Transcript

Good evening and welcome to the Development Committee meeting. My name is Councillor Edbal Hussain and I will be chairing this meeting. This meeting is held in person, committee members and key participants present in this meeting room. Only the committee members present in the meeting room will be able to vote. Other person may be also attending remotely, committee members and others who have chosen to attend remotely have been advised by the committee of vista that should technical difficulty prevent their full participation in the meeting, it may proceed in their absence if I feel it is necessary. I will ask everyone to introduce themselves shortly, but before I do this, I would like to briefly confirm the protocol for addressing the meeting, including the virtual meeting procedure. Participants must address the meeting through myself as the chair. If you are participating online and if you experience any technical difficulties, you must contact the Democratic Service Office as soon as possible via email. However, officers may not be able to respond to all such requests. You should keep your microphone and camera switched off at all other times, except when you are speaking. Please do not use the meeting chart facilities. Any information added to the chart facility will be discarded. If you experience any technical difficulties, you must contact either myself or the Democratic Service Officers as soon as possible. I will now ask the committee members present to introduce themselves. Please, can you also state any declaration of interest that you may have in the agenda item and the nature of the interest? Can I ask from my right, please? Thank you. Good evening, everyone. My name is Councillor Gulam Kibriyad Chaudhuri, popular word. Nothing to declare. Good evening, everyone. Councillor Amin Rahman, but from Green West, nothing to declare. Thank you. Good evening. I'm the feeder-busting Councillor for Island Gardens. I'm nothing to declare. Good evening. Mohammed Chaudhuri, Councillor Myland. Nothing to declare. Thank you, members. Now, apologies. Thomas, have we received any apologies or absences? Good evening, Chair. I confirm that we have only one apology, Councillor Ahmed, who sadly has had apologies, and Councillor Chaudhuri will be stepping in as a substitute. And just to remind people that we have surveys that you can fill in at the end of the meeting if any issues you wish to raise. Thanks, Paul. Thanks, Paul. I have introduced myself, but I also need to declare. I have nothing to declare in relation to this agenda, other than I have visited the site with a planning officer. Thank you. As an item to the minutes from the previous meeting, can we approve the minutes of 3 October and 28 November 22 to 24 meetings, please? Yes. Yes, member? Thank you. As an item 3, the recommendation and procedure for hearing objections and meeting guidance, I will now ask Paul Pakenham, Head of Development Management, Planning and Building Control, to present the guidance, please. Over to Paul. Thank you very much, Chair. Good evening, members and members of the public and officers and those who are joining us in the chamber or online this evening. So, this item on the agenda just sets out the standing advice for determining planning applications, including the legal advice that decisions must be made in accordance with the relevant development plan policies and material considerations. A process for considering reports with recommendations and the procedure for public speaking will go as follows. So, I will introduce the item with a brief description of the application and a summary of the recommendation and then officers will present the report. Normally, Chair would then hear from any registered speakers, but I understand there is no one registered this evening, so I will sort of skip out of the process. And then, so following the officer presentation, then the committee can ask points for clarification of officers, including any further planning or legal advice. And then the committee will consider the recommendation, including any further debate, and then we'll reach a decision based on a majority vote, and I'll confirm that back to everybody in the meeting. If the committee propose any changes to certain aspects of the officer recommendation, for example, to add or delete or amend planning conditions or obligations, then the task of formalising those changes can be delegated to the Corporate Director of Housing and Regeneration. Is the committee proposed to make a decision that would appear to go against the provisions of the development plan, or if it could have legal implications, then the item may be deferred for a further report to deal with those matters. Chair, there is an update report that's been published this evening, which just has some clarifications on there. Thank you, Paul, for providing guidance and protocols. We have no deferred item for tonight. As in item five, the planning application for decision. We have one application tonight to consider, which is good news, and good to see so many of you at the back. We are delighted to see you at the back. As in item five, one, the planning application for one to ten bishop square, London E1, 6DU, pages 25 to 96 numbers. And I now invite, to introduce the planning application, I will invite now, I will now invite Katrina Chang. Katrina? Katrina Chang. Katrina Chang. Shall I introduce the item first? Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Chair. I'll introduce the item first, and then once we've done that, if you're happy, Chair, we can hand over to Ms. Chang to present. So, the planning application, as the Chair said, is affecting a site of one to ten bishop square, and the application proposes alterations, including some demolition and some vertical extensions, including drinking establishments, hot food takeaways, a community hub, affordable workspace, cycle parking, servicing, refuse and plant areas, public realm improvements, and other associated works incidental to the development. And the recommendation to your committee this evening is to grant planning permission subject to, excuse me, conditions and obligations set out in the report. Chair, just in terms of the update report, just a couple of matters to cover. So, firstly, this is an application that had an environmental impact assessment accompanying it. When we have an EIA, we have an external consultancy that does a review for us. They identified a few clarifications, and that information has been submitted. They have reviewed that, and they're quite comfortable. They deal with all the outstanding issues. But the regulations do require that we carry out a further round of consultation, not on the application itself, just on the environmental statements. So, what we were proposing is that that consultation, sorry, will finish after this committee. However, if there are any further material considerations that do come up that affect anything that you've decided this evening, obviously, we bring that back, it's quite rare that that would happen, and given that our external consultancy temple have had a look at that, then we're relatively confident that that's quite a low risk. The update report also confirms just the wider package of public benefits associated with the affordable workspace and with the community hub. So, they're all in the report and will be part of the presentation. And finally, our error, we, as you know, you're allowed to take account of the proposed community infrastructure levy liability for the scheme. And that wasn't in the main report. So, in the update report, it just clarifies that the estimated sill coming to Tower Hamlets would be circa 1.9. But again, that's in the office of presentation, so you'll be able to see that in the round. So, that's all I have. Thank you, Chair. Thank you for all. A point of clarification from you. So, if turn arise, how do you deal with it? That's right, Chair. So, if following the expiration of that consultation, statutory consultation period on, at the end of February, 28th of February, then if there is anything arising either from any statutory consultees or we feel we can't deal with under delegated powers, obviously, we would bring it back. But that's not a consultation on the application. It's just some additional environmental information that was submitted to the Council following the initial consultation. Thanks, Paul. Thanks for the clarification. And I would like, I will now invite Katrina Chang to, the planning case officer, to present the application. And may I take the opportunity to thank you, Katrina, and Simon, for your time yesterday to take me to the site, showing me the site. Can you move us closer to my son? Is that better? Yeah. So, the application is at a high level for additional office floor space and commercial floor space through the provision of, by actually, exactly 8.35 metres, along with the provision of affordable workspace and the community hub. So, here is an introduction of the site. You can see our site outlined in red in an aerial view. So, just to note that whilst this is captured within the site boundary, there are no development works within that area of Bishop Square. So, our assessment in our report has outlined and provided common list at a 50% rent reduction for the lifetime on the development. So, similarly, even though we have the indicative layouts here, we are looking at securing the full provision. And, as Paul mentioned earlier in the update report, there is a larger package of agreements for affordable workspace and the community hub. So, members can also turn to that from further information and also, in addition to those commitments, I just wanted to highlight that we have also agreed with the applicant the first right of refusal for management operation on the community hub. So, the terms of this agreement will be set out in the lease draft by the applicant, come at a later stage. And, actually, reach Lamb Street and Brushfield Street. You have to walk all the way around, basically, to get to either end of the building. So, the new route introduces an additional pedestrian passage, which will provide access to the commercial units, while also providing connectivity to the new affordable workspace and community hub within that space. And, it creates a better connection between... So, to present the design and appearance of the building, as well as impact on the surrounding historic context, I will share a few townscape visualisations in the next slides. Oh, thank you, pass it out, at the lower end of the spectrum. But, in accordance with the MPPF, whilst there is, where there is, less than substantial harm to the significance of a designated heritage asset, this harm must be weighed against the public's neighbouring amenity. Here is a massing map from the daylight and sunlight and overshadowing assessment undertaken by the applicant. So, the overall assessment that has been carried out, in accordance with BRE guidelines, considers that the potential impacts to the surrounding properties are nearly all cycle parking spaces within this basement area. And, these, again, will just be available for office tenants, and they will also be provided with a shower and locker facility, while making the necessary extensions and reconfiguration to improve the quality of office accommodation. This approach is supported from a circular