member advised that it was clear that there had been a serious breach of the conditions applied to 21 Moorfields that affect Moor Lane, with Condition 17 in respect of protection from attacks using road vehicles before the start of construction and no application for the amendment of this Condition. As the breach had not been reported to Committee, the Member asked that officers investigated and reported back on how this had been allowed to happen, and what processes were in place to stop this from happening again.

The Chairman advised that in order for officers to provide as full a response as possible, the response would be deferred until the non-public section of the meeting.

Reporting

A Member reiterated a point raised by another Member during the consideration of the application in respect of 15 Minories, and asked that a table highlighting expected ratios of provision against the various characteristics of an application be provided for all future major developments. The Member added that a similar point had been raised previously in respect of off-site parking provision, and asked that a draft pro forma be put to the Committee for review. The Chairman added that there had been discussions on providing more tabular and graphic information for Members.

The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director responded that a draft pro forma for review could be brought to the Committee within the next two meetings. A Member added that there had previous been requests for data relating to carbon emissions to be presented in this way, and that this was still outstanding.

Sustainability Supplementary Document (SPD)

A Member noted that the timeline for this had been moved, but commented that no target date for completion of this item was provided with the list of Outstanding Actions, and asked that officers provide a date for completion or an explanation as to why this could not be provided.

City of London Access Group

A Member asked that officers provide a report briefing on the City of London Access Group (CoLAG) as it was felt that Members were not clear on their role or the extent of their involvement in relevant matters. The Chief Planning and Development Director responded that CoLAG was an active group and that information on the group would be provided to the next meeting.

Community and Children’s Services Committee

A Member queried whether it would be possible to consult the Community & Children’s Services Committee on elements of the Local Plan relevant to them. The Chairman responded that he felt this would be appropriate.

Bury House

A Member asked for an update on the Bury House application refused by the Committee, as they understood that a notice of refusal had not yet been sent out. The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director advised that officers were awaiting Stage 2 consideration from the GLA and would follow up on this.

GoPuff Licensing Application

A Member noted that there was a pending licensing application for the establishment of a delivery hub business on Aldersgate Street, and asked, given the current premises, whether this necessitated a change of use application. The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director confirmed that this was the case, and that officers had liaised with relevant colleagues to advise them of this.

Pedestrian Priority Programme

A Member asked for further analysis to be provided on the impact of the Pedestrian Priority Programme in light of the figures previously circulated to Members, and with the knowledge of the impact of other factors such as COVID-19. The Executive Director of Environment clarified that the figures provided were counts from a specific month, and that a further update would be provided in June 2022.