Transcript

Good evening and welcome to this meeting. This is the Planning Board meeting. My name is Councillor Bauer and as the Vice Chair, I'll be taking this meeting as Councillor Dinnan has extended his apologies. Filming and recording is allowed but must not disturb proceedings. Flash photography, I'm afraid, is not permitted. Only those public speakers whose requests have been accepted will be called to speak. No other public speaker will be permitted to address the meetings. Speakers' comments must be relevant to the application and planning matters and you should not repeat comments already made. Once you've made your address, you will not be permitted to make further comments unless I invite you to do so. I'm going to ask to see if the speakers' lists are all here. So I have for application five on the list, Riverside House, Bob McCurry, Paul Wells, Bob Secker, excellent. And for six, the vacant plot adjacent to the development site, a speaker in objection, Malcolm Corbett. Thank you. Philip Dunphy and Harry Le... Yes. Thank you very much and apologies for that. Tonight we're going to be taking application number six before five. So we're just going to reverse the order just to let you know. And any apologies for absence? Yes, Chair. We've received apologies for absence from Councillor Dillon and Councillor Babatola. I've also received notification of apologies from Councillor Gardner that he may need to leave early. Thanks very much. And any urgent business? Yes, Chair. We've had officers' addendums in regards to both items five and six. These have been published in advance of the meeting and paper copies have been presented around the chamber. We also received the applicant submission in regards to item five, which was emailed directly to all members last week. Okay. Any declarations of interest from members? Okay. And the minutes of the last meeting. Is everyone happy with those for us to be signed? Yeah, agreed. Super, I'll do that. And then, oh, do I need to do this bit? I'm not doing that bit. You're not doing that bit. Right then. We'll move on to item reference 24 stroke 3095F, the vacant plot adjacent to development site at 81 to 88 Beresford Street. And that's Thomas Fernandez, please. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Good evening, members. So today we are requesting the panel to consider application reference 24 3095F for the site adjacent to 81 to 88 Beresford Street, Woolwich. The development for consideration today is for a new building comprising of 120 purpose-built student accommodation beds and associated amenity space as an extension to the PBSA scheme approved at 81 to 88 Beresford Street adjoining the site. So in terms of site context, the site is situated along Beresford Street within Woolwich Town Centre, as outlined in red in this image. The site adjacent is phase one of the scheme, which comprised of 299 beds approved in 2021 under a separate permission outlining green. The subject application seeks full planning permission as an extension to that development. The site shares a boundary with Premier Inn Hotel to the west in proximity to a number of commercial developments, as well as residential within Royal Arsenal. As you'll note, the site is within the Woolwich Town Centre and located within walking proximity to Woolwich, Elizabeth Lines and bus stops, connected residents to wider London, as well as within the borough. The site is situated in proximity to a number of heritage items, including Grade 1 listed heritage item Royal Brass Foundry. As indicated by this image, the surrounding context is within a busy town centre setting, lending itself to be suitable area for students. It is noted within the London Plan guidance for purpose-built accommodation. It does seek to possibly encourage PBSA schemes in specific places or character areas where the schemes can be more easily absorbed and achieve wider benefits, including parts of areas of mixed use regeneration or on particular smaller scale redevelopment sites. So this is an image showcasing the former Woolwich Cathy Club and the immediate surrounds. There is currently an application under the determination with Council for McBean Street, opposite the site which seeks consent for student accommodation, shared living accommodation and residential dwellings. This is an image from the front of the site. According to the site, the site in its existing state is hard standing with no built form. The site is currently being utilised to accommodate temporary, demountable construction to assist in the construction of adjoining Phase 1 development. As you can see from this image, the construction has well progressed. For context, the site previously formed part of the Barclays Home Waterfront Master Plan and was known as KE2. Under that master plan site, it was envisioned for this site to be residential development, the maximum height of 49 AOD. The maximum height under this subject development will seek 46.88, which is about 2 metres less than that envisioned by the master plan. This is a slide to showcase the emerging context of the site. As you'll note, the development sits comfortably in the emerging context and notably will sit lower than that envisioned by the master plan. The site is outlined in green with the green arrow above. This is another image to showcase the emerging context. This image showcases the maximum envelope under the master plan. So again, the built form will sit lower than this image. This is an existing view of the site from Royal Brass Foundry without Phase 1 or Phase 2. An existing view from the west. In this image you'll note, Ocean View and Tali House to the rear, which is residential development. This is an existing view when looking towards the site from the east. In terms of public consultation, one letter of support was received and 10 objections summarised on the screen. All these comments have been addressed within the planning board report and subsequent addendums. So in terms of the proposed development, it comprises of part 11, part 12 storey building with roof canopy and associated amenity space comprising of 120 beds in total. Students accessing Phase 2 will do so via connection within Phase 1 at each level. There is no basement proposed for Phase 2 and the scheme will utilise services currently approved within Phase 1 of the scheme, including the approved vehicle bay at the front of the Beresford Street, cycle parking and waste. And many spaces for students include at ground level, include a communal lounge, dining area, study, screening room, as well as a rooftop terrace. So in terms of internal, sorry, in terms of amenity space, there will be a total of 310 square metres of amenity space for students, which equates to about 2.6 square metres per student, which is supported. So this is an extract of a typical floor plan, building will rejoin the corridor at each level at the centre of the site. And all accommodation represents a similar size to that of the approved Phase 1. That's another typical floor plan of Level 10, and again, the accommodation is, that is approved within Phase 1 as well. So this is the proposed roof plan, which provides rooftop terrace space for students. This is the