Agenda item

Description: Update on the provision of a public facility at the station.

Applicant: Network Rail

The Principal Planner provided information on why the pre-application had been brought to Committee.

Members raised the comments/questions as listed below. Answers and comments were supplied, but as this was a pre-application presentation, none of the answers or comments are binding on either the intended applicant or the local planning authority so consequently are not recorded in these minutes.

      i.         Frustrated at the omission of public toilet facilities from the proposals; the toilet had been put forward as a benefit to offset harm to the greenbelt when members considered the station design condition (condition 17)

    ii.         Assurances had been given at the time of the discharge of the station design condition (condition 17) that the automatic barrier and lack of ticket office would have no bearing on whether a public toilet could be provided. An informative was added that explicitly mentioned a publicly accessible toilet.

   iii.         Suggested that a condition of rental of the retail unit could be that it included a toilet accessible to the public.

  iv.         It was noted that anecdotally Greater Anglia routinely allowed people without platform tickets to use facilities at other stations.

    v.         Although there was no condition, some Councillors had considered the community benefit of a public toilet in their decision to approve the station design condition application (condition 17).

  vi.         Delegating responsibility of toilet provision to retail space may be an onerous responsibility for the tenant.

 vii.         Disappointment expressed with the lack of public toilet facilities and the potential implication on the wider local area.

viii.         The west and east sides of the station appeared very similar from the outside. Signage on each side should very clearly state which side it was.

  ix.         Disappointed that assurances made at planning stage had seemingly been disregarded.

    x.         The lack of public access to toilets appeared to be down to the location of ticket barriers and their proximity to the main entrance. Could the barriers be moved so that the retail space was completely in front of them?

  xi.         The retail space has provision for water and drainage. Could the whole area be used as a toilet block as this appeared to be within the physical possibilities of the site?

 xii.         Could the location of the toilets be moved? It was noted that the building appeared to be almost complete, so this might not be possible.

xiii.         If toilet provision was in the retail unit, the opening hours might be limited to e.g. 9am to 5pm. This could limit access for the public.

xiv.         Putting the responsibility for toilets on the first tenant had the potential to work as a solution, but it may not be guaranteed that future tenants would want this responsibility.

xv.         Moving the ticket barrier to the rear of the unit would allow for public toilet use.

xvi.         If the two cubicles were each made to be unisex, one could be outside of the ticket barrier and one inside.

xvii.         Most station users approaching from the west would either be buying a ticket or looking to use toilet facilities, they might not necessarily be looking to use a cafe. Could the concerns of Members on this matter be accommodated as these concerns were based on consultation with residents.

xviii.         It was recognised that the application to discharge condition 17 in the Autumn would be for approval of details of the signage for the station; the signage should help people to locate themselves easily.

xix.         The toilets were a civil matter and there was no condition that requires the applicant to provide them; however Greater Anglia could set a requirement that any leaseholder provide toilet facilities.

20. Both the Planning Inspector and Minister had supported some provision for public benefit in considering the application.

The Chair thanked those present for their presentation and urged Network Rail and Greater Anglia to give further consideration as to whether it was still possible to provide for a publicly accessible toilet at the station (recognising the request had no planning status).