Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Tunnacliffe and Cuffley

 

No declarations of interest were made.

 

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 July were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

 

The Committee received an application for full planning permission for a new three storey office development (B1 use).

 

The Committee received a report from the Planning Officer.

 

The Chairman of Coulson Building Group addressed the Committee in support of the application.

 

The Committee made the following comments in response to the report:

i.             It acknowledged there was currently no Area Action Plan (AAP) in place against which this application could be measured.

ii.            Requested clarification on current parking policy guidance.

iii.           Asked why only 3 disabled parking spaces had been provided when the proposal included over 100 parking spaces overall. Queried why the disable spaces had been split up across the site?

iv.          Asked whether the cycle park area was going to be covered with a shelter and what type of stands would be used?

v.           Stated that because of the size of the building it would be better if it was set back further from the road.

vi.          Raised concern about the odour which often comes from the Anglian Water site and the impact it may have on staff and visitors. Stated that mechanical ventilation throughout the building would have to be installed to alleviate the issue.

vii.         Queried why the report highlighted concerns raised by the Lead Flood Authority and Anglian Water about drainage issues with no further information from the two parties since the later addition of pre commencement conditions which cover the concerns.

 

In response to Members’ questions the Planning Officer and New Neighbourhoods Development Manager said the following:

     i.        There was no AAP for this part of Cowley Road. The application therefore needed to be considered against existing policy and independently of any potential future plans for the area.

    ii.        The amount of parking allocated in the application complied with existing parking standards so was considered to be acceptable.

   iii.        Confirmed that the Applicant was happy to include more disabled parking bays. The bays were split up because 1 was designed for visitor use and the other two were for staff use. Affirmed that more allocated bays and having controls on the location of the spaces could be included in the conditions.

  iv.        There were plans to strategically link the cycle route to the station to encourage staff and visitors to cycle.

   v.        Ample cycle parking provision had been allocated; detailed plans of the cycle parking area would be submitted for approval later in the project so the design and type of stands had not yet been determined.

  vi.        Recognised that the odour from Anglian Water may be an issue. Environmental Health Officers were satisfied that it would not be a problem based on the conditions in place to alleviate the problem.

 vii.        Confirmed that communication with the sewage treatment works was ongoing but for the foreseeable future it had no plans to move from this location.

viii.        Work had been undertaken with the developer to overcome the drainage issues. The Flood Authority, Environment Agency and the Sustainable Drainage Officer had all been consulted a number of times and were content with the proposals. Anglian Water had also been consulted but had not given any further comments.

 

Councillor Van de Weyer and Bird proposed amendments to the officer’s recommendation regarding Condition 28 - Car Parking Management Plan.

 

This amendment was carried nem con.

 

The Committee:

 

Resolved unanimously to grant the application for planning permission in accordance with the officer recommendation, for the reasons set out in the officer report, and subject to the amended condition and additional informatives as set out below and subject to completion of a S106 agreement to secure the transport and highways mitigation requirements as set out in the officer report.

 

Condition 28 - Car Parking Management Plan

         

The development hereby permitted shall not be occupied until a Car Parking Management Plan - which sets out the allocation of parking spaces and details for the future control & monitoring of parking within the car park - has been submitted to and approved by the local planning authority. Car parking spaces allocated to staff at the 'William James House' development and the development hereby approved shall be clearly marked on the ground. No less than 5% of the total number of parking spaces shall be designated and reserved for disabled people. The development shall be carried out thereafter in accordance with the approved details Car Parking Management Plan.

 

Reason: To ensure that parking management of the site was consistent with the proposed parking strategy for the application site and the remaining Coulson site. (Cambridge Local Plan policies 3/1, 3/7, 8/2 and 8/11).

 

Additionally two additional informatives were added which read;

 

The Car Parking Standards contained in the Cambridge Local Plan 2006 requires that at least 5% of the total number of car parking spaces within new developments should be reserved for disabled people.  Where possible the disabled parking spaces should be located close to the entrance to the new office building.

 

The cycle store building should be designed to accommodate different formats of bicycles, including cargo bikes, trailers, etc. (Refer condition 29).