front elevation to Beresford Street as provided the development provides, responds appropriately to Phase 1 and will sit lower in scale. The materials utilised will be two tones of full brick and combination cladding type consistent to Phase 1. This is the rear view of the site facing Tali House and Ocean View. This is the elevation adjoining Premier Inn Hotel. So under the application, there'll be no additional highway works as a result of Phase 2, and the scheme will utilise services approved under Phase 1. The element on this screen was approved by the Regional Commission of the Phase 1 scheme. So in total, the development will be compliant in regards to cycle parking provisions and will utilise space within the basement of Phase 1 again. And just for context, as part of the approval and obligation has been secured from the developer to engage in discussions with Barclays. As there is an approved servicing road at the rear, and it is envisioned that vehicle servicing will be shifted to the rear of the site from Beresford Street. So this is just a slide showcasing that servicing road. An important consideration of the development was the impact on the view to the Royal Brass Foundry. The impact was concluded to be less than substantial, and the public benefits of the scheme were considered to outweigh this impact, as was detailed within the Office's report. This is a render from Beresford Street at street level, as provided the development is considered to respond to the adjoining site and provides a stepped part 12, part 11 storey design. This is the rear of the development from Marraba Park. Some of the benefits of the scheme include enhancement and revitalisation of a prominent underutilised brownfield site. 120 bed, sorry, 120 bed student accommodation beds, which include 35% affordable housing. In regards to the architecture, it is considered of high quality, including significant improvements to the townscape, public realm, and will create an active street frontage along Beresford Street. As part of the approval, Council has secured street lighting improvements to McBean Street, as one of the routes which was considered to be utilised by students would be from McBean to Power Street, to High Street. And the impact on the amenity of the nearby residential properties is generally accepted. In conclusion, members are requested to grant planning permission subject to conditions in Section 106 agreement. Thank you very much. Members, any questions? Councillor Greenwell. Thank you, Chair. Thank you for your presentation. Can I just ask you, is it possible to see how this development, where it will stand in relation to a close-up pavilion square and Ocean House, please? I know that there's a diagram on page 126, but have you got a slide that will show the effect that this building will have, or how it will stand in relation to those of the two buildings? Thank you. I don't have one that showcases pavilion square. I can get one up from the portal, if you wanted to. I don't have one on hand, but there's, I believe there's some views in the report. So pavilion square sits just to the rear down here. It's a bit out of this frame, but it's... So this is Ocean House, Tali House here, this is residential units. And the site's, sorry, the site's here. Yeah, so this is Ocean House here. Can you use your microphone? Do we know the height of Ocean House? Please. So this is Ocean House here, it's a bit cut off again. Yeah, so the development will sit at 36 metres from ground level. I'm not too sure, maybe the... The Alpacan can talk to the height of... I don't have it on hand. It's approximately seven storeys. The distance, the distance of that is 40, around 40 metres. OK. OK. Does that answer your question? Super. David, you indicated. Thanks. Quickly, I see it's the application is policy non-compliant in terms of not meeting the urban green factor minimum requirement of 0.4. But I can't see what its biodiversity net gain is and whether it meets the statutory requirement of 10% biodiversity net gain. It's actually a de minimis application. So there's certain exemptions under BNG. And if you've got less than 25 square metres of habitat currently on site, then you don't have to undertake the statutory BNG increase. So there hasn't been a BNG assessment done under the legislation for this because it is exempt because there's so little on site at the moment. It's just hard standing, essentially. OK. Any other questions from members? No? I just wanted to ask for the roof garden how high the sides were, just from a safety perspective. from a safety perspective. Then if there are no other questions, perhaps we can invite the applicant. Right. Please could I invite Malcolm Corbett up to the speaker? Malcolm, you've got two minutes to speak. If you take a seat and then switch your microphone on and we'll start when you're ready. Thank you very much, Chair, and thank you for taking the trouble to hear from me. I live in Ocean House. It's six storeys, so I can tell you that. So this building, the building that's currently being built is 13 storeys high and this is going to be 12, I believe. So it's about twice as high as Ocean House is currently. And I think it's about 25 metres from our apartment balcony to the new building as they're being built. I'd like to first of all say that, you know, I and my fellow residents, as far as I'm aware, don't have any objection to student accommodation. In fact, we're very supportive of student accommodation. And indeed, we didn't put any objection into the original applications when they came in. We moved in in 2020 and I think the applications were approved in 2021. However, since the building is now being built, it's enormous from our point of view. It's 13 storeys high. I do have a photo I took actually at lunchtime today of what it looks like from our balcony, which I would be very happy to share with any councillors who would like to see it. The sun basically disappears at the middle of the day, disappears behind the building. So our objection is based on two factors. One is the fact that we're losing even more privacy than we will be losing anyway with this new proposal. And the light is going to be reduced even further than it's going to be already. We're also concerned about the impact on the buildings, the historic buildings which are nearby, particularly the foundry building and so on, that we clearly are being impacted by this. It's one of what is now a forest of new tower blocks which are being built right next door to us. To be honest with you, I don't think if the proposal was for a building which is commensurate with Ocean House and Talia House, which is six storeys high. So that's roughly, I don't know, 120 people, something like that. I'm not sure how many people. I don't see... Yeah, I would just say that I'm not claiming to represent everybody in the two buildings, but there has been quite a bit of discussion about this on our WhatsApp groups and generally the view is it would be better if... Thank you very much for your representation and I've got every sympathy and very much appreciate where you're coming from. However, there was a master plan in 2016. I'm not sure when Ocean House was built, but