Issue - meetings

Land at Lawrence Road, N15 4EX

 

 

Meeting: 17/12/2012 - Planning Sub Committee (Item 247)

247 Land at Lawrence Road, N15 4EX pdf icon PDF 971 KB

Demolition of existing buildings and erection of seven buildings extending up to seven storeys to provide 264 new residential dwellings, 500 sqm of flexible commercial/retail floorspace (A1/A2/A3/B1/D2 uses) with associated car parking, landscaping and infrastructure works.

RECOMMENDATION: Grant permission subject to conditions and subject to a section 106 legal agreement, plus Mayoral Direction.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee agreed to a request to vary the order of the published agenda in order to take item 13 next.

 

The Committee considered a report, previously circulated, which set out the application in relation to land at Lawrence Road, N15 4EX, including the site plan, images, site and surroundings, planning history, proposal, relevant planning policy, consultation and responses, analysis of the application, human rights and equalities considerations. The report recommended that the application be granted, subject to conditions, a section 106 legal agreement and the direction of the Mayor of London. Mr Dorfman gave a presentation outlining key aspects of the report, which included an alternative design for the building on the corner of West Green Road and Lawrence Road, proposed by the applicants in response to criticisms of the original design. An addendum was also tabled at the meeting, setting out a number of revisions or corrections to the report, and additional consultation responses received.

 

The Committee examined the drawings and plans associated with the application.

 

Two local residents addressed the Committee in objection to the application, and raised the following issues in their presentations and responses to questions from the Committee:

 

  • It was felt that the draft officer report should have been made publicly available in advance of the meeting.
  • Residents would have fewer concerns were this an existing residential area, but a significant concern was the loss of employment use.
  • Referring to the planning framework documents, development in this location should be mixed-use, whereas this scheme was primarily residential in nature and did not reflect the type of scheme that residents had understood would be delivered.
  • It was not felt that employment or training possibilities for the site had been explored, and there had been no incentive from the Council to look at alternatives to residential use.
  • The site had the potential to contribute to the regeneration of Tottenham, as a prime site for employment or training.
  • Concern was raised regarding the increase in the number of local residents this scheme would entail, particularly with regard to the provision of local school places, as local schools were already over-subscribed. It was noted that the proposed s106 contribution for education was just £837k.
  • It was suggested that the site could be used for small and medium-sized businesses in industries such as fashion or IT, and that there was the potential to link the two shopping areas on West Green Road and Philip Lane.
  • It was reported that the existing buildings were currently unoccupied, but objectors felt that they had been allowed to become run-down deliberately.

 

Cllr Strickland, Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration and Social Inclusion, Cllr Watson, local Ward Councillor and Cllr Bevan, Cabinet Member for Housing addressed the Committee with regards to the application, and responded to questions. Cllr Bevan noted that he was speaking in his capacity as design champion, rather than Cabinet Member for Housing.