Agenda item

To consider a report of the Chief Planning Officer on an application for alterations and addition of new fourth and fifth floors to offices

(report attached)

Plans, photographs, graphics and drawings were displayed at the meeting.  A site visit had taken place earlier in the day which some Members had attended

Officers presented the report and showed previous proposals for the site which was situated in close proximity to the city centre conservation area and for other sites in the immediate vicinity.  These included a scheme which had been granted on appeal further to the south and the most recent, unimplemented permission for the site which would have seen the demolition of the existing building

The current proposals saw the retention of the existing offices which were built in 1983 with the provision of two extra floors of accommodation in a modern design which would be constructed in metal and glazing with curved ends providing a lozenge form; a glazed vertical panel would extend from the ground floor to the new fifth floor.  A condition requiring a large sample panel of facing and surfacing materials was to be included

Car parking for 16 cars, including one disabled parking space would be provided together with motorbike and cycle parking.  An electric car charging point would also be provided

An area of land to the side of the building which was currently unkempt and littered would be replaced by high quality landscaping and the provision of new trees

Members commented on the following matters:

·  that the proposals did not relate to any buildings in the area and that the architectural thinking behind the scheme could not be understood

·  that the proposals were overdominant; the design was inappropriate and too brutal in this location

·  that the design of the extension improved the building and created a sense of moving forward historically

·  concerns about the overhang of the extension on one side of the building and that the ends of the extension were curved

·  the possibility of viewing any of the other solutions considered by Officers

·  the number of ‘To Let’ boards which dominated that area; that these masked many of the interesting buildings and that A3 boards sited flush to the building should be considered as this approach had worked in Headingley.  The Chair asked that this be referred to the appropriate officers within the Council for consideration

Officers provided the following responses:

·  that there had always been an intention for two additional storeys on the building and that pre-application discussions had taken place on the form these should take.  A hand-out showing a range of options considered at the pre-application stage was circulated for Members’ information

·  the Council’s Architect and Urban Designer, Mr Varley, accepted that the design of the extension was eccentric but that it would not work if the ends were squared off and were aligned with the edge of the building

Panel considered how to proceed.  The Head of Planning Services

referred to the previous scheme which had been accepted on this site, noting that this had been for a larger scheme and the previous appeal allowed for a modern intervention on Queen Street and asked Members to have regard to these matters when reaching a decision

RESOLVED – To agree the application in principle and to defer and

delegate final approval to the Chief Planning Officer subject to the conditions set out in the submitted report (and any others which he might consider appropriate) and the completion of a Section 106 Agreement to include the following obligations:

-  travel plan and monitoring fee £3120

-  management and accessibility to public areas

-  employment and training initiatives and

-  management fee

In the circumstances where the Section 106 Agreement has not been

completed within 3 months of the resolution to grant planning permission, the final determination of the application shall be delegated to the Chief Planning Officer