presumably you moved in after 2016, so you'd have been advised of this when you were doing your solicitor or you were doing due diligence. There was a master plan which approved actually a slightly larger scale building on that site. So to some extent our hands are a bit tied because if we were to reject this on the basis of height and so forth, then we would lose possibly on appeal because it was already in the master plan. So just wondered if you were aware of that master plan and when you moved in and is there any way you can see we can navigate our way around that given to some extent our hands are tied on height? We moved in in 2013 into one of the... into the heritage part of the Building 36, which is used to the old Wellington's general store, I believe, 200 years ago. So we were aware of the master plan but the details of it, you know, none of us paid a huge amount of attention to. So we only really became aware of this particular proposal when the planning application was made and we thought that another huge building is going up right in front of us, basically. So I understand, I appreciate the issue and the concern, but I'm not sure we can... Thank you, Chair. Yeah, do... Sorry, it's referring to how you've been affected as well. Light. So, if this went ahead, which rooms would be affected by loss of light? All of our living rooms. All of your living rooms. Yeah, the way the apartments are designed is that the living rooms have a balcony and they're all south-facing. So everybody's living rooms would be affected. There may be some variations in the different apartments, but in general, that's the way it would be. So is that not just you, that is everyone else? Everybody else, yeah, absolutely. So how many... In two buildings. In three apartments in total. Yeah. I'm not sure of the total number which are completely south-facing like this. So the flats are all slightly differently designed, so it's not going to affect everybody in the same way. But basically, if you look at the... Accommodation, which I think is quite key. We definitely know that there's a big demand in London for it. So what's the ideal height? Because I hear you saying that you wouldn't mind if the building was not as tall as it is. On the photograph on the screen there, you've got the Royal Arsenal Hotel for years. That was just a sort of a derelict... Well, it was a semi-built building. So, on the right-hand side of the photo, you can see the Royal Arsenal Hotel. And that photo... And you can see Ocean House on the left-hand side of the photo. If the building being proposed was around about the same size as that, then it's not really going to be much of a problem. It's only because it's so big that it's... You know, when you've got the two big buildings together, it does completely dwarf our apartment. And, you know, from our balcony, which is looking at the development of the new building right now, it's very close. It's very close. Thank you. Yeah, so in terms of daylight and sunlight, a report was provided within the company documentation, which is all compliant with BRE. So I think there was nine living room spaces where there were some deviations to the guidance. But in terms of annual probable sunlight hours, most of the requirements of the daylight and sunlight provisions were accepted. I took a photo today, and that's from our balcony at 1340. And it shows the sun and the tower block, the towers that are currently being built. So the sun is less than halfway up the tower blocks. Now, obviously, it's winter, so the sun is lower in the sky. But nevertheless, I think it shows some indication of the loss that it currently exists, or will be, when the current phase is completed. This will simply add to that loss. Thank you. Plus, of course, we're going to be overlooked by a lot more people. Sorry. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Chair. Just to add a little bit to that as well in terms of the sunlight report and the way it assesses loss of sunlight. Obviously, it measures it against a cleared site at the moment. So the people living in the neighbouring properties are experiencing very good access to daylight and sunlight. So even if a building of a similar scale to the Premier Inn was built, it would still have an effect on the daylight and sunlight. Another factor is the design of the building itself, not the building that we're looking at, but the building that's built and that people are living in. As you can see there, there are balconies that extend out, which blocks the daylight and sunlight to the properties below. So in terms of the way it's designed, it does kind of have an impact on itself. Yeah, but it's all south facing, so it has very little impact. I mean, the balcony above us doesn't have any impact on us whatsoever in terms of sunlight, to be honest with you. And daylight and sunlight is obviously assessed across the year as well. Obviously, the photo you've just seen, the sun is much lower in the sky because we're in the middle of winter. The distance is approximately 40 metres as well between the subject building. So in terms of some of the schemes that you see before you, this is more compliant than most, I would say, in terms of daylight and sunlight, in terms of impacts on neighbours. OK. Thank you very much, Malcolm. OK. Can I call from the applicant, Philip and Harry, please? Sorry, please. You have ten minutes. Good evening, Chair, and members of the Planning Board. Thank you for taking the time to come and consider our proposals for the land adjacent to 81 to 88 Peristot Street this evening, and thank you to officers for their presentation on the project. My name's Harry de Laubignere, and I'm the Managing Director at Hurlington. As you're aware, this project is a Catholic club, referred to as Phase 1 in the Officer's presentation. We achieved planning permission for a new purpose-built student accommodation scheme and a community hub on the failure in Gamuda, and are due to complete the project early next year. The application that's presented tonight is the result of extensive engagement with our neighbours at Barclay Group, culminating in the agreement for our team to bring forward this site. As you've heard from the Planning Officer, the plot was originally envisaged as a residential building known as K2 within the Barclay Master Plan. However, the constrained nature of the site, and the subsequent technical requirements for additional stair and lift cordial accommodation in a separate block was not possible. That residential, as you're aware, is now being delivered elsewhere in the Master Plan, and has enabled us to bring forward this plot as an extension to our current project. The primary benefit of extending our approved student scheme, which is on site, is to capitalise on the existing circulation cause within that building, allowing us to deliver a viable scheme that complies with all the new regulations for fire safety, and allows a reduction in bulk and height from what was granted consent on the plot originacy-compliant delivery of affordable accommodation. The building has been carefully designed, and will offer 120 high-quality student rooms on upper floors, with associated internal