Issue - meetings

Single storey extension to the High Road facade of Bruce Grove Station to create an additional 174sqm of A1/A3 space with associated landscaping and yard

RECOMMENDATION: grant permission subject to conditions.

The Committee considered a report on the application to grant planning permission for the single storey extension to the High Road facade of Bruce Grove Station to create an additional 174sqm of A1/A3 space with associated landscaping and yard. The report set out details of the proposal, the site and surroundings, planning history, relevant planning policy, consultation and responses, analysis, equalities and human rights implications and recommended to grant permission subject to conditions.

The planning officer gave a short presentation highlighting the key aspects of the report.

An objector addressed the Committee and raised the following points:

·         The courtyard to the front of the station site was important open amenity space used by the community, with historic and memorial value.

·         The condition of the site should not be used to justify the development.

·         The trees currently onsite helped to improve the environment and had a positive impact on the town centre.

·         The scheme would cause harm to public amenity and to the Locally Listed station building.

·         Historic England appeared to have been consulted on the first draft but not subsequent and no details were provided within the report of the stakeholder consultation meeting held on 7 July.

Cllr Opoku addressed the Committee in her capacity as local ward councillor and raised the following points:

·         Residents had campaigned in the past for the courtyard area to be kept as open amenity space.

·         Mature trees onsite would be lost.

·         Safety concerns were raised relating to narrowing of the pavement near the bus stop outside the station.

·         The steel cladding would obscure the historic station building and was not an appropriate material. 

Representatives for the applicant addressed the Committee and raised the following points:

·         The scheme would create a high quality, contemporary, landmark building for the Bruce Grove town centre whilst optimising development of a key brown field site and aiding regeneration.

·         Planning policy identified that traditional designs were not the only acceptable option in conservation areas.

·         The current open space was not a suitable use and suffered from antisocial behaviour and littering.

·         Relocation of the bus stops was a long term aspiration.

·         The Quality Review Panel were supportive of the application.

·         The pavement to the front of the station would be widened and public realm and pedestrian movements improved within the station.

Cllrs McNamara and Strickland addressed the Committee in their respective capacities as Cabinet Members for Environment and Housing and Regeneration and raised the following points:

·         Businesses previously housed in the arches had been operating without planning permission

·         Significant improvements had already been made to the site due to Network Rail and TfL investment such as pavement improvements.

·         The reserved matters process needed strict oversight to ensure implementation of a high quality scheme tying in with the heritage aspects on the locally Listed Building.  

·         A high quality solution was required to increase footfall in this important prime town centre site.

·         Design plans had been developed by a renowned architect with considerable input from the Council’s conservation officer. 

·         The Council’s Quality Review  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46