Agenda item

Application for determination:-

 

Alteration, including partial demolition, refurbishment and restoration of Downings Malthouse and Downings Malthouse extension, the demolition and redevelopment of Provender Mill and the restoration and extension of the Transit Shed to provide commercial floorspace for  A3/A4 purposes at ground floor level in Downings Malthouse, Provender Mill and the Transit Shed, conversion of basement and ground floors of the Downings Malthouse extension for ancillary car parking and the upper floors of Downings Malthouse, Downings Malthouse extension and new build Provender Mill to provide 162 new residential units and the restoration of four three storey cottages. The development of the 105 bed hotel and freestanding unit for use for A3/A4 purposes on the site together with ancillary parking, turning, access and landscaping.

The Principal Planning Officer introduced his report which detailed an application for alteration, including partial demolition, refurbishment and restoration of Downings Malthouse and Downings Malthouse extension, the demolition and redevelopment of Provender Mill and the restoration and extension of the Transit Shed to provide commercial floorspace for A3/A4 purposes at ground floor level in Downings Malthouse, Provender Mill and the Transit Shed, conversion of basement and ground floors of the Downing Malthouse extension for ancillary car parking and the upper floors of Downings Malthouse, Downings Malthouse extension and new build Provender Mill to provide 162  new residential units and the restoration of four three storey cottages. The development of the 105 bed hotel and freestanding unit for use for A3/A4 purposes on the site together with ancillary parking, turning, access and landscaping.

 

He advised that the associated application for Listed Building Consent (15/01152/LBC) was also presented for Members’ consideration. He drew Members’ attention to the late material which contained a further representation, consultee responses and a revised recommendation.

 

Adrian Goodall of Rokeby Merchant addressed the Committee in support of the application.

 

Mr Goodall advised that the original proposals had been presented to the Regeneration Company three years ago and it had taken one year to address land ownership issues with a further two years to develop the master plan.

 

He stated that it was challenging to find viable uses for heritage assets and he believed that the new build element would be acceptable and viable.  This element would generate the funding needed to enable the external retention of the heritage assets.

 

He noted that the new build option for Provender Mill sought to retain the massing, elevator shaft and gable ends of the original building.

 

In conclusion he noted that the overall viability of the proposals was very fragile but Rokeby Merchant were fully committed to the whole scheme and could and would only take their profit on completion of the development. He had offered a ‘best endeavours’ commitment to build out the whole programme.

 

He explained that the developers were unable to offer any affordable housing but they were working with the Homes and Communities Agency to provide starter homes. He confirmed that if permission was granted work would start in the summer.

 

Councillor Smith believed that the proposal contained some delightful features but expressed concern regarding the balconies proposed for Provender Mill and the design of the drive through café. She was pleased that the overall scheme retained much of the heritage and was in keeping.

 

Councillor Hilton complimented the developers and their architects on their plans for the buildings which were in a state of disrepair following several fires and a long period of disuse. He welcomed the provision of the hotel, restaurants and residential accommodation.

 

Councillor McLellan welcomed the proposals for the derelict site and was pleased to see the condition requiring that a charge be made for parking. He believed that the proposed drive through café was out of keeping.

 

He noted that the access road which was shared with Gloucester Quays was often closed when large events were held at the Quays and the car park was full. He was advised that was a matter for the applicants to agree with Gloucester Quays.

 

He asked if the development would address the deterioration of the heritage buildings. The Principal Planning Officer advised that this was critical and the applicant had offered to undertake maintenance to prevent further deterioration during the first phase and had offered ‘best endeavours’ to comply with a scheme of works to build out the whole scheme.

 

The Solicitor explained that ‘best endeavours’ was a recognised term that meant that the applicant would do all that they could and this could be enforced through the courts. The best endeavours obligation is a continuing obligation that requires the counterparty to exhaust all courses of action and is therefore one of the highest forms of obligation recognised in the law. It should be contrasted with the much lower level of performance expected in the case of the exercise of reasonable endeavours.

 

Councillor Chatterton echoed the earlier comments regarding the balconies and referred to paragraph 6.64 of the report and suggested that the approval of Historic England be required for the external cladding, window, balcony and hoist arrangement and finish. He was advised that this could be achieved through proposed condition 7.

 

The Vice Chair welcomed the proposals with the exception of the drive through café and believed that the proposed atrium would be stunning.