amenity space, ground floor, and a new amenity roof terrace. The amenity areas will be shared with residents of Phase 1, and complement the existing provisions within that phase. When Phase 2 completes, the two buildings will be operated and managed as a single student residence, with all occupiers utilising strong management of the building by our operators' homes for students. The utilisation of existing plant refuse cycle storage areas within Phase 1 also mitigates the need for a basement within Phase 2, and also reduces the carbon footprint of the development. As noted by officers, there's been detailed engagement with the planning department, design review panel, GLA and TFL, to ensure a carefully designed high-quality scheme that respects the local heritage context. We've also engaged with local community through an in-person and online community meeting, and separately remain committed to our liaison with all of the local community groups that have inputted into the community hub that we're delivering within Phase 1, to ensure it's well used when it's completed next year. We hope that members will approve the scheme in line with the officers' recommendation this evening, allowing us to commence construction as soon as possible. Thank you, and I'd welcome anyone. Any questions from members? Thank you, Chair. You have heard one of the residents who lives in one of the properties, was it Ocean House, and how he's going to be affected. This, you're planning it 12 storeys. Now, you're saying that you've got a roof terrace, and you've got ground floor that's going to be recreational. But you have got those facilities next door, haven't you, in the one that you're already... And what I'm coming to, is there no way that you can possibly lower the height, and perhaps accommodate more student rooms on that lower floor? Just... How low... Well, what I'm saying is how... What difference do you think it would make to the actual sunlight of the people who live opposite? How many storeys lower would it have to be? Am I making sense? So, yeah, absolutely. I think, as Beth mentioned, obviously, we've had a daylight and sunlight assessment done. We have to be conscious that we're working in the context of an existing planning consent for a mass that was granted under the master plan, which we have reduced back from. And if you... I know we're mentioning it's a 12 storey building. It's actually 11 storeys of accommodation and a roof terrace, which you can see is slightly enclosed, but set back from the building line at the top floor there. So, it's an 11 storey building with a 12 floor enclosed roof terrace. Going to your point on amenity, obviously, there's an additional 120 residents within the building, and we need to provide an adequate level of amenity space within the project to accommodate those students. The provision that's being provided is pro rata, almost identical to what was designed rationale for delivering that. Is that all right? Just sort of further on that, the recreation...the roof terrace. Is that...I mean, I don't know whether that would make any difference to the sunlight. Is that...could you sort of...do you need that sun terrace? Yes, it's part of the amenity offering. And, as I say, it's set back from the...as you can see from this...this plan that's on screen now. It's set back some distance from the building facade. So, actually, the way that the sun tracks, I don't think that would actually make much difference whatsoever to...to the daylight and sunlight. So...so, um, you have listed here that, um, that the student accommodation will be affordable. What will the rent be? What's the planned rent? Um, the rate of the rent? Sorry, the rent. I've got four questions there. Could you just start with that first, please? So, the 35% of the building will be set at affordable rents, which are set by the GLA, which is related to the maintenance loan that students... Do you know what that amount is? That's what I'm asking for, please. Uh, the...the amount for this year. I don't have the exact numbers for this year, but they'll be based annually in line with inflation. Okay, um, um, the rooms we occupy during term time, what happens outside of term time? Uh, so, in London, typically, a lot of students do actually stay for the entire, um, the end of the summer. Uh, we would look to, um, uh, bring in summer students or people associated with...with higher education summer course on a shorter stay during the summer months. Okay, and lastly, um, we know that mental health is a massive issue among, um, student population at the moment. What type of support would you have on the ground? Um, you're talking about how many units now? By the time you think, by the time you look at the number of young people, well, they're still young. They're still young. By the time you look at that number, what type of pastoral support would be given in the building to the student with them and their higher education institutions to ensure that, that, um, they are getting that pastoral care that's, that's required. Obviously, this started out earlier as a straight resi scheme and, uh, we all know what the situation is in the, the market generally, nationally and, uh, regionally. Um, we've seen an awful lot of these applications come along quite recently. There seems to be a trend, though, for, um, student accommodation. Um, I'm suspicious, uh, that there might be another agenda actually taking place. And I'm, so I'm not accusing you of anything. Um, I, I recognize, appreciate that you've worked hard on this site to get to this point. And, um, so, you know, I'm, I'm, I don't see any grounds on which I would be opposing it this evening, but I am, uh, concerned that, uh, to see when this scheme is likely to be delivered. I think you indicated in your presentation, we were talking about, did you say a year? Uh, if, if, if we've got consent this evening, we'll be talking about a year. Uh, and when, uh, and if that, that transpires as such, are we talking about, uh, these units, these, uh, student accommodation is actually on a speculative basis, first come, first served? Or have you got relations, uh, contracts, I don't know how it works, lined up with, uh, future, um, educational institutions and such like to fill them? So, um, you're right. I guess there is, um, a number of student projects that are coming forward across London and that is with, um, Ravensbourne, University of Greenwich, University of East London, um, and others across the capital to ensure that we're liaising with them, um, regularly in terms of their student, student need and, and. Thank you. Thank you. I have Councillor Richard Scott. Um, thank you. I think mine was actually partially answered. I was just going to ask about which universities you plan to work with, but it sounds like you're currently exploring that and it's not a set university at the moment. Correct. Yeah. We're speaking to a number, um, within the local area. Thank you. Um, Councillor Greenwell, you had another question? Yeah. Thank you, Chair. Um, having a grandson who's just gone to uni this year, I know how important it is and talking about the mental health and, and, you know, sort of going beginnings, ending