Issue - meetings

The Committee considered a report, previously circulated, on the application for planning permission at Forrester House, 52 Bounds Green Road, N11 2EU. The report set out details of the site and surroundings, images, planning history, relevant planning policy, consultation and responses, analysis of the application, planning obligations, human rights and equalities considerations and recommended that permission be granted, subject to conditions and subject to a section 106 legal agreement. The Planning Officer gave a presentation highlighting the key aspects of the report. The Committee examined the plans and drawings.

• The Committee asked about how fire risk would be managed, particularly as, unlike regular hotels, there would be provisions for cooking within each unit; it was reported that this was dealt with under building regulations.
• In response to a question regarding whether it was possible to address waste control issues by means of design; it was agreed that an additional condition could be applied, requesting further details of the waste storage arrangements.
• The Committee asked  about the proposed condition that no unit is to be occupied by any individual for longer than 90 days, and how such a condition would be monitored and enforced. It was reported that this condition was intended to prevent any future change of use to convert the premises into an HMO, and was enforceable in law. It was suggested that the condition could be reworded to require the applicant to confirm to the Council in writing on an annual basis that no individual had been permitted to stay for longer than 90 days, so that, were such confirmation not received by the authority, this would act as a trigger for monitoring of compliance. It was further suggested that the condition should give the local authority the right to inspect the hotel register, on demand.
• It was confirmed that this application was for a different use-class than an HMO – were there any subsequent desite to convert to an HMO, this would require further planning permission. It was reported that serviced apartments were common in Europe, but less common in the UK.
• The legal advisor confirmed that each room was a separate planning unit in its own right, making future conversion to an HMO complex.

A local resident address the Committee in obejction to the application on the grounds that the bulk and height of the proposal would lead to obstruction and significant loss of light to his property, particularly in the morning, from around 7-11am.

The applicant addressed the Committee and raised the following issues:

• While the main concern of the objector was loss of light, the daylight study undertaken had shown a loss of no more than 1% light in any of the rooms tested. This report had been submitted to planning officers as part of the application.
• The target was for lets of 2 – 3 weeks, as serviced apartments. It was felt that this was a strong location for such a use, due to the transport links.
• It was confirmed that there would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 249