 

Councillor Hobbs welcomed the application which exceeded what he believed could be achieved for the site. He expressed concerns relating to floodlighting and to pedestrian linkages from St Ann Way.

 

He was advised that the provision of lighting would be controlled by proposed condition 13 and the Development Control Manager noted that the pedestrian linkage would be outside the application site but the applicant could be asked if a solution could be found.

 

Councillor Williams welcomed the application but expressed concerns regarding highways and potential for problems for residents accessing their properties when big events were happening.

 

The Principal Planning Officer drew Members’ attention to the proposed apportionment of £67,810 contained within the late material and sought Members’ views.

 

Members accepted the viability issues with the development.

 

Members had before them the detailed written advice from the Solicitor relating to the relevant tests concerning planning obligations and also the views of the Solicitor on the points raised by Historic England.

 

Members agreed that the funding be apportioned as follows:-

 

£10,000 for improvements to the play area at Gloucester Park and improvements to the youth sports area at Bakers Field adjacent to Gloucester Park;

 

£5,000 to libraries for improvements to IT and digital technology and increased services to improve customer access to services for Gloucester Library;

 

£52,810 for affordable housing projects within Westgate Ward.

 

RESOLVED that

 

1)    15/01152/LBC

Listed Building Consent be granted subject to the conditions in the report.

 

2)    15/01144/FUL

Subject to completion of a planning obligation to secure £67,810 of Section 106 contributions apportioned as detailed above along with a satisfactory review mechanism to revisit the Section 106 obligations in the future, and secure a mechanism to secure completion of the whole development, also with authority delegated to the Development Control Manager, in consultation with the Planning Solicitor, to incorporate such additional provisions in the proposed planning obligations that may be deemed necessary, planning permission be granted subject to the conditions listed in the report with the following amendments:-

 

Amended Condition 33

 

The development hereby permitted shall not commence until details for the disposal of surface water have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The details submitted shall include proposals for the disposal of surface water in accordance with the principles of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS), modelling/simulation of the scheme to demonstrate it is technically feasible, a SUDS maintenance plan for all SuDS/attenuation features and associated pipework, and where surface water requires disposal off site (i.e. not infiltrated) evidence of consent to discharge/connect through 3^rd party land or to their network/system/watercourse, and shall be implemented for each phase prior to the first occupation of buildings within that phase for the uses hereby permitted and maintained thereafter for the life of the development.

 

Reason

To ensure that the development is provided with a satisfactory means of drainage, to reduce the risk of creating or exacerbating a flooding problem and to minimise the risk of pollution in accordance with Policies SD15 and INF3 of the Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Joint Core Strategy Submission Version November 2014, Paragraphs 100 and 103 of the NPPF and Policies FRP.1a, FRP.6 and FRP.11 of the City of Gloucester Second Deposit Local Plan 2002. This is required pre-commencement given the facilities involve below ground works and a fairly large spatial extent so their arrangement needs to be agreed at the start to avoid any abortive works or other conflicts as a result of starting development.

 

Amended Condition 35

 

Unless otherwise agreed by the Local Planning Authority, development of a Phase other than that required to be carried out as part of an approved scheme of remediation must not commence until parts 1 to 4 have been complied with for that Phase. 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 by the Local Planning Authority in writing until part 4 has been complied with in relation to that contamination.

 

1. Site Characterisation

Once buildings have been demolished and structures removed, supplementary site investigation and risk assessment, in addition to any assessment provided with the planning application, must be completed in accordance with a scheme to assess the nature and extent of any contamination on the site, whether or not it originates on the site. The contents of the scheme are subject to the approval in writing of the Local Planning Authority. The investigation and risk assessment must be undertaken by competent persons and a written report of the findings must be produced. The written report is subject to the approval in writing of the Local Planning Authority. The report of the findings must include:

 

(i) a survey of the extent, scale and nature of contamination;

 

(ii) an assessment of the potential risks to:

 

• human health,

 

• property (existing or proposed) including buildings, crops, livestock, pets, woodland and service lines and pipes,

 

• adjoining land,

 

• groundwaters and surface waters,

 

• ecological systems,

 

• archeological sites and ancient monuments;

 

(iii) an appraisal of remedial options, and proposal of the preferred option(s).

