Agenda item

The Committee received a reserved matters application pursuant to outline approval 06/0796/OUT (amended by Section 73 approval 17/2258/S73) for a South Office Building of 13,502 sqm; a Hive of 3,593 sqm; associated car, motorbike and cycle parking including a Travel Hub of 2,970 sqm; a temporary Multi Use Games Area; hard and soft landscaping; and internal roads, supporting facilities and ancillary infrastructure. Includes partial discharge of conditions 13, 16, 18, 23, 24, 25, 45, 47, 48, 49, 56, 57, 58 and 59 pursuant to Section 73 approval 17/2258/S73.

 

The Committee noted the amendments detailed in the Amendment Sheet.

 

In response to Members’ questions the Principal Planning Officer and Joint Director of Planning said the following:

      i.         The proposed scheme was compliant with outline consent  parameter plans and the maximum building heights set out in those plans, which were assessed at the outline application stage.

    ii.         Connections to public transport was highlighted in the officer presentation; reference was made to the connectivity with the Cambridge Guided Busway and also the initial plans for the Cambridge South East transport scheme.

   iii.         The site was considered to be well connected for the proposed use.

  iv.         Although Network Rail had submitted an application for a Transport and Works Order for the Cambridge South train station, those proposals carried no weight as the scheme had not been approved. It was noted that the applicant was working closely with Network Rail.

    v.         The scheme provided high quality cycle parking provision.

  vi.         The Sustainability Officer had been heavily involved with the application and discussions on overheating.

 vii.         Accessible car parking spaces were provided in the Travel Hub and on the surface car park. Fifteen accessible parking spaces were provided in the west car park and sixteen on the north car park. The applicant had conducted a thorough accessibility review, which was included within the Design and Access Statement and are confident this would address accessible lifts within the Travel Hub. The applicant would manage the car parks through a parking app, which would form part of the Travel Plan and be monitored by the County Council.

viii.         Considered the provision of 20 cargo bike parking spaces was sufficient for the development but an informative could be added to explore other options for further cargo bike parking provision.

  ix.         The future use of the Travel Hub to provide more cycle parking and less car parking would be a matter for the applicant to keep under review.

    x.         The Drainage Engineer had been fully involved in the application and was satisfied the site would connect into the existing drainage system. Grey water was to be re-used. 

  xi.         The Council could not require facilities to come forward on a site-wide basis, however where facilities are brought forward by individual occupiers such as AstraZeneca, then these could be supported through the outline consent.  Council officers were working with the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the early stages of a site-wide review of the Addenbrooke’s campus as part of a longer-term masterplan, which should identify unaddressed needs across the campus.

 xii.         The Ecology Officer (in consultation with the Drainage Officer) has confirmed that the underground attenuation tanks would only receive water in certain sized storm events.  Water within the tanks would drain down under gravity and would not stay in the tanks for longer than 48 hours.  There would not be a scenario where water is held in the tanks for extended periods.  The Ecology Officer has confirmed that ‘the controlled discharge from the tanks should not pose a pollution risk to Hobson’s Conduit’.

xiii.         FalcoCam stands were ground level and a photograph of the stands was included in the officer presentation.

xiv.         The mix of cycle parking was a balance between providing plenty of spaces and providing stands that would meet the needs of their users.  AstraZeneca would be managing the cycle parking and would be able to change the stands if feedback was received that the proportion of two-tier stands was proving unsuitable.  Cycle parking spaces would be bookable in advance so that users could choose a suitable space, including 20 wide-spaced Sheffield stand spaces.

xv.         CamCycle were consulted on the application but did not provide any response.

xvi.         The recommended condition 5 relating to gas boilers was a recommendation from the Environmental Health Team in the event that gas boilers were installed on the site. The development is served by the Energy Centre and renewable energy strategy. 

 

 

Councillor Simon Smith proposed an amendment to the officer’s recommendation that condition 5 should be removed as being un-necessary.

 

This amendment was carried unanimously.

 

The Committee:

 

Resolved (unanimously) to grant the application for planning permission in accordance with the Officer recommendation (as amended by the Amendment Sheet), for the reasons set out in the Officer’s report, and subject to the conditions recommended by the Officer subject to the following:

i.               Additional informative to recommend reviewing the provision of cycle parking spaces for cargo bikes:

 

INFORMATIVE: Cargo bikes

 

The provision of cycle parking spaces suitable for cargo bikes should be kept under review by AstraZeneca to ensure that the number and location of such spaces meets the needs of users, in particular users of the creche hereby approved. 

ii.             Delete recommended condition 5 (LOW NOx (Nitrous Oxides) Boilers) from the decision notice.