Issue - meetings

Construction of rolling stock maintenance depot and associated works including main depot building, office and storage space; track and sidings; underframe cleaning facility and plant room; two train washers and plant rooms; waste compactors; partial rebuilding of Hornsey Station footbridge; two shunters cabins; bridge widenings over the New River and Turnpike Lane; associated works including engineering, signalling, electrification and other operational works and equipment for the railway; hard surfacing and new internal site access road; landscaping; fences; car, motorcycle and bicycle parking; construction of retaining walls; temporary construction haul bridge and use of land as a temporary construction compound.

RECOMMENDATION: Grant permission subject to conditions and subject to sec. 106 Legal Agreement.

The Committee considered a report on the planning application, previously circulated, which set out details of the proposal, planning designations, site and surroundings, planning history, relevant planning policy, consultation and  analysis of the application against relevant planning issues. The Planning Officer gave a presentation on the key aspects of the application, and advised that a number of objections had been received since the production of the report, from Cllr Stewart, P Monajemi, David Cameron, Scott Simpson, Robert Lyons, Paul Astwood and Nicolas Mattis, these objections expressing concerns regarding noise nuisance, the proximity of residential properties, the size and design of the development, the location and the detrimental effect of the scheme on the wellbeing and quality of life of local residents, as well as the negative impact on the proposed Heartlands development.

The Planning Officer reported on a number of changes to the conditions put forward in the Committee report, as requested by the applicants. These were minor changes to conditions numbered 12, 14, 15, 24, 32, 38 and 45 and also a change to condition 27 to provide clarity as to the nearest residential boundary. It was confirmed that changes would not be considered to conditions 4, 5, 25 or 37. It was also proposed that, were the application to be approved, wording be added to the recommendation regarding changes that might need to be made to the detail of the Section 106 Agreement, “for the Assistant Director of Planning and Regeneration in conjunction with the Head of Legal Services and in consultation with the Chair of the Planning Sub Committee to finalise the detail of the Section 106 and make such minor changes that become necessary during the negotiation of the agreement”. It was clarified that this would only apply to minor changes, and that any significant proposed alterations would need to come back before the Committee for consideration.

The Planning Officer clarified the nature of the Article 4 Direction in response to a question from the Committee. The Committee also asked about the report  undertaken by the independent consultant on site selection, in response to which it was confirmed that an independent consultant with expertise in railway systems had been appointed on behalf of the Council to assess the situation; this report was available on the website, but did not form part of the officer report. It was confirmed that the purpose of the consultant’s report was to assess whether the site selection process had been reasonable, and that it was for the Committee to decide whether the planning application was acceptable in planning terms on its own merits.

The Committee asked about how the application complemented the UDP, particularly in relation to the proposed Haringey Heartlands development, and also raised concerns regarding how graffiti would be dealt with and whether the issue of screening on land belonging to third parties, such as Thames Water, had been explored. In response, it was reported that there was no conflict with the Haringey Heartlands planning framework, as the site  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44