of terms. It's important. Um, I know I used to go on the train and everything, but it's different now that when families take them, that they've got somewhere where they can actually offload their, for whatever they want, their belongings. Um, and I know sometimes, is there somewhere where a designated area where students can be dropped off and sort of where they can be parked for a certain time, the parents, um, before they return and leave them. Um, that, that, that was one of the questions, but I was, I'm also going back, how far have you actually got in the first phase with the, um, the constructions and, and the format of, of the inside of the building? Um, you know, you know, I'm going back to, is there any way that it could be changed or is it too late to, so that you can have more students accommodations at that side and more sort of, um, social area at the, this new block and, yeah. So, uh, taking, taking that one first, I, um, unfortunately we are on site, as you can see from the image here, the core is up, the frame is, this is no longer possible. Um, we have sought obviously to, to make sure that the schemes work well together and that, that what we're delivering in the second phase, um, in terms of your question about parking, we don't have parking on site. Uh, obviously the site is highly accessible, the highest P-TAL, um, and has multiple public transport options for students to arrive. Notwithstanding that, invariably some people will arrive by private vehicle, um, stay for a prolonged period. How far away are they going to be expected to go with all their belongings because we're in a different world to what we were years ago when I went to university college? Uh, and, you know, uh, and, you know, that they take sort of, they really load themselves up with gear. So how far are they going to be expected to walk with there? So the, sorry. I'm so sorry. Um, there's a car park at, uh, the back of the Premier Inn, um, that could be used, that's very adjacent, a pay car park. Most welcome. Any other questions? I was just going to ask, um, I asked the officer about the enclosure around the roof garden, just, just to make sure that it was as safe as possible. Uh, yes, I mean, that that's been designed in, in line with the requirements of homes for students who operate 40,000 beds across the country, uh, to ensure that the balustrade heights are appropriate for, uh, the safety of residents and mitigation of any sort of risk or antisocial behaviour. Super. Thank you very much indeed. Please take a seat. Uh, members, I think we're open for deliberations now. David. Chair, I have to go, so I'll be very quick. Um, that I, I, I think we are, our hands are rather tied on this. I, I had a great deal of sympathy with the point made, uh, by the residents in Ocean House and, and kind of understand how they feel and hope that the, uh, developer will work with, um, neighbouring residents. Um, but clearly, um, the site does have effectively outlined permission in 2016. It's part of the master plan. In fact, it was going to be higher. It's of good quality design. It's car free, which is excellent. Um, I'm very disappointed. It hasn't got the urban greening factor it needs, but hope they will work on conditions to get up to the 0.4, um, which, um, which is the minimum that's, uh, uh, that's needed. Um, but so I, I, I, I do think on backwards. Um, there is a, it does complement the, um, phase one, and I think, therefore, we ought to, um, uh, support the officer recommendation. Thank you, David. Good points. Anybody else? Councillor Greenham. I am torn because I know that we need student accommodation, but we also need residential accommodation. I, but yes, we need student accommodation, but I have great sympathies with the people who live in Ocean House, because if they've got windows, living room windows, and I'm thinking that the large windows, I don't know, they, their lives are going to be not destroyed, but very much affected. And I know, and I know, you know, about the master plan and everything, but I, I have, that has to be taken into consideration as well. The people who live there, um, and I'm disappointed that it got to this stage with, you know, sort of with the stories, possibly, if they talked more with, with the, the neighbours, and, and I feel that a compromise could have been come to. So, I'm quite torn. Thank you. I'm sure you'll vote with your conscience. Um, Councillor Sullivan. Thank you very much, Councillor Sullivan. Anybody else? Thank you, um, just that I, um, agree with Councillor Garda and Councillor Sullivan's, um, comments. And, um, although it's sort of sympathetic to, kind of, the neighbours nearby, I think it was particularly for students living near the Elizabeth Line Station is a great bonus to, to coming to London. Um, just to, to, to sum up, um, I echo a lot of the comments around the room. I think it's very, um, affected by this. Um, I'm, on the other hand, very excited that Woolwich can become a student town again. Um, in my, my, um, professional background, I used to work for the University of Greenwich when it was in Woolwich, and, um, it was so vibrant when there were lots of students about, and, um, a really fantastic economic bonus to the town. Um, I think I'll move to the vote now. Can we have all members in support of the suggestion? Seven chair unanimously in favour. Thank you very much, members. Thank you very much for coming along. That, that application is passed. Okay, I'm going to move to item five now. So, item five is Riverside House, Beresford Street, Woolwich, London SE 18, 6BU. Um, application number 24 stroke 281, 3 stroke F. And that is Matthew. Thank you, Chair. Good evening. The application before you is as described on the slide. I won't repeat it. Um, but I'll, obviously, talk through the main highlights of the scheme. The application is at Riverside House in Woolwich Town Centre, which I'll just show on the slide there outlined in red on the slide on the left. And the blown up view of the existing layout plan on the right. It's on Beresford Street, opposite buildings A in the Royal Arsenal Riverside development. PETA rating of 6A. Not far from the last site we were just looking at. The scheme is to convert, reuse the existing building, um, in two parts. Well, the larger tower section, we'll see in a moment, is to become first built student accommodation for 332 units. 