Agenda item

Proposal: Minor Material Amendment application under Section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act for the variation to Condition B9 (Major Non-association Football Events) (MNFEs) of the hybrid planning permission HGY/2023/2137 (as amended from HGY/2015/3000) for amendments to allow up to 30 major non-association football events including music concerts; and other associated changes.

John McRory, Team Manager introduced the report for minor Material Amendment application under Section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act for the variation to Condition B9 (Major Non association Football Events) (MNFEs) of the hybrid planning permission HGY/2023/2137 (as amended from HGY/2015/3000) for amendments to allow up to 30 major non-association football events including music concerts; and other associated changes.

The following was noted in response to questions from the committee:

• The section 106 agreement secures £1000 for regulatory services and then £1000 for noise monitoring. This was £2000 of the £4000 ASB recommendation, officers looked at this with the club and found that £2000 was a reasonable position to recommend on that.
• The LAMP was a live document and tailored for each event taking place. Officers were working on a football LAMP, a LAMP for NFL and a LAMP for boxing. In terms of the monitoring proposal report, this report was quite comprehensive and officers could circulate this members.
• The review mechanism sought to strike the right balance between giving some certainty to allow the club to programme in future  events, but also control those events and secure any mitigation that would be needed to address any concerns that come through. Given it's a S106 obligation and require consideration of those issues, it would be delegated to officers.
• Most events would have a capacity of 40,000 but there could be smaller events.
• Officers were satisfied that the proposal had a good balance of benefits against the potential impact on residents. To vary the area of where tickets were allocated geographically would be complex.
• The £30,000 per year was coming to the Council to resource input in terms of reviewing the travel plan, local management plan and the monitoring proposal document. The club had a separate mechanism to procure staff and marshalls.
• Toilet signage on events day had been improved.
• Boxing events would hold a larger capacity than a concert. Safety arrangements and the set up does limit concerts to a certain capacity, officers did not for see that this would change. Licensing mechanisms looked at the issues of safety and there was a safety advisory group.
• The Waste Service had commented on this proposal and has confirmed that there was a satisfactory agreement already in place for non-football events. The club would pay the Council's costs and its own contractors for doing a clear up after the major non-football events. That was actively monitored by the Council and there was no objection from waste services on that matter for this application.
• Regulatory matters included noise, ASB community safety, environmental health trading standards and licencing. Regulatory Services’ request was based on some of the events that they had attended. It was a full-on operation and there were a mixture of different issues that tended to happen, it did have a direct effect upon the Council's revenue accounts in order to be able to regulate those things. Therefore, officers had to manage and restrict the number of officers who were available in order to mitigate the issues, because the council simply did not have the budget in order to do it. The suggested contribution is £1000 for regulatory services and £1000 for noise. What was originally requested was £4000 which included noise, so effectively this was the contribution as is half and the services response to that would be they would respond to half of the things of which were now being funded for.
• There were different issues for different events, there would be an assessment carried out on which is the highest priority or risks.

Cllr Ali attended the committee to speak on this application:

• Cllr Ali had made observations on this application. He noted that the application was contentious within the community – there being 60 comments on the application alone, Events would have an impact on the densely populated area and there was a need for specialists to assess this, he queried whether the Council had the resource and funding to do so. He raised the point of there being a further condition for this and also the need for a slightly revised higher number of tickets for residents.

The following questions were noted from the committee to Cllr Ali:

• For every 3 objectors there was 1 supporter, residents had different concerns on this. Cllr Ali held the view that a lot of things should have been put in place before the application came to the committee. Members should have seen the LAMP document before the application. Bus routes and littering were a recurring complaint from residents.

• Cllr Ali thought the club should use their good grace to reconsider the figure of tickets made available for residents.

• Timeline of LAMP should be completed and date for this should be provided. Officers should rethink in terms of waste footprint.

The following was noted in response to Cllr Ali from the Applicant:

The £1000 contribution to noise monitoring will apply to all concerts. Officers provided a breakdown of where the regulatory services money might be spent and the elements impacting preventing antisocial behaviour and street drinking were deemed to be a priority over weights and measures. The applicant was happy to increase the contribution to £2000 for additional events (in addition to the £1k noise) to address members concerns around constraints with resourcing. The applicant further pointed out that whilst capacity has doubled, business rates have quadrupled. On the tickets, the 100 tickets being provided to residents is expressed as a minimum, but to date this has been an average of approximately 200 tickets provided per event. In addition to free tickets there is the advance ticket window for local residents. The applicant was willing to review the postcodes for accessing this service in order to make sure that residents most effected benefit. and would consider a drive time isochrone or radius around the stadium.