economy perspective, and we are also planning to put a condition in that requires a shower and ensure the building remains letable post-2030, and provide employment space for around 5,550 full-time equivalent jobs. Setting out first, in the MPPF, paragraph 2, 212, it states that when considering the impact of a proposed development on the significance of a designated heritage asset, great weight should be given to the asset's conservation. And, the more important the asset, the greater the weight should be given knowledge that the lessons of potential harm is identified. Sorry. In line with this, we've acknowledged the lessons of potential harm identified by the conservation officer. However, it's important to highlight that, as per the MPPF, the conservation of the heritage asset should also carry great weight. In this case, the heritage asset... Thank you, Chair, and thank you for your presentation and your report as well. When I read your report, I didn't actually have any questions, but your presentation has raised a few, so thank you. The first one, I suppose, was to do with the supplementary paper on the EIA, and I was just a little bit confused as to what was coming out of the assessment. Is there anything in that assessment that we need to be as a committee? No, so when we did the, when we, as Paul said, as we've employed Temple to review it, there was some concerns that were raised principally around noise. So the applicant provided additional information, our EIA consultants, alongside our internal EIA officer, reviewed that. It's satisfied that those concerns, if you like, the substance of those concerns have now fallen away in the professional opinion of both our EIA officer and our EIA consultants. But under the EIA regulations, there's a necessity to consult publicly on those, if you like, the public have the opportunity to reach their own opinion on them. So that consultation has begun, but as Paul said, that hasn't completed. So it's that consultation exercise that takes place. Our noise team has satisfied it. Our EIA officer is satisfied with the impacts and our consultants. So it's just, if you like, of the decision maker tonight, then we would, we'll bring back the scheme to committee. But I think, yeah, it's a very slim prospect that that would happen, frankly. But we keep our sponsors today to be surprising, shall we say. No, that's really helpful. Thank you. The other question I had was around the cycle hub and the location of it, which surprised me, to be honest, as to where it was. And just what kind of assessment had been done as to the need for a cycle hub in that location. So, the scheme, sorry, can you hear? So we have private cycle parking provided for the office users. And it was part of development that to further enhance the public benefits package, to provide a short-stay cycle hub, which is publicly accessible. And this would be, and it would just help alleviate any potential cycle parking through the site. We do have the Santander parking around us, not too far. But I think, given the increase in the office floor space, potential additional and other neighbouring office buildings as well. Yeah, I mean, if I come in, I mean, obviously, the old Spitfields market attracts a lot of people for the pop-up food and so forth. And then there's a large visitor, a lot of visitors come to the area more generally, tourists and local people. As a cyclist myself, I quite often go there. And again, when these consents, a lot of these consents were originally consented, the kind of the short-stay cycle parking, as we craft it, was fairly limited. And then with my old bike, I'm not too nervous about leaving it on the street. But people who've got a more accomplished bike are more concerned that they'll get stolen. So this opportunity to take it in, fully monitored, will obviously be a comfort for those who've got sparklier bikes than myself. And also just wanted to add, we do have a policy requesting short-stay cycle parking. And usually that's in the form of Sheffield stands, which are on the street. That has additional clutter. It reduces, you know, the space pedestrians can walk on. So being able to get into a basement provision would free up pedestrian routes. And I think that's probably... Yeah, I guess from my perspective, I'm coming at this from... Obviously, there's, as you've described, there is some harm there. And we need to weigh that up against the public benefit. And one part of the benefit is this cycle hub. But I just, I don't get a sense of how much demand there is at the moment for part of a cycle parking in that area. So that's, I guess, what I was trying to get at. But I appreciate that, you know, there are policies around that as well. May I continue? Yeah, I've got some more, two more questions. Sorry? Yeah, is that okay? Yeah. Thank you. So my next question was about the affordable workspace. And just with the layout that you showed in your presentation, is that, that suggests to me that some kind of like hot desking type, we work kind of scheme. Is that the intention of it? Or is that just for... It's currently just indicative, so that's what the applicant has put forward. That could be an arrangement of the affordable workspace. But we do have the details still to be secured in our Section 106 agreement. And within that, we're looking at prioritising the space for local community groups. And how that would be written in would be our next step. But this is not the final layout. So whilst it could look like a wee workspace, which I think is quite widely known kind of arrangement for a whole workspace, it's not what we would be tied down to. But this is just to help you place. It's very spacious use. You