 

This must be conducted in accordance with DEFRA and the Environment Agency’s ‘Model Procedures for the Management of Land Contamination, CLR 11’.

 

2. Submission of Remediation Scheme

A detailed remediation scheme to bring the site to a condition suitable for the intended use by removing unacceptable risks to human health, buildings and other property and the natural and historical environment must be prepared, and is subject to the approval in writing of the Local Planning Authority. The scheme must include all works to be undertaken, proposed remediation objectives and remediation criteria, timetable of works and site management procedures. The scheme must accord with the provisions of the EPA 1990 in relation to the intended use of the land after remediation.

 

3. Implementation of Approved Remediation Scheme

The approved remediation scheme must be carried out in accordance with its terms prior to the commencement of development other than that required to carry out remediation, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The Local Planning Authority must be given two weeks written notification of commencement of the remediation scheme works.

 

Following completion of measures identified in the approved remediation scheme, a verification report (elsewhere referred to as a validation report) that demonstrates the effectiveness of the remediation carried out must be produced, and is subject to the approval in writing of the Local Planning Authority.

 

4. Reporting of Unexpected Contamination

In the event that contamination is found at any time when carrying out the approved development that was not previously identified it must be reported in writing immediately to the Local Planning Authority. An investigation and risk assessment must be undertaken in accordance with the requirements of part 1, and where remediation is necessary a remediation scheme must be prepared in accordance with the requirements of part 2, which is subject to the approval in writing of the Local Planning Authority.

 

Following completion of measures identified in the approved remediation scheme a verification report must be prepared, which is subject to the approval in writing of the Local Planning Authority in accordance with part 3.

 

5. Long Term Monitoring and Maintenance

A monitoring and maintenance scheme to include monitoring the long-term effectiveness of the proposed remediation, and the provision of reports on the same must be prepared, both of which are subject to the approval in writing of the Local Planning Authority.

 

Following completion of the measures identified in that scheme and when the remediation objectives have been achieved, reports that demonstrate the effectiveness of the monitoring and maintenance carried out must be produced, and submitted to the Local Planning Authority. This must be conducted in accordance with DEFRA and the Environment Agency’s ‘Model Procedures for the Management of Land Contamination, CLR 11’.

 

Reason

To ensure that risks from land contamination to the future users of the land and neighbouring land are minimised, together with those to controlled waters, property and ecological systems, and to ensure that the development can be carried out safely without unacceptable risks to workers, neighbours and other offsite receptors in accordance with Policy SD15 of the Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Joint Core Strategy Submission Version November 2014, Paragraphs 17, 120, 121 and 123 of the National Planning Policy Framework and Policy FRP.15 of the Second Deposit City of Gloucester Local Plan (2002).

 

Amended Condition 37

 

Prior to the proposed development being brought into beneficial use details of proposed highway improvement works to Merchants Road shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority, which shall include an extension to existing access restrictions broadly in accordance with plan no PL-MP-01 Rev B and an interim scheme of highway improvement works. The interim scheme shall be implemented in accordance with the approved details prior to the occupation of any buildings within the first Phase of development, and the permanent scheme of improvement works shall be implemented in accordance with the approved details prior to occupation of any units within Downings Malthouse or Downings Malthouse Extension.

 

Reason

To ensure safe and suitable access is provided and create safe and secure layouts that minimise conflicts between traffic, pedestrians and cyclists in accordance with Paragraph 32 and 35 of the National Planning policy Framework, to ensure provision for users of the first Phase of development and provision of overall improvements at an appropriate point to minimise the risk of damage during development works for adjacent buildings.

 

New condition 46

 

No development of a phase including external car parking other than site remediation, demolition or infrastructure provision shall commence until a Car Park Management Plan for that part of the development, setting out arrangements for charging, managing and maintaining the car park, has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The Car Park Management Plan, once approved, shall be implemented prior to the any use hereby approved within that phase being commenced, and retained for the duration of the use.

Reason

To ensure that the development does not undermine the strategic approach to car parking and congestion control in the central area and to encouraging sustainable forms of travel in accordance with Policies TR.13, TR.16, TR.17, TR.18 and TR.19 of the 2002 City of Gloucester Second Deposit Local Plan, Policy INF1 of the Joint Core Strategy Submission Document 2014 and Paragraphs 29, 30, 32, 34, 35 and 40 of the NPPF.