50% will be affordable. Um, that will be a building of currently 13 storeys, sorry, ground plus 13, become ground plus 16 storeys, so an upward extension of 3 storeys. The other part of the building, that's the northern section, sort of the square section, which I'll just indicate there. So that's the student accommodation section. This L-shaped section at the southern part of the site will become 265-bed hotel. That will also be extended vertically to have ground and six storeys above it, so that'll have a two-storey extension above the existing building. The middle section will be demolished to make way for a public space, um, not private, so it will open up the site. So we'll have two separate buildings. Now, just for a bit of context, here's some photographs which are taken from the application's documents, um, illustrating public views as existing of the site. The site's outlined in red. Some different viewpoints there. So along Beresford Street in both directions, views from the conservation area, via Arsenal Riverside site. There's also a view from Powers Street, I believe, which is view 10, the last one, the bottom right-hand corner, where you can see the building. So the building is currently visible from a number of vantage points and will continue to be visible, uh, bear in mind has been made taller. So, more up-close views of the building's existing condition, show you from the public realm side of it, from Beresford Street and across the road to the north, um, drive through the archway leading to the tower. Which is formerly offices currently used as, um, artists' accommodation workshops. And the third slide on the right is the short section of building that will be demolished under the proposal. This shows a bit of context of height of buildings. So the building is outlined in grey, with a dark grey showing the extensions vertically to the two buildings. Um, the buildings, um, beyond it in blue are Royal Arsenal Riverside, which are taller. Um, and it shows the yellow buildings, the consented schemes in another part of the Royal Arsenal site. So with other schemes already there and indeed consented. This plan, the layout shows the demolition of the central area and the creation of the public realm between the two buildings. So both buildings will be accessed from that section. It is the ground, the slope, and so there will be a ramped access up to the student accommodation. And with the hotel, as well as the access to the brown lobby shown there, from that space, it will also be accessible from Bunton Street, where there are three disabled. The, let me see, there. So this scheme shows sort of movement sort of through the wider context area and how, what would be gained through the scheme. So opening up that space between the two buildings means you can move from the river through Royal Arsenal site, through this site, and out into Crescent Street, McBean Street, which links back to Powers Street. So, Woolwich. Now we can all images of the buildings themselves as proposed, so here we are. So building left is the hotel. The one on the right is the tower block for student accommodation and the hotel will have a commercial unit at ground floor fronting onto Beresford Street, which creates an active front and activity. sort of the reverse image, if you like, of the two buildings together. So just add a bit of colour, if you like, and flavour to it. This is the visuals of what they are likely to look like. So the buildings will both be refaced, so the existing structure will remain but reclad, obviously with better quality materials. So we're talking two tones of brickwork on both, complementing each other. Use of metal cladding for the upper floor of the hotel building and indeed for the plant room on the tower room. And they will add features on the buildings as well. And on the tower, there's a section, second bay in from the left. We'll have a motif and a brickwork be laid out in the way of show yard. So just images of how student accommodation would look. So this is the external amenity area they could enjoy from the ground floor of their own semi-private space. And the access entrance to the hotel. So just those typical layouts here for the student building on the left of the ground floor. So all the green colours will be the amenity areas, includes the space and the outdoor garden space on the bottom of that slide. Refuse is that green-blue colour. Cycle storage will be in the basement, accessed via secure lifts with lift lobbies. And so you can access down the L&D through a staircase to get the cycles out. So it's all cycle storage in the basement. There's a small cafe unit proposed for the student building as well. That pink unit there. And above that will be all the floors, mainly typical. The top floor will be slightly different with a communal area and some external terrace as well. But the other slide gives you a feel for the layout of and size of the student rooms. There will be cluster rooms, which are rooms which will have a shared dining living space. And then studio rooms, which are typical storage and a desk. This just demonstrates the mix of that. So it's 50-50 market affordable across both types of rooms. Here's a layout of the hotel. So lobby in the centre. The orange is the restaurant for the hotel. The pink unit is the commercial unit front in Beresford Street. Bin storage and back of house. And cycle storage well provided as well. So that's a more detailed layout of the upper floors. And finally some... Oh, that's the wrong slide. There were some benefits of the scheme summarised as the great improvement to the building, the quality of the building, how it sits in the street. And that's picked up obviously from views from the conservation area, bringing the building back into use for a permanent use, as opposed to the existing transient use for artists. And there will be highways works to Bunton Street and also Beresford Street paving to enhance the pedestrian environment around, making the area more permeable, linking through from, say, the riverside to the town centre. So it will be a more pleasurable experience. There will be a letter of London signage going in as well into Cretton Street. For this youth being in a town centre in such close proximity to bus services and trains. And there we are. Thank you very much. Super. Thank you very much indeed. That's a big fat gnome. Yeah, you might as well. I don't think I do either. Okay. We've got no speakers against. So in that case, I would like to invite the applicant agent, Bob McCurry, Paul Wells and Bob Secker up. Do you want to bring another seat? So thank you very much. You have 10 minutes. Thank you. Good evening, chair and members. Thank you for your time. And I'm here tonight with the applicant, Bob Secker, and scheme architect, Paul Wells. I'm the town planning consultant on the project and the agent. I'm very familiar with this site and the context as I've been the planning consultant on the Royal Arsenal Riverside scheme for the last 20 years. Um, so it's a site that I've, uh, been very familiar with and, uh, been looking at for a long time. Uh, and it was a real pleasure to be involved in this project and, and work with officers, uh, on this proposal. Um, Riverside House is in need of, uh, regeneration. And some of the key benefits here are obviously, uh, a mix of student accommodation with 50% being affordable, um, hotel provision in a highly accessible town centre location supporting young people's educational aspirations as well as the leisure and night time economy for Woolwich. Um, the scheme proposals include the conversion of the existing buildings resulting in a highly sustainable development through the retention of the existing structure and the embodied carbon on the site. Uh, and fundamentally one of the key benefits is the scheme includes the provision of new public realm, landscaping and tree planting, um, along Beresford Street, as well as two new public routes, uh, running through the site, providing improved connections from