Agenda item
33-35 Commercial Road, London, E1 1LD (PA/08/01034 and PA/08/01035)
Decision:
Councillor Alibor Choudhury proposed an amendment to the terms of the legal agreement, as shown in resolution (2) below, which, on being put to the vote, was declared carried three for and nil against. The substantive motion was then put to the vote and declared carried four for and one against. Accordingly, it was –
RESOLVED
(1) That planning permission for demolition of all buildings on the site at 33-35 Commercial Road, London, E1 1LD (except the former St Georges Brewery and associated building on Assam Street Warehouse) be GRANTED for:
Erection of a building comprising one basement, ground plus 17 storeys (maximum) to be used as student accommodation (Sui Generis) and associated uses.
Erection of ground floor plus two and six storey buildings along Commercial Road for retail (Use Class A1) and/or offices (Use Class B1) and non residential institutions (Use Class D1).
Refurbishment of and alterations to the former St Georges Brewery for use as offices (Use Class B1) and/or non residential institutions (Use Class D1).
Refurbishment of and alterations to the Assam Street warehouse for use as student accommodation.
Provision of a total of 406 cycle parking spaces for student and commercial use.
Alterations to pedestrian accesses into the site and provision of a vehicular servicing access off Assam Street.
Works of hard and soft landscaping and other associated works.
All as shown on the plans (and as amended by the supplemental report tabled at the meeting), subject to any direction made by the Mayor of London and to the prior completion of a legal agreement and to the conditions, informatives and listed building conditions detailed in the report.
(2) That the legal agreement for prior completion be amended to reduce the financial contribution of £400,000 towards parks and open spaces by £250,000, such sum to be used to enable the provision of a pedestrian crossing outside the East London Mosque and the remaining sum of £150,000 be used for projects to benefit the Aldgate Masterplan Area community.
(3) That a further condition be applied to ensure the gating-off of the thoroughfare from Assam Street to Altab Ali Park.
(4) That the Corporate Director Development & Renewal be delegated power to negotiate the legal agreement indicated above.
(5) That the Corporate Director Development & Renewal be delegated power to issue the planning permission and impose the conditions and informatives listed in the report.
(6) That if within three months of the date of this committee the legal agreement has not been completed, the Corporate Director Development & Renewal be delegated power to refuse planning permission.
Minutes:
Mr Stephen Irvine, Development Control Manager, outlined the proposals for the redevelopment of 33-35 Commercial Road, London, E1 1LD, as detailed in the report previously circulated.
Mr Patrick Kerr, a local resident, spoke in objection to the proposals and indicated that he was speaking on behalf of the Aldgate Triangle Residents’ Association. He felt that the aims of the scheme were laudable but considered that the proposal as submitted was flawed and illogical. Considerable loss of light would affect residents and this had not been covered adequately in the proposal and assessments had been made on flats not affected by balconies. Ground floor flats had not been given enough consideration and would suffer a 63.3% reduction in light. Almost half of natural light would be taken from residents’ properties, which was a considerable detriment. In addition, no consideration had been given to breaches of privacy, despite local people having issued invitations to view the effects on their properties. The S106 agreement also failed to address homelessness policies.
Mr Matthew Gibbs, of DP9, agents for the developers, stated that the report addressed the relevant considerations to loss of light and added that the Council and consultants had worked closely together, resulting in several amendments to the proposals. On the matter of privacy, the report also covered the proximity of buildings and their relationships to the Naylor North and West elements of the scheme. There had also been close work with the Council on the development of S106 proposals to provide suitable mitigation. Mr Gibbs continued that 250 jobs would be delivered in the new office space and the proposed student accommodation had been designed in accordance with Council policies. The management plan would deal with any issues arising from the buildings and two separate presentations had been held so that residents might comment on any issues.
Mr Jerry Bell, Strategic Applications Manager, then presented a detailed explanation of the proposed scheme, as set out in the report. He indicated that there had been much consideration given to the matter of loss of light but such losses in the context of a dense urban context were outweighed by the benefits of the scheme, which included the refurbishment of a listed building that would be brought back to an appropriate standard. He further referred to revisions to the S106 package, as detailed in the tabled update report.
Members then put questions that were answered by Mr Bell regarding the moving of the pedestrian crossing from outside the East London Mosque to Alie Street; the amount of S106 allocated to parks and open spaces; the possibility of gating off the access to the pathway between Assam Street and Altab Ali Park.
Councillor Alibor Choudhury proposed an amendment to the terms of the legal agreement, as shown in resolution (2) below, which, on being put to the vote, was declared carried three for and nil against. The substantive motion was then put to the vote and declared carried four for and one against. Accordingly, it was –
RESOLVED
(1) That planning permission for demolition of all buildings on the site at 33-35 Commercial Road, London, E1 1LD (except the former St Georges Brewery and associated building on Assam Street Warehouse) be GRANTED for:
Erection of a building comprising one basement, ground plus 17 storeys (maximum) to be used as student accommodation (Sui Generis) and associated uses.
Erection of ground floor plus two and six storey buildings along Commercial Road for retail (Use Class A1) and/or offices (Use Class B1) and non residential institutions (Use Class D1).
Refurbishment of and alterations to the former St Georges Brewery for use as offices (Use Class B1) and/or non residential institutions (Use Class D1).
Refurbishment of and alterations to the Assam Street warehouse for use as student accommodation.
Provision of a total of 406 cycle parking spaces for student and commercial use.
Alterations to pedestrian accesses into the site and provision of a vehicular servicing access off Assam Street.
Works of hard and soft landscaping and other associated works.
All as shown on the plans (and as amended by the supplemental report tabled at the meeting), subject to any direction made by the Mayor of London and to the prior completion of a legal agreement and to the conditions, informatives and listed building conditions detailed in the report.
(2) That the legal agreement for prior completion be amended to reduce the financial contribution of £400,000 towards parks and open spaces by £250,000, such sum to be used to enable the provision of a pedestrian crossing outside the East London Mosque and the remaining sum of £150,000 be used for projects to benefit the Aldgate Masterplan Area community.
(3) That a further condition be applied to ensure the gating-off of the thoroughfare from Assam Street to Altab Ali Park.
(4) That the Corporate Director Development & Renewal be delegated power to negotiate the legal agreement indicated above.
(5) That the Corporate Director Development & Renewal be delegated power to issue the planning permission and impose the conditions and informatives listed in the report.
(6) That if within three months of the date of this committee the legal agreement has not been completed, the Corporate Director Development & Renewal be delegated power to refuse planning permission.
Supporting documents: