Agenda item

To consider a report by the Chief Planning Officer which sets out details of an application which seeks Planning Approval and Listed Building Consent for

alterations, including a rooftop extension, and a change of use, to provide 83 residential apartments with retention of the ground floor for office use, at 2 Great George Street, Leeds, LS2 8B.

(Report attached)

The Chief Planning Officer submitted a report in relation to a planning application 21/01869/FU and listed building consent application 21/01870/LI for alterations, including a rooftop extension, and change of use, to provide 83 residential apartments with retention of the ground floor for office use, at 2 Great George Street, Leeds, LS2 8B.

Members had visited the site earlier in the day, photographs and slides were shown during the presentation.

Members were provided with the following information:

·  The site was a former Victorian school but in recent years had been used as Council offices. The building and its wrought iron railings are Grade II Listed.

·  This scheme is separate to proposals for Leonardo and Thoresby Buildings which Members of City Plans Panel had considered and approved on 8th July 2021.

·  Since the publishing of the report, Historic England had submitted another representation. It was noted that this was the same as the previous one submitted and which has been detailed in the report.

·  The proposals included regeneration and extension of the Grade II Listed building. The proposals included office space at ground level, with cycle storage, with residential dwellings at levels 1 to 7. A resident’s gym would be sited at basement level as well as the plant room. It was noted that bins would be screened by fretwork.

·  The Listed No.2 Great George Street would be altered internally with the addition of mezzanine floors to add extra space for the creation of new residential dwellings. The existing 20th century entrance would be removed and a new entrance to the west face of the building would be created. A new 3 storey glazed extension would be added to the roof top of the building for further residential accommodation and a communal roof amenity area.

·  83 residential units are proposed of the following types:

o  34 one bedroomed units

o  43 two bedroomed units

o  6 three bedroomed units

·  It was noted that 3 of the units would be affordable units.

·  The proposal would also create external publicly accessible landscaped space, that would serve as a north-south connection, with seating and planters to the western side of the building. To the east a further landscaped area is to be created for use by the office occupiers in the lightwell fronting Woodhouse Lane.

·  It is proposed that the entrance onto Woodhouse Lane would become a secondary entrance for residents.

·  Existing lifts would be refurbished.

·  A financial viability review had been undertaken and was appended to the submitted report. The District Valuer, Brian Maguire was present at the meeting to answer any questions.

In response to questions from Members, the Plans Panel was informed of the following points:

·  Members were advised of the ‘Vacant Building Credits’ which encourages developers to use such sites as No. 2 Great George Street. It was acknowledged that without the rooftop extension the proposed application would not be financially viable and there would not be any affordable units.

·  In relation to the proposed housing mix, the Panel were advised that there was a demand for smaller units in the city centre.

·  The building is located in a busy area of the city close to roads and footpaths. Therefore, it was the view of the developers that to mitigate noise the ground floor would be better suited to office space rather than residential units.

·  Members requested that the developers and officers discuss the glass rooftop extension, in relation to lessening the distinct dark line edging to parts of the extension.

Members comments included:

·  The proposal was better than the previous one.

·  Mezzanine floors in Victorian School buildings can look good if done well.

·  Mezzanine floors can be difficult to heat. It was noted that at 10.43 of the submitted report it was proposed to link the building to the District Heating System.

·  The Panel acknowledged the comments provided by Historic England and the Civic Trust but recognised that to bring the building back into use there was the need to have a rooftop extension and the mezzanine floor insertions.

·  The Panel were pleased that the entrance on to Woodhouse Lane would be used as a secondary entrance as this had not been possible whilst in use for offices due to accessibility issues.

·  Members were advised that as part of the conditions the brick and pilasters would be cleaned.

·  Members requested original features such as the glazed brick and iron works were retained.

·  Green space should be meaningful and well maintained. It was noted that the developers were in discussion with the developers of the other scheme to join the green space areas for better use.

It was acknowledged that details of the glass rooftop extension need to be lightweight but that it need to be right.

In relation to affordable housing, it was recognised that the number of affordable units was low, however it was policy compliant.

RESOLVED – To defer and delegate to the Chief Planning Officer as set out in the submitted report.