Woolwich Town Centre through to the Royal Arsenal development. Um, and the Riverside. Um, and your officer, Mr. Broome, has produced a very well written and clear committee report, um, and I'd just like to emphasize that we consider this proposal to be fully compliant with development plan policy. And we work very closely with officers to accommodate all comments and requests during the consideration of the proposals. We're available to answer any questions. Thank you. Thank you very much. That was very concise. Members, any questions for the applicant? Councillor Greenwell. Thank you. Thank you. Um, can I just ask you, you, do you think that, I mean, I'm probably the speaker, you have, you would have gone into this obviously. Um, the hotel, is it, um, Holiday Express Inn? Um, would, would, would you think that he would, you've got the Premier Inn, haven't you? Do you think that there is room sort of for both those hotels together? Um, thank you very much. Um, there's a, there's been a proven demand, um, through various studies, um, from not just Holiday Inn Express, um, IHG being the, the, the main company behind the brand, but lots of other brands who have all shown a lot of interest in the site. Um, there is an under-provision within Woolwich of hotel beds. Um, and. Thank you very much. Councillor Olibami. I'm going to ask a similar question that I asked the, of a developer. And that's around how do you intend to work with the young people that would be in the student's accommodation? Um, how do you intend to work with them? Um, what type of, um, management, um, company would oversee to just make sure things like anti-social behaviour is taken care of, everything is, because what we're seeing at the end of the day, when you look at that picture that we had up, is, and I know that you were sat here earlier, is the number of student units we're going to have in Woolwich Dance Centre. It's not just that, it's also the new accommodation that we're going to have around. That is a lot of people. And, um, I think it's really important, one thing that you would need to consider, how that will be managed. Thank you. Um, the benefit we have with the proposal for the scheme is that we've got two, um, separate operations across the site that will be a scheme. There will be night-time security staff monitoring the scheme. As far as, sort of, health and safety and security of our tenants and, and, uh, visitors to the hotel, the, the, um, the scheme will be fully secured by design compliance. So there will be, um, vast, certainly vast improvements to what's already there, um, with regards movement through the site. Um, but, yeah, I mean, it's a, it's a fully managed operation. We will appoint, uh, a hotel operator, similar to the previous scheme, who will manage, they are, this, that's all they do. They manage, um, uh, purpose-built student accommodation. And there is a management plan in place, um, all of the, the considerations are made in writing and agreed by all stakeholders. So it's, it's, it's very, very well managed. Um, it's not, sort of, left to the students, to their own devices. All of that, that's important. But what's more important is how do we make sure that, uh, wellbeing space, you have wellbeing space there. Uh, the needs, the mental health needs, the physical and mental health needs of students you're going to have there. I think, I'd just like to add, from a, from a planning perspective, there are obviously planning conditions imposed for the submission of what are called, sort of, point away. And think about how we could address that and look at that point. It's not, it's not a detail that's been put forward at this stage. But there's obviously a requirement to submit management plans and operation plans via condition. So we could look to take on board that comment. Thanks. That's very welcomed. Councillor Sullivan. I want to repeat that about the housing market generally. The, um, I, I'm seeking to be, uh, assured that these projects can happen soon, quickly. Um, if committed with, uh, with the IHG or was it? Uh, but secondly, I wanted to ask, uh, you know, it's a very familiar regeneration story and process. With, you know, sort of semi-dural excites being occupied by meantime businesses and so on. And then, you know, creating the student mix and the, you know, visitor mix and so on. It's a very familiar story. But part of that story is the, um, the loss of opportunities for creative businesses that, uh, give you your meanwhile uses. Um, I just wondered if, uh, how long these people who are in there, because I can't remember the actual number must have been, was it 150 or something like that? Creative businesses actually establishing themselves there. How long are they likely to be there? And would there be any assistance on, um, a more strategic relocation of those businesses rather than even possibly in conjunction with the council? But, uh, rather than it seems like an awful lot of positive creative businesses which are part of the regeneration mix. And being lost to what it is not a good thing. But, uh, I hasten to add. I do think that this is a very positive, um, proposal that's here tonight. And, uh, but I do think there is that challenging part of the regeneration story, which I'd like to think we're addressing as well together if possible. Yeah, thank you. Um, uh, to your first point, um, when do we want to be delivering the scheme? We really are targeting to get onto site as quickly as possible. We've gotten, um, two different schemes, um, obviously with the hotel and the residential. The residential will be part of the Building Safety Act, the student. So it will be a slightly longer delivery process because we need to go to the Building Safety Regulator for fire safety. Um, we are looking to get onto site and deliver as quickly as possible. The student element will be delivered last, but we are targeting a 2027 academic year opening. So we are chomping at the bit to get moving as quickly as possible. We have the benefit of site of having an existing building up. So we can continue hopefully with the demolition in advance of the Building Safety Act approval and then crack straight on with, with construction through that point. Um, with regards to the existing tenant, um, the existing tenants been on site since 2021. They are a meanwhile, exclusive meanwhile use tenant. Their, um, business, business model relies on meanwhile use, um, schemes because it enables them to, um, to, um, tenants heavily subsidize rents. Um, we, uh, understand from, uh, the current occupier that they've already secured four new sites to put their existing tenants into. They are in communication with Greenwich for, um, uh, vacant buildings to, to house their tenants. And, um, um, they feel very confident that, um, they'll be able to rehouse the, the tenants that are currently operating, um, from, from the site. So, um, well, I think quite positive for, for, for, for us that they've got hopefully somewhere to move on to. The, the, the, it's a, it's an arts charity called SET. C-E-T? S-E-T. S-E-T. Thank you. Um, Councillor Richard Scottall and then Councillor Greenwell. Um, thank you very much. Um, I think, I think it's good to be