Agenda item

To consider a report of the Chief Planning Officer for an application for an extension of time for 25/96/OT for mixed development comprising residential, offices, leisure, hotel, retail, bar/restaurants, access, site remediation, bridge works, river works, car parking and landscaping.

(report attached)

  Further to minute 150 of the Plans Panel West meeting held on 25^th May 2011 when Members considered a position statement on an application for an extension of time for the outline approval of a major mixed-use development at Kirkstall Forge, the Panel considered the formal application.  Appended to the report were copies of the previous reports considered by Panel on 26^th January 2006 and 20^th April 2006

  Plans and graphics were displayed at the meeting

  Officers presented the report which sought an extension of time of 15 years for the submission of reserved matters, amendments to some of the original conditions as set out section 10 of the submitted report and an amendments to the S106 Agreement to provide additional funding for the train station; the development being predicated on the delivery of a new railway station on adjoining land

  Members were informed that the provision of a railway station to serve the site was being considered by the Department for Transport (DfT) but that due to the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, no decision had yet been reached on this.  Local MPs had been lobbying for the station and Metro were to contribute a further £1.3m towards this, with the developer matching this funding.    Officers stated that allowing for an additional £1.3 million funding for the train station as part of a revised S106 (on top of Metro’s additional £1.3 million) would offer the DfT certainty over the increased proportion of local funding.   The final decision on a railway station at Kirkstall was expected from the DfT in December 2011

  To off-set the increased funding for the railway station, a reduction in the level of other planning contributions, which included affordable housing, would be necessary.  Recession proof clauses would apply for the reassessment of viability and that a revised capped contribution of £9.9m (minimum) to £13m (maximum) would be provided as planning contributions, with Members being informed that it would be for Panel and Ward Members to consider how the final sum would be spent

  The mix of proposed uses shown on the original illustrative layout were not viable in the current climate and a revised mix would be brought to Panel as part of Reserved Matters applications

  Officers sought amendments to the recommendation before Panel requiring the deletion of the reference to Horsforth roundabout in relation to off-site highway works, the option of the alternative provision of up to 50 dwellings on site in phase 1 and a condition requiring the submission of an updated otter survey.  Officers explained further that section 106 monies, other than for the railway station, would come well into the construction phase and that to maintain flexibility at this stage it was more sensible to refer to off site highway works rather than be specific as the need for works would depend on the situation at the time

  The Panel heard representations from Councillor Illingworth as a Ward Member for Kirkstall Ward and from the developer who attended the meeting

  Members discussed the application and commented on the following matters:

·  the importance of a railway station to the scheme

·  the length of time discussions had been ongoing on the site, with concerns that Panel Members may not be fully aware of the current situation, particularly the proposed mix of uses for the site, due to the passage of time

·  that the experience of the Chair as a Ward Member for Bramley and Stanningley was that liaison, communication and consultation with the developer had been good

RESOLVED -  To defer and delegate approval to the Chief

Planning Officer subject to the same conditions as planning permission 24/96/05/OT (with the exception of revisions to conditions 11, 12 and 14 and deletion of condition 13 as set out in the submitted report), an additional condition requiring an updated otter survey and a variation to the original Section 106 Agreement to include:

-  recession proof clauses for reassessment of viability

-  a revised capped contribution of minimum £9,973,071 and maximum of £13,009,606 (index linked) towards the train station, affordable housing, primary and secondary education, off-site highway works, footpath/cycleway links to Kirkstall Abbey and the canal towpath, Travel Plan monitoring and community benefits

-  commitment to phase 1 (comprising road/bridge infrastructure to serve the train station and either 100,000 sq ft of office and 10,000 sq ft of supporting retail or temporary car park to serve station or up to 50 residential dwellings on site) within the life of the original outline

-  revisions to the original triggers for payment of the commuted sums to allow for early funding of the train station and commercial development in the first phase