Agenda item - BH2018/01137 - 76-79 & 80 Buckingham Road, Brighton - Full Planning

Partial demolition of no. 80 Buckingham Road erection of a five storey building over basement including roof accommodation to create 20no. dwelling units (C3) and community use unit (D1). Conversion of nos. 76-79 Buckingham Road to provide 14no. dwelling units (C3) with associated car parking, cycle parking, landscaping and service provision.

RECOMMENDATION – MINDED TO GRANT

Partial demolition of no. 80 Buckingham Road erection of a five storey building over basement including roof accommodation to create 20no. dwelling units (C3) and community use unit (D1). Conversion of nos. 76-79 Buckingham Road to provide 14no. dwelling units (C3) with associated car parking, cycle parking, landscaping and service provision.

Officer Introduction

(1)          The Principal Planning Officer, Gareth Giles, introduced the application and gave a presentation by reference to plans, elevational drawings, photographs and floor plans. He stated that the main considerations in determining the application related to: the principle of development, including the loss of the community use floorspace; the design of the proposed development and its impact on the character and appearance of the conservation area; the provision of affordable housing to ensure mixed, sustainable communities; the standard of residential accommodation and private amenity space for future occupants, any impacts on neighbouring amenity and transport impacts. Two letters objecting to the scheme had been received as well as one representation commenting on the scheme.

(2)          The Planning Officer also informed Members of some corrections to the report: the recommendation should read ‘5^th December 2018’ not ‘2017’, the wording of Condition 11 would be updated to the latest asbestos condition wording, the Highways Authority wished to include an additional provision in Condition 23 to request the submission of a car park management plan, and Condition 26 was to be removed as it duplicated Condition 9 and the following conditions would be renumbered accordingly. 

Questions to the Planning Officer

(3)          In response to Councillor Miller, the Planning Officer confirmed that the affordable units would all be located in number 76-79 and would consist of a mix of one and two bed dwellings.

(4)          Councillor Wares asked that in light of the two requests to vary s106 conditions on affordable housing provision considered by the committee earlier on the agenda if the Committee could include an additional condition for the developers to approach the Council’s social landlord providers before the s106 agreement could be finalised.

(5)          Officers responded that they understood that it was frustrating for Members considering applications as it was difficult to guarantee what was permitted could actually be delivered. However, Officers felt that applying a condition around agreements with social landlord providers would place an unreasonable burden on developers at this stage of the application process. Officers were also concerned that a condition may be difficult to defend at appeal and there was no precedent that they were aware of.

(6)          The Chair stated that while a condition for approaching the Council’s preferred social landlord providers was not included as part of the planning permission Members and Officers were increasingly raising the issue with developers at pre-application briefings.

(7)          Councillor Page welcomed that the developers now proposed to reuse the existing frame of number 80 rather than demolishing it. He asked officers to confirm the tenure mix of the affordable units, how much outside amenity space was being provided, how many car parking spaces were being created and how these were to be allocated.

(8)          The Planning Officer confirmed the location of the communal garden in the development and that each apartment would have a private balcony and that the affordable housing would consist of seven affordable rented units and seven part ownership units.

(9)          The Transport Officer stated that the developer proposed to create eight parking spaces in the basement of number 80 two of which would be disabled spaces. The developer had not yet stated how these spaces would be allocated and an additional condition had been recommended to require the submission of a car parking management plan.

(10)       The Representative from the Conservation Advisory Group asked the Committee to consider including an additional informative which requested the developer reinstate several historic street signs on the surrounding roads.

Debate and decision making process

(11)       Councillor Littman stated that he was in favour of the application and that it improved on the previously agreed scheme.

(12)       Councillor O’Quinn stated that she regularly passed the site and that she felt the proposal would be a positive addition to the area.

(13)       Councillor Inkpin-Leissner stated that he welcomed the onsite provision of affordable housing and would be supporting the application.

(14)       Councillor Miller stated the he was pleased that there would be affordable housing on site and that he saw no issue with the additional informative suggested by the Conservation Advisory Group.

(15)       The Chair praised the much improved scheme which had gone from providing no affordable housing to providing 41% on site affordable housing.

(16)       The Committee unanimously voted to be minded to grant planning permission.

31.1    RESOLVED: That the Committee has taken into consideration and agrees with the reasons for the recommendation set out below and resolves to be MINDED TO GRANT planning permission subject to a s106 Obligation and the conditions and informatives as set out in the report as amended above (2) including the additional informative recommended by the Conservation Advisory Group (10) SAVE THAT should the s106 Planning Obligation not be completed on or before 5th December 2018, the Head of Planning is hereby authorised to refuse planning permission for the reasons set out in section 10 of the report.