Agenda item

Erection of hotel with bar/restaurant, relocation of access and associated landscaping and car park following demolition of existing building [Guildhall Ward]

Members considered a major full application from CBRE UK Property PAIF LTD and Premier Inn Hotels LTD for the erection of hotel with bar/restaurant, relocation of access and associated landscaping and car park following demolition of existing building at the Former Carpetright, Layerthorpe, York.

The Head of Development Services outlined gave a presentation on the application detailing the site location plan and proposed elevations, landscape plan and visualisations. An officer update was give, detailing amendments to conditions 12 and 22.

[At 20:57 Cllr Kilbane confirmed he had dropped out of the webcast briefly . The Head of Development Services then repeated the second slide of the presentation to ensure that he had seen it].

In response to Member questions concerning the application, officers confirmed that:

The applicant had submitted a travel plan detailing alternative modes of transport to the hotel and there were three car parks close to the hotel offering overnight parking.

The car park would be accessed by servicing vehicles.

Public Speaker

Chris Argent – Agent for Applicant spoke in support for the application. He outlined the pre application meetings, the benefit that the application in terms of regeneration, high quality architecture and landscaping. He noted that the building had appropriate parking, servicing, motocycle parking, six EV bays, photovoltaic roof, and flood plain storage. He added that there was a contractor ready to proceed and that there were no third party objections. He was asked and clarified that:

·        The applicant had engaged with York Civic Trust and had worked with Historic England and council officers on the application.

·        The trees were there to break up the hard landscape

·        The conditions had been modified to improve energy efficiency

·        The application was DDA compliant

Cllr Warters then moved and Cllr Daubeney seconded approval of the application subject to the conditions outlined in the report, additional information and amendment to Condition 20. Following debate, and in accordance with the revised Standing Orders, a named vote was taken with the following result:

·        Cllrs Ayre, Barker, Daubeney, Doughty, Douglas, Fenton, Fisher, Hollyer, Kilbane,  Lomas, Myers, Pavlovic, Warters and Cullwick voted for the motion.

Resolved: subject to the conditions outlined in the report, the officer update and amendment to Condition 20 for the landscaping to be for the lifetime for the development.

Reasons

                     i.        The proposed redevelopment of the application site for a hotel with associated bar/restaurant is considered to be acceptable in principle given the city centre use and fits with the aspirations for economic growth in the NPPF and the local plan, by facilitating a sector where there is growth and evidentially demand.  The scheme is appropriate for the site; the design is acceptable and relates to the context.  Furthermore, there would be considered to be no harm to heritage assets.

                    ii.        The proposal would not comply with 2018 Draft Plan Policy C2 insofar as the scheme would not achieve BREEAM Excellent but in the context of the weight that can be afforded to the policies of the 2018 Draft Plan, Officers consider that a refusal for this reason alone would be difficult to defend, particularly given that the building would achieve a reduction in carbon emissions of 44% (exceeding the requirements set out in the 2018 Draft Plan Policy CC1).

                  iii.        There would be no unacceptable impact on amenity, which cannot be reasonably controlled through the use of planning conditions.  Other technical matters can also be dealt with by way of conditions.

                  iv.        6.4 The presumption in favour of sustainable development in paragraph 11(d) of the NPPF applies to this application. This tilts the planning balance in favour of granting planning permission, unless any adverse impacts of doing so significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits when assessed against the policies in the NPPF taken as a whole.