can divide it into various zones, potentially. But that's just, at this point, indicative. Thank you. And then, finally, just on the community hub and the public toilets, who will be responsible for managing those and operating them? So, again, the community hub will be managed by Spitalfields Estate. But, again, we will be securing a package with our section 11, saying that to be for a community usage. And in terms of the public toilets question, again, there is an existing public toilet within Old Spitalfields Market, and that's publicly accessible. Thank you. Thank you for your presentation. Just a quick question on how long would the development take and what sort of effect it will have on the... Could I come back to you? I will look at the statement. We do have this information. Yeah, so one important thing to note is the way the whole application is sort of predicated is on the existing office is occupied, and the lease for that ends in 2027. So they want to use that opportunity when the existing occupier moves out to commence the work. So in the first instance, the work isn't going to commence until 2027 would be the most likely start date. And all the details with respect to the impact on the local area, obviously there will be impact on the local area. There's a market there at present, and there is part, I guess, I don't know if you can picture how Spitalfields Market works, but there will be traders that are in close proximity to where development works will be placed. And so the Spitalfields and the developers are putting together a package to consider how those traders will be impact works, but it shouldn't impact all of the traders. With respect to roads around the site, I don't think we quite have that level of detail, but it's always subject to a construction management plan. Councillor Childry. The plan said you'll cancel 80 parking spaces, including some disabled spaces as well. How that is beneficial for the local resident and for the traders? Was there any impact assessment or something being carried out? So the existing car parking spaces are actually only private, only for use of the office development, so they're not publicly accessible. So the loss of them looking at a car-free development, we're securing that, so they wouldn't be looking at future users driving to the development. The loss of the car parking space hasn't been considered an issue with our highways team, nor TFL, and that move to converting them to long-stay cycle is supported in terms of promoting sustainable transport. But again, accessible parking bays for residents. You touched on the blue badge bays as well. They are staying. There will still be blue badge bays in the car park, so we're not losing those. Councillor Childry. Thank you, Chair. Thank you for your nice presentation. It takes nearly half an hour. Good. Thank you. My first question is, in relation to publicity and engagement, is good, 259 letters were sent to nearby occupier or resident. Amongst them, how many were returned from 259, the first one? And the second one is, in relation to neighbouring immunity, is church is very near to this development. Did they receive any representation from church, either positive or negative? Or did they get any concern from church, either positive or negative? Thank you. Thank you. So, in terms of when you say returned, do you mean as in failed to deliver or returned as in objections received? 259 letters were sent to neighbouring. Yes, 259 letters were sent. Yes. But my question is, how many letters were returned? Six. Six. Six. Only six. Yeah. No, I think what he means is when you... As in fail to deliver post. Yeah. None were highlighted to me, so I've not seen any fail to post. Before I go to Councillor Rahman, can I ask a question? Of course. Councillor Rahman, thank you. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Understandably, there will be some impact on the existing market traders. So, how the applicant have mitigated the possible impact on the market traders during the construction period? Thank you, Chair. Could you please introduce yourself? Thank you. Hi, my name is Jason Dervin. I'm the Spitalfields Estate Director. I've been responsible for managing the site there for over 20 years on them. The intention is to keep the traders market open throughout the development phase. Of course, there may be elements when we come to replace the cannon. The intention is to relocate elsewhere on the site. It's a very large site. And if there's any time where we have to actually close any elements of the market... Mr Rahman? Yes. Thank you very much. It's regarding the community hub. Is it possible that... We've agreed that in principle. It was only agreed very recently. So, that's why it's not well today, actually. Only indeed, after the publication of the update report. So, that's why... Does that mean the Council will be given the full ownership and management on that community hub? Thank you, Councillor Rahman. Can I ask Paul to extend... Yeah. ...on this one, please? You answer. Thank you. Yeah. So, the way we anticipate it would work and the way we've sort of done it with a similar arrangement would be some leasehold arrangement. Because, obviously, it's set within a building. But that's the way we've done it previously on previous 106 agreements. It's quite a successful model, if a way of doing this within legal agreements. Yes, if it helps, Councillor Robin. I've recently drafted a very similar provision, because it's quite a new thing for the Council. And so, I imagine... Obviously, I can't confirm, because I haven't... It's so hot off the press, this. But I imagine that it... Are there recent negotiations? I'm not aware of any