The following was noted in response to questions to the Applicant:

• The club would always try to exceed the minimum number of tickets provided to residents, but this would vary from event to event. There would be an advanced ticket window for residents and residents impacted most would be prioritised, the applicant was open to looking at a wider radius around the stadium.

• The applicant was held to account by officers on cycling infrastructure. Secure cycle parking hadn’t been taken up massively. Lime bikes were being looked at and the team were working with officers to ensure safety.

Cllr Rice put forward a motion in relation to members not receiving enough detail, specifically the LAMP document not being made available. Cllr O’ Donovan seconded this motion.

This followed a vote of 0 for, 0 against and 0 in abstention.

It was reiterated to members there was an approved LAMP in place, with 7 approved for different types of events. Officers were consulting on a review to this, there were not huge changes to this. The Council had ultimate control of this through the licensing process. There were special BCLG meeting’s to engage on LAMP and officers were committed to further engagement of this. LAMP was a live document and there was an annual review of this, with this came an action plan.

It was noted that there would be updates to the heads of terms; in section 2.4 an increase of 2k, point 8 of heads of terms to be amended to an appropriate radius of the stadium.

Cllr Bevan put forward an additional condition for £4000 to be paid for every additional 16 events to contribute towards supporting staff and administrative costs. With the club’s agreement officers amended the overall obligation for regulatory services, this would be £3000 for regulatory services and £1000 for noise monitoring. This would produce a total of £4000. The recommendation would be updated to reflect this and would be everything in excess of the 16 events. Following this agreement, Cllr Bevan withdrew his motion.

The Chair asked Robbie McNaugher, Head of Development Management and Enforcement Planning to sum up the recommendations as set out in the report.  The Chair moved that the recommendation be granted following a vote with 9 for, 0 against and 0 abstentions.

RESOLVED

1. That the Committee authorise the Head of Development Management or the Assistant Director of Planning, Building Standards & Sustainability to GRANT planning permission subject to the conditions and informatives set out below and the completion of an agreement satisfactory to the Head of Development Management or the Assistant Director of Planning, Building Standards & Sustainability securing the obligations set out in the Heads of Terms below following referral to the Mayor of London.

2. That the section 106 legal agreement referred to in resolution (2.1) above is to be completed no later than 09 August 2024 or within such extended time as the Head of Development Management or the Assistant Director Planning, Building  Standards & Sustainability shall in her/his sole discretion allow.

3. That, following completion of the agreement(s) referred to in resolution (2.1) within  the time period provided for in resolution (2.3) above, planning permission is  granted in accordance with the Planning Application subject to the attachment of the conditions.

4. That delegated authority be granted to the Head of Development Management or the Assistant Director of Planning, Building Standards & Sustainability to make any alterations, additions or deletions to the recommended heads of terms and/or recommended conditions as set out in this report and to further delegate this power provided this authority shall be exercised in consultation with the Chair (or in their absence the Vice Chair) of the Sub-Committee.

Appendix 1 - Conditions Summary for the entire ‘masterplan’ site – (Relevant conditions amended):

A1) Implementation Timescales – Full

A4) Consented drawings and documents

A5) Business and Community Liaison Group

A6) Conformity with Environmental Statement

Appendix 2 - Conditions Summary for the Plot 1 - The Stadium (Relevant

conditions B9 and B10 amended only):

B1) Consented drawings

B2) Temporary Site Hoarding

B3) Waste and refuse

B4) Fixed Illuminated Signage

B5) Architectural Lighting

B6 LED Screens

B7) Event Day Lighting

B8) CCTV

B9) Major Non-association Football Events

B10) Noise Control Plan

B11) Diesel Generators

B12) Diesel Fuel

B13) Flues

B14) Team Coaches

B15) High Road Vehicular Access

B16) Mobile Telecommunications Equipment

B17) Contamination

B18) Replacement Bird Nests

B19) Car Parking Management Plan

B20) Swept Path Analysis

B21) Cooling Demand