Agenda and minutes

At this point, members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare, at this point in the meeting, any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

Councillor Boyce declared a personal prejudicial interest in relation to Plans item 4a (Holgate Villa, 22 Holgate Road, York YO24 4AB) as her employers occupied part of Holgate Villa and she withdrew from the meeting and took no part in the discussion or voting thereon.

Councillor D’Agorne declared a personal prejudicial interest in relation to Plans item 4a (Holgate Villa, 22 Holgate Road, York YO24 4AB) as the York Green Party Office occupied part of Holgate Villa and he withdrew from the meeting and took no part in the discussion or voting thereon.

Councillor Merrett declared a personal non prejudicial interest in relation to Plans item 4a (Holgate Villa, 22 Holgate Road, York YO24 4AB) and the reference to the adjacent cycle route as an Honorary Member of the CTC.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Planning Committee held on 24 March 2011.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 24 March 2011 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

It is at this point in the meeting that members of the public who have registered their wish to speak can do so. The deadline for registering is by 5.00pm on Tuesday 14 June 2011. Members of the public can speak on specific planning applications or on other agenda items or matters within the remit of the committee.

To register please contact the Democracy Officer for the meeting, on the details at the foot of this agenda.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This item invites Members to determine the following planning application:

Members considered the report of the Assistant Director (Planning and Sustainable Development) relating to the following planning application, outlining the proposals and relevant planning considerations and setting out the views of the consultees and officers.

Erection of part 3 part 4 storey hotel with associated parking and landscaping following demolition of existing office building [Micklegate Ward] [Site Visit]

Members considered a major full application, received from The Villas Venture, for the erection of a part 3 and part 4 storey hotel with associated parking and landscaping following demolition of the existing office building.

Officers circulated an update at the meeting, which set out the following (the full update is attached to the agenda for this meeting):

• Confirmation that revised plans had been received which clarified material and delivery details and drawings showing that vehicles could turn and leave the site in a forward gear.
• Objections received from the Micklegate Planning Panel in respect of traffic management, building massing, community safety and lack of community involvement/consultation.
• Additional Conditions relating to construction of roads and footpaths, removal of redundant crossing, carriageway and footway widening and a method of works statement.
• Highways revised comments confirming that the hotel use would lead to a reduction in traffic generated by the site and that the hotel would not be eligible for on street parking permits. Also confirmation that Lowther Terrace would be widened to 4.1m (confirmed as 4.5m at the meeting) to accommodate two way traffic.
• Amendment to Condition 7 requesting large scale details and Condition 10 requiring coverage of the cycle store.
• Comments of the Environmental Protection Unit suggesting additional conditions regarding vehicle delivery hours, limiting noise levels in bedrooms and land contamination.
• Photomontages of the development as seen from Holgate Road/Lowther Terrace.
• Extract from the minutes of the Micklegate Ward Committee meeting held on 9 June 2011, when consideration had been given to the planning application.

Representations were received from the Chair of CAMLOW Residents’ Association expressing concerns at possible traffic levels in relation to the proposed development. She pointed out that there would be an increase in vehicles accessing the site via Lowther Terrace and that the parking arrangements were inadequate resulting in pressure on residents parking in the vicinity. Concerns were also expressed regarding delivery vehicles and to the proposed increase in road width causing safety issues for children and vulnerable tenants.

A local resident went onto make representations at the lack of consultation in relation to the application. She also referred to safety concerns that arose from the proposal to amend traffic on Lowther Terrace to two way. Other concerns related to light pollution, problems arising from the demolition of the existing building and use of the hotel by racing clientele.

A further local resident confirmed that although their area had suffered from a number of problems the community had worked together to provide a safe environment for all residents. She pointed out that this proposal would be detrimental to the community in general and referred to existing drainage problems, which this development would exacerbate.