reusing an existing structure and existing buildings. Um, I'm interested in your kind of experience of converting kind of, um, existing buildings. If you could say a bit more about that. And also about the, um, public realm improvements, which is a welcome. I think you're making some contribution, contributions to street lighting. If you could say a bit more about how, um, the sort of public realm improvements are tying with, in with public safety, um, sort of visitors, tourists, local residents. Great. Um, just on your second point to start. Um, we have, um, looked at the connection, um, from Cretan street all the way through to power street, um, and come up with a master plan design to, to that link from, from our site through to the high street. Um, that, that has been submitted with the application and we've, um, agreed a contribution, um, as, as part of the, um, section 106. Um, we, we are, um, residential, um, uh, phases of work. So we've got a competent team, competent developer. Um, and we're, we're looking forward to sort of cracking on with that, with the right contractors as quickly as possible. Great. Councillor Craywell. Um, can I just ask you about, um, the access, um, and the exit for, I think it's the same, going to be the same, isn't it? For delivering deliveries and servicing to both the hotel and the students rooms. Is it, um, Bunton street, but also as well, um, am I right in thinking that I've read somewhere that there are three disabled parking bays and really there should be 10 spaces required? And, and how are the bays, the parking bays going to affect vehicles, large vehicles that have to turn round? Yes. Okay. Um, I'll pick up on answering part of that and Paul may want to jump in a little bit. Um, so access, servicing, uh, vehicle sort of access is, is from the, the rear of the site along, um, Cretan street. Um, and you're right. There are three, um, disabled parking bays for the hotel and three disabled parking bays for the student accommodation at ground level. Um, that provision was discussed during, um, pre-application with, with highways officers. Um, looking at what could be accommodated on the site given it, it is in a, a very constrained urban area, but also looking at number of disabled parking spaces that are actually taken up in the local area. Um, and it was felt that this provision would be adequate enough from a, from a disabled parking, um, requirement. Um, in terms of servicing and deliveries, um, the scheme has been designed to allow, um, refuse lorries to be able to turn, um, safely and then come back out of the site. Um, also in terms of, you know, servicing and deliveries that, there will be access rear in, into the site to be able to get to the reception area of the student accommodation. So, nothing will have to come off of Beresford Street, which I think is an important point to make. There is access provided to, to the rear. Um, and, um, I think also there is a requirement to submit delivery servicing, you know, plan. Students arriving, et cetera. The idea is that there would be a plan put in place that would allow some, I mean, it was the same as the previous one, this is very highly sustainable location with public transport that for half an hour or something, pick itself, drop off their stuff and then leave. So, so we are fortunate that there is the ability to provide some vehicle access and servicing. Um, you're welcome. Um, I just wanted to ask a question. Um, very many years ago I worked for the people who owned Riverside House, um, and it was built at a time when, um, uh, I don't think they expected it to last this long. And at, at one point they, they did say it had something called concrete cancer. Uh, obviously you've done all of your, um, assessments. I just wanted to know whether it was safe in your view. Okay, members. Um, I'm opening up for deliberations. Anybody want to say anything? Do kick off. So, um, I'm in support of the application. Um, but I'm glad straight away that, um, the developers, um, have agreed to go back and consider some of the things. Yes? No? Okay. Um, just to make sure that, um, pastoral care will be offered to students. It's quite a large number. And I think, um, it will be really important that that should be considered by the developers. And also, um, I'm not sure if it's there already, um, things around managing, I don't want to use the word antisocial behaviour, but just, you know, housing management, recognising the fact that, um, we have quite a high concentration of young people who might be very exoperant. Thank you. I think just on the condition issue, um, you would probably expect pastoral care to be picked up by the actual provider of the student accommodation. So, it probably goes further, really, than we need to in a planning condition. There is a planning condition about an operation management plan, but it doesn't go down to that fine grain detail. So, I think it's, um, something that can probably be left out at this stage. We wouldn't make the tests. But I understand what you're trying to do. Um, I also mentioned about the wellbeing space. I know, um, what we're seeing is more external. We're not giving any pictures of what it would look like inside. Um, are there going to be jeans? Are there going to be things? Are there going to be things? I, I know, and I, this is just a question to know what exactly will be offered to the student. I don't know if that's captured there as well, but I'd just like to know. Because I know that when we, um, this is not with this developer now. When we had, um, another developer about the co-working space, we saw pictures of what it would look like and what that would mean for the tenants. But we've not been availed of anything like that. So, are you asking to see this before you want to go to the vote? I'm not going to go to the vote because you said it is there. So, I'll just see that. Thank you. The Sullivan. I appreciated the, a few weeks back. I think I might have, uh, said so at the time. But, um, I did welcome the, the scheme. And I think it was, it's very hard to find anything not to like. Anybody else? No, just, I am there in favor of the scheme as well. Thank you. Thank you very much, Councillor. Um, I would like to say that, uh, I also am very supportive of the scheme. I'm super excited that we're going to have some street level, um, retail space, um, on the ground floor. Um, I am excited about seeing more and more students in Woolwich and their economic impact on the town centre. I think it will give some more vibrance and, and lively atmosphere. Um, it sounds to me like all the controls and checks and balances are in place to manage any, um, behavioral issues, which I'm sure there won't be. And there are lots of lovely things, um, like Woolwich works and the tram shed for students to enjoy. Um, and I'd like to move to the vote, please. All those in favor. Mm. Verse 7 Speaker. Have we arrived! New developments? New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New W Ai-Mhan! New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New. My maths has gone out the window. Sixth chair, unanimously. So the application is passed. Thank you very much. I'm closing the meeting formally now.