Agenda item

Councillor Steve Young left the room prior to discussion, consideration and voting on this item, due to his declared interest.

Rob Percival, Area Planning Manager, introduced application 17/02512/PFUL3 by Nottingham City Homes for planning permission to demolish the existing police station building and construct a 3 and 4 storey block of 21 two bedroom apartments with associated car parking and amenity spaces and the extension of Rutland Close to form a new vehicular junction with Meadows Way. The application was brought to Planning Committee at the request of a local Ward Councillor who has raised valid planning reasons.

Rob Percival gave a presentation showing maps of the area, aerial views of the context with existing properties, a map of the proposed extension to Rutland Close, and visuals of the proposed development. He highlighted the following points:

a)  the site sits on the north western edge of Meadows, opposite the NG2 Business Park. It sits on the edge of an area which has seen a lot of transformation recently;

b)  the proposals include interesting design features, such as darker brick work for the corner feature, along the base and as an accent material elsewhere, and a curved form to the building. It is proposed that the main brick colour will be buff, in keeping with much other brickwork in the Meadows;

c)  the update sheet proposes  an amendment to  condition 7 in the draft decision notice requiring provision of secure gates;

d)  brick detailing around the windows has been added in response to concerns raised on earlier designs. 

Following questions and comments from the Committee, additional information was provided:

e)  Councillors agreed that the building design was attractive and of high quality, particularly the curve to the building. The brief was put together by Nottingham City Council, with the design developed by Nottingham City Homes and their architects through negotiation with the City Council. Work has taken place with Nottingham City Homes to ensure that the scheme can be delivered on budget, given the high quality;

f)  the trees used in the boundary treatment will be columnal trees with a fairly narrow canopy, in order to avoid or lessen future maintenance issues related to them;

g)  the Committee noted that the flats being developed on Arkwright Walk use an attractive combination of red, brown and buff brick colours, and that the same bricks could be considered for this scheme;

h)  there are no south facing houses behind this development, so the effect on light obstruction of neighbouring properties will be minimal;

i)  the securing of local employment and training opportunities is done by agreement with Nottingham City Homes rather than via planning and  that arrangement  already exists with Nottingham City Homes

j)  there is generous re-cycling provision within the waste storage facility of the scheme.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  grant planning permission subject to:

i)  prior completion of a S106 Planning Obligation to secure an off-site Public Open Space financial contribution of £19,488.84 towards the restoration of the Victoria Embankment War Memorial;

ii)  the indicative conditions substantially in the form of those listed in the draft decision notice at the end of the report plus amended condition 7 (regarding the secure access gates);

(2)  delegate authority to the Director of Planning and Regeneration to determine the final details of both the conditions and the S106 Planning Obligation;

(3)  note that the Committee is satisfied that Regulation 122(2) Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 is complied with, in that the planning obligation sought is:

i)  necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms;

ii)  directly related to the development and;

iii)  fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development;

(4)  to note that the Committee is satisfied that the planning obligation(s) sought that relate to infrastructure would not exceed the permissible number of obligations according to Regulation 123(3) of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010.

Councillor Steve Young returned to the room for the remainder of the meeting.