Agenda item
Raine House, 16 Raine Street, London, E1W 3RL - PA/18/01477 and PA/18/01478
Minutes:
It was noted that:
· Councillor Bex White had not participated in the discussion which took place at the previous meeting and therefore she did not participate in the consideration of the item.
· Councillor Helal Uddin was not present for the consideration of this item.
An update report was tabled
Councillor Golds:
- Noted that, in his view, the report placed new information before the Committee.
- Noted that the minutes of the previous meeting recorded that the Chair had varied procedures around public speaking to permit objectors to further address the Committee and
- Asked for clarification on the application of public speaking rights, referencing the deferral as recorded at paragraph 2 of the minutes of the previous meeting and paragraph 5.2 of the report.
The Legal Adviser to the Committee advised that speaking rights were governed by the Constitution, Section 5.5 Planning Code of Conduct, Appendix B Rules 11.1 and 11.2. He explained the clause around what constituted substantive information and that the minutes of the previous meeting indicated that the reason for deferral was to undertake a site visit; this aligned with Rule 11.1. The Legal Adviser enquired and the Area Planning Manager advised that there had been no substantive changes relating to the application.
The Committee noted that the reason for deferral had been to undertake a site visit to apprise themselves of heritage issues that had been raised during the discussion of the application at the meeting on 23 August 2018.
Having received advice, the Chair confirmed that speaking rights did not apply and requested that the planning case officer present the technical report.
The Committee heard from the Planning Case Officer who advised that the matters raised at the previous meeting by those who spoke in objection had been investigated; responses to these were provided in the report. Additionally a petition had been received highlighting concerns that the proposal did not include refurbishment of the basement and decant of the building. The Committee was advised that these issues were not planning matters and that officers’ recommendation remained to grant the application on the basis that refurbishment would constitute a benefit to the building and its character over the present arrangements.
Responding to a Member enquiry on what alternative accommodation would be provided to the organisations required to vacate the premises for the refurbishment, the Committee was informed that it had been suggested that groups could re-locate to Glamis Hall however groups were concerned that the venue was not ready to receive them. The Interim Head of Capital Delivery informed the Committee that the venue would be available from 13 October. The Committee noted the Area Planning Manager’s advice that the matters that had been raised by groups were not material planning considerations.
The Chair then proposed and on a vote of 1 in favour, 2 against and 1 abstention the Committee did not support the officer recommendation to approve the application.
The meeting was adjourned between 6:52pm and 7:00pm to enable Members to consider what alternative motion they wished to bring forward.
Councillor Golds highlighted that Members had voted not to support officers’ recommendation because of concerns that the refurbishment would adversely affect the historicity and visual amenity of internals of the building. The Committee was not satisfied that these adverse amenity impacts were compensated by the resulting improvements. The Committee was of the view that it was necessary to preserve the building and that its character and appearance would not be retained should the proposed refurbishment take place.
An alternative proposal was moved that the application be refused and on a vote of 3 in favour and 1 against, it was
RESOLVED
That planning permission be refused.
Members voted to refuse the application on the grounds that the internal specifications of the application would not preserve or enhance the appearance of the building and that the proposed internal alterations would have an adverse impact on the special architectural and historic character of the listed building.
Following the determination of the application, the meeting was adjourned from 7:03pm to 7:06pm.
Supporting documents:
- Raines House Update Post Site Visit Report, item 4.1 PDF 99 KB
- Raine House 23.08.18 Report, item 4.1 PDF 807 KB