Agenda item

River

Construction of a part six and part seven storey building comprising 11 x one bedroom and 13 x 2 bedroom apartments above ground floor commercial floorspace. 

Discussion:

The Head of Planning outlined the application in detail and advised the Committee that since despatch of the agenda, an adjoining land owner had written to advise that the applicant appeared to be including third party land in their proposals and had also enclosed a copy of a Land Registry Title Plan to support their argument.  In response, the Head of Planning advised that the applicants had completed a Land Ownership Certificate A confirming that they were the owners of all of the land upon which the application related. The concerns of the adjoining land owner had since been drawn to their attention. The Committee was reminded that land ownership was a civil matter and therefore was not a material consideration in the determination of a planning application.

The Head of Planning suggested that should the Committee be minded to approve the application, amendments be made to the proposed Section 106 agreement and a number of changes be made to the proposed conditions as set out in the supplementary agenda advice sheet.

The Committee discussed the application and, referring to the height of the proposed development drew attention to the requirement to ensure that adequate fire protection measures were available within the development.

Decision: 

Approved subject to:

A) The applicant entering into a unilateral agreement under the terms of Section 106 Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for:-

i)        £5,997.60 towards the Great Lines Heritage Park in particular towards routine inspections of new footbridges in the Park as a result of opening up new public access into Fort Amherst;

ii)      £45,687.60 towards recreation and play improvements to Chatham Riverside.

iii)    £25,417.60 towards education and the provision of nursery, primary, secondary and sixth form school places

iv)    £3,600 towards the up-skilling of local people within Medway

v)      £3,281.04 towards the provision and maintenance of equipment, services and facilities at White Road Community Centre.

B) Conditions 1 – 5, 8 – 12, 14 – 18 and 20 as set out in the report for the reasons stated in the report with delegated powers granted to the Head of Planning to consider the relevance of Conditions 4, 5 and 11 and amend or remove accordingly and conditions 6, 7, 13, 19, 21 and 22 amended as set out below:

6)           None of the flats hereby approved shall be occupied until underground ducts have been installed by the developer to enable telephone, electricity and communal television services to be connected to any premises within the site without recourse to the erection of distribution poles, satellite dishes and overhead lines and notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (or any order amending, revoking and re-enacting that Order), no distribution pole, satellite dishes or overhead line shall be erected within the area.

         Reason: To ensure that the appearance of the development is satisfactory and without prejudice to conditions of visual amenity in the locality, in accordance with Policy BNE1 of the Medway Local Plan 2003.

 7)No development shall take place until details of the following architectural elements have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority:

•        External wall - sections and elevation

•        Balconies and their external fixings in the form of elevation and section drawings and details of the colour scheme

•        Elevations, sections and details of the colour scheme of glazing, window and external door designs including wall/window junctions

•        Elevations and sections of eaves and parapets

Any details to be submitted in a drawn form pursuant to the requirements of this condition shall be submitted at a scale of not less than1:20. The development shall be implemented in accordance with the approved details and shall be retained thereafter.

Reason: To ensure that the appearance of the development is satisfactory and without prejudice to conditions of visual amenity in the locality, in accordance with Policy BNE1 of the Medway Local Plan 2003.

13)   Unless otherwise agreed by the Local Planning Authority, development other than that required to be carried out as part of an approved scheme of remediation must not commence until conditions 14 to 17 have been complied with. If unexpected contamination is found after development has begun, development must be halted on that part of the site affected by the unexpected contamination to the extent specified in writing by the Local Planning Authority until condition 17 has been complied with in relation to that contamination.

Reason: To ensure that the development is undertaken in a manner which acknowledges interests of amenity and safety in accordance with Policy BNE23 of the Medway Local Plan 2003.

19)   No development shall take place until a scheme detailing measures for fire protection for the proposed development, including details related to the installation/provision of dry risers and fire protection lift have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. No unit shall be occupied until the approved fire protection has been provided. The approved measures shall thereafter be maintained.

Reason: In the interests of fire protection and the safety of the prospective occupiers.

21)   The ground floor commercial units shall be used only for purposes falling within classes A1 (retail), A2 (financial and professional services) and B1(a) (offices) of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) or in any provision equivalent to that class in any statutory instrument revoking and re-enacting that Order with or without modification.

         Reason: In order to confirm the nature of the permitted use in accordance with Policy BNE2 of the Medway Local Plan 2003.

22)   Notwithstanding the approved plans, no development shall take place until details to show refuse storage for the residential development (in accordance with the Councils minimum requirements) and commercial units have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The approved refuse store shall be provided in accordance with the approved plans prior to the occupation of any part of the development and shall thereafter be maintained.

Reason: In order to ensure that the development has adequate refuse storage in accordance with Policy BNE2 of the Medway Local Plan 2003.