Agenda item

Rainham Central

Change of use from builders merchants (sui generis) to indoor electric go-karting or builders merchants (both sui generis)

Discussion:

The Planning Manager outlined the planning application in detail and informed the Committee that since despatch of the agenda one letter had been received from a business stating that the unit now had a full price offer for B8 use with terms agreed with the landlord and that the business was ready to take occupancy of the unit as soon as possible. Full details of the letter were set out on the supplementary agenda advice sheet.

The Planning Manager advised the Committee that whilst the proposed change of use from a builders merchant to an indoor electric go-karting leisure use would be unlikely to result in harm to the residential amenity or affect parking in the vicinity of the site, the site had been designated as employment land in the Local Plan and whilst the proposed leisure use would create some employment, this would not be the type of employment envisaged for this site.

The Planning Manager also advised the Committee that the premises had only been vacant for less than a year and no evidence had been supplied that the premises had been actively marketed and that there was no interest.

In addition, the Planning Manager advised that the Kent Property Market Report drawn to her attention by the Council’s Economic Development Team supported the retention of the premises for employment use.

The Planning Manager also confirmed that a sequential test had indicated that there was no other suitable site for the location of an indoor electric go-karting facility in Medway due to the size of the building which would be required to house the facility.

However, in balancing the arguments for and against the planning application,  officers had recommended that the application be refused on the ground set out in the report.

With the agreement of the Committee, Councillor Kemp addressed the Committee as Ward Councillor and informed the Committee that if the application for an electric go-karting facility were to be approved, this would be the first such facility in Kent. He advised that the applicants had already established a successful trampoline centre nearby and were now willing to invest money in developing these units 1 – 2 for another leisure use.

He informed the Committee that once operational, the facility would offer 21 FTE jobs whereas a builders merchant would likely only offer 6 – 7 jobs. In addition, local tradespeople would be employed during the development works required to provide the leisure facility.

Councillor Kemp referred to a number of other companies and businesses granted planning permission to operate on sites in Courtney Road which indicated a degree of flexibility.

The Committee discussed the application having regard to the comments from the Planning Manager and those put forward by the Ward Councillor.

A number of Members expressed the view that the provision of an electronic go-kart facility would not only generate employment and bring into use vacant units but would also result in major investment to increase the leisure offer in Medway particularly for young people. It was also noted that this would be a unique facility as no other facility was available in Kent.

However, other Members drew attention to on-going work on finalising the Local Plan and that this particular site had been identified for specific employment use. Whilst it was accepted that the provision of a leisure use at this location would provide employment, this was not the type of employment envisaged for the site in the Local Plan. It was considered that this application was premature and planning permission should not be granted for leisure use at this site until the Local Plan had been finalised.

The Head of Planning informed the Committee that the Medway Local Plan 2003 was an ageing plan and other uses in Courtney Road had been carefully considered at the time that they had been approved but that the economic climate had changed over the years. He confirmed that the Council’s Economic Development Team had confirmed that there was interest in this type of premises for B2 type jobs and whilst the provision of an electronic go-kart facility would provide a level of employment, there was a desire to push up the skill set of jobs in the area.

Following discussion, the Committee decided that it did not wish to refuse this planning application but recognised that prior to determining the application for approval, it would be necessary for the Committee to have sight of the conditions to be attached to any planning permission. For this reason, the Committee decided to defer the application to enable a report to be submitted to the next meeting for the application to be approved with the appropriate conditions for consideration.

Decision:

This application be deferred to enable officers to re-submit the application to the meeting of the Committee on 15 January 2020 with a list of conditions so that should the Committee want to approve the application, it has sight of appropriate conditions.