A representative of the North Yorkshire Committee of the national cyclists organisation CTC referred to the inclusion of Lowther Terrace as part of a quiet cycle route between the A59 corridor and the station, avoiding Blossom Street. He stated that, if approved, this application would generate as yet unquantified levels of additional vehicle  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5a

This report sets out details of the appraisal of the York Central Historic Core Conservation Area undertaken by Alan Baxter Associates for public consultation. Members are asked to approve the Draft Appraisal together with the proposed consultation method.

[Please note that hard copies of the appraisal will be available at Explore York, Reception, 9 St Leonard’s Place and in the Members Library. The CD referred to at Annex 4 of the report will be circulated to Members later in the week]

Consideration was given to a report, which set out details of the York Central Historic Core Conservation Area Appraisal, which had been prepared by Alan Baxter Associates with joint funding from English Heritage and the City of York Council. An Executive Summary of the draft appraisal had been attached to the report at Annex 1.

Officers pointed out that this was a large and complex Conservation Area and that completion of the comprehensive appraisal had been a significant undertaking. It was confirmed that the document had been designed to be accessible on the web with text being kept to a minimum. Details of the most significant recommendations and suggestions had been set out at paragraph 12 of the report.

Officers confirmed that the lack of an appraisal of the York Central Historic Core Conservation Area had been identified as a key weakness of the evidence base for the Local Development Framework. Members were informed that the draft document had received detailed input from a key stakeholder group and that it had now reached the public consultation stage.

Members referred to a number of points including:

·        Consultation methodology suggested use of social media such as Twitter, Face book and Focus Groups.

·        Local consultation should be undertaken if there should be any support for Article 4 Directives.

·        Need to engage the whole city including school children.

·        The List of Consultees (Annex 2) required updating eg DPAG now known as Equality Advisory Group.

·        The city needed to be inclusive and accessible and consider equality implications (EIA’s)

·        Document should include more interactive documents/maps

Members went onto express their appreciation and thanks to everyone involved in putting together this complex and comprehensive appraisal.

RESOLVED:               i) That the Draft York Central Historic Core Conservation Area Appraisal be approved for public consultation. ^1.

ii)             That approval be given to the proposed consultation methods outlined in paragraphs 14 to 16 of the report subject to the addition of social media eg. Twitter and Facebook in an effort to engage with hard to reach groups. ^2.

iii)           That the Chair, Vice Chair and Councillor Merrett be delegated authority to agree any outstanding  changes to the Appraisal and oversee the final document. ^3.

REASON:                i) The document has adopted a rigorous approach to the assessment of the York Central Historic Core Conservation Area, and is in accordance with relevant guidance documents;

  ii)   The boundary review has been carried out in accordance with the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and the latest guidance documents from English Heritage;

iii) The document has been subject to intensive peer review through the key stakeholder group;

iv)   The proposed consultation process is based on previous best practice.

This report seeks Members approval to update and republish the commuted sum payments contained within the Guidance Note ‘Commuted Sum Payments for Open Space in New Developments – A Guide for Developers’.

Members considered a report which sought their approval to update and republish the commuted sum payments contained within Guidance Note ‘Commuted Sum Payments for Open Space in New Developments – A Guide for Developers’.

Officers stated that to in order to provide a consistent and transparent approach towards these payments it was intended to use the RICS base line figures in the approved Guidance Note which would reflect the reduction in building costs arising from the recession.

Consideration was then given to the following options:

Option 1: Approve the updated set of commuted sum payment figures to be incorporated in the approved Guidance Note, together with automatic updating and clarified text;

Option 2: To instruct Officers to take an alternative approach.

RESOLVED:           i) That approval be given to the revised commuted sum payment figures set out in Table 1 of the report.

ii)That Officers be requested to update annually the commuted sum payment figures in the Guidance Note, in line with the RICS ‘Building Costs Information Service all in Tender Price Index’. ^1.

REASON:                 i) To update the open space commuted sum payments in line with current market conditions.

ii) To ensure that the commuted sum payment figures are updated regularly in line with current market conditions.