Agenda item

New landscaping and access to York Art Gallery site from Museum Gardens and demolition of hutment buildings. [Guildhall Ward] [Site Visit]

Members considered a full application from Mr Michael Woodward for new landscaping and access to the York Art Gallery site from the Museum Gardens and demolition of hutment buildings.

Officers advised that condition 4 should be amended to require details of the hard standing by the two beech trees to be submitted so as to avoid damage to the roots and also to require replacement gates to the Marygate entrance to the Museum Gardens.

An email from “York Stories” raising concerns over the loss of the huts had been circulated to Members prior to the meeting. A copy of this email was shown to representatives of the York Museums Trust who were in attendance for their information at the suggestion of Members.

Representations were received from the agent acting on behalf of the University of York, occupants of Kings Manor. She noted that the proposals would open up the back of the art gallery for the first time. She asked that Members consider adding a condition to require the applicant to provide a higher boundary (in keeping with character of the area) to ensure the security of the Kings Manor grounds.

Officers stated that they did not believe that the proposals would impact negatively on the security of the university. However if Members felt that a fence was required for security reasons, they would ask that delegation be given to officers to agree the details of the fence and approve the application.

The applicant acknowledged concerns regarding security at the back of the university’s buildings and advised Members that he had no objection to a fence being erected, as long as this was of a temporary nature, and was happy to accept a condition to this effect with the agreement of the university in order to allay fears.

Members discussed the practicalities of such as fence and questioned who owned the wall and who would be liable for the costs of erecting a fence. As it was not clear at this point in time whether the university’s concerns over security would materialise, Members agreed that a condition should not be imposed on the application but that if security became a concern in the future, it could be dealt with at a later date, either by the erection of a fence or use of security controls or CCTV.

RESOLVED:             That the application be approved subject to the conditions listed in the report.

Amended Condition 4

Large scale details of the following items shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority prior to the commencement of the development and the works shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details.

a) Entrance to museum gardens to include ramp, steps, and gate.

b) New entrance to Marygate to include gates and new edging.

c) Dwarf wall around meeting space behind gallery and details of foundations/construction, the latter to avoid any damage to roots of the adjacent Beech trees.

Reason: To manage the impact/appearance of heritage assets

REASON:                  The proposal, subject to the conditions listed in the report and the amended condition above, would not cause undue harm to interests of acknowledged importance, with particular reference to the impact on heritage assets and crime and disorder. As such the proposal complies with Policies GP4, HE2, HE3 HE5 and HE9 of the City of York Development Control Local Plan.