freeholds, but that's more because the floor space, if you like, it's integral, isn't it, into the building. So, I think it would be very difficult. So, a long lease would be the best you would get with this kind of space. Sorry, yeah. I'm just jumping in on the legalities. Yeah, that's fine. Because this is, as I understand it, this is on top of the building, so it's impossible to... It's a long leasehold. Yeah. Thank you, Councillor Rahman, for your patience. Sorry. That's fine. When you see long lease, can you achieve... Thank you, Councillor. Councillor Bustin, you raised this question first, who's going to manage this? So, we believe the Council is the right authority to make it possible. What's the longest term we can achieve is the indication you can give us, or the applicant, if you can give us the longest term, the Council can secure it. Therefore, one second. Councillor Rahman. So, I was going to say forever. I think that's the freehold forever. Could I just, sorry, could I just clarify? We have... The current owners of the estate don't own the freehold. The freehold is owned by the City of London, the Corporation of London. So, it's out of control. It's fine, we get the answer from our legal officer. So, all I can say is what we've managed to achieve on another 106 agreement, which is, all being well, which is West Ferry Print Works. And so, that is the first one that I know of that has got the kind of full community hub provisions. Because, as I say, it's relatively new. And that was 999-year lease, which is... So, effectively, effectively, that is ownership. Can you have, if possible, can I have the same assurance from the applicant present, please? Do you want to come for a while? Please introduce yourself. Sorry, I'm Alistair Buckle. I'm the agent for the application. Yeah, this has been discussed earlier this evening, very recently, and what we've agreed is the first right refusal approach. I think, in terms of what the actual terms of the council operating space would be, I think that would be something that we would need to take away with officers. For your explanation and assurance. So, do you, a member, have final thoughts about the development? Would you like to share your final thoughts about it? I'm happy to start the debate, if you like. So, I thought it was a very good presentation. I'm not sure whether I agree with the weight of all of the public benefits, if I'm going to be quite honest. I did roll my eyes at the idea that a cut through of Porter's Row was a significant public benefit. I wasn't sure whether that, actually, the amount of time it saves from walking around the building was enough of a benefit, to be honest with you. So, that said, I can't see any other reason to refuse, so I'm likely to support the officer's recommendation to grant permission. Thank you, Councillor Bastien, for your final thoughts. Councillor Chouky? Yeah, thank you for the application. It makes sense, you know, and everything that... A route cut is a pedestrian route or a public route, which will access, enhance access for the public to the market. So, it's good development, and in terms of image and environmental impact, it will be Class A, I think, for the completion. So, it's a good application, and I think members already indicated that we're going to support it. I would like now Paul and Osti to share your final advice before you move on to Porter, please. Thank you, Chair, and thank you, members, for your consideration this evening. I think, really, just to sum up, I don't really want to say too much. We've had, obviously, a detailed presentation, but I think I would just sum up by saying, I think, you know, we're pleased to commend the scheme, because I think it is well-designed, and you said, Chair. It's a really tricky site in terms of heritage, and I think the team and the architects have worked really closely with officers to shape the scheme in a way that doesn't have those severe detrimental impacts. There is some harm, but we think that's outweighed by the public benefits. And, yes, hear your thoughts as well on, well, your requests on the community hub. But I think in terms of the lease, I mean, that would be essentially sort of a more of a private matter between the operator – sorry, the owner and the council, but we will work very closely with them to achieve something that gives us that certainty and that stability, which I think is what members are looking for. And I think that's – yeah, that's probably – thank you, Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. I don't think I've got anything else to add to what Paul said, so. Thank you. Can I see all those in favour of the application, please? I don't have to ask any questions, who is there against? So, could – Oh, okay. Is there any abstention? Paul, could you please inform – Oh, sorry, I'm just a forehand, sorry. Oh, right. It's poor, yes. I've seen it, Paul. Paul, could you please confirm the committee decision? Thank you, Chair. So, the committee has voted unanimously to grant plan for the redevelopment of Numbers 1 to 10, Bishop Square, as set out in the application details in Item 5.1 of the agenda and also. Thank you. I see relevant to ask a question, who is against, because this has been accepted, voted in favour anonymously. Thank you for your time, everyone, the officers, and our guest here, the applicant, and all those people, thank you, for your presence, and the members, online, and the public, thank you for your time. With that, we conclude the business for this meeting. The next meeting will take place on Thursday, 27th of March, 2025. Thank you all for your time. Thank you, Chair. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much.