Venue: Please note that this will be a virtual meeting
Contact: Georgina Wills, Committee and Governance Officer Email: gwills@westminster.gov.uk; Tel: 07870 548348
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MEMBERSHIP To report any changes to the membership Minutes: 1.1 Election of Deputy Chairman
1.2 The Chairmen proposed that Councillor Jim Glen be appointed as Deputy Chairman for the duration of the Meeting.
There being no other nominations it was
RESOLVED:
That Councillor Jim Glen be appointed as Deputy Chairmen for the duration of the Meeting
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST To receive and record declarations of interest. Minutes: 2.1 Cllr David Boothroyd declared that he was Head of Research and Psephology for Thorncliffe, whose clients were companies applying for planning permission from various local authorities. No current schemes were in Westminster; if there were he would be precluded from working on them under the company’s code of conduct.
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To sign the minutes of the last meeting as a correct record of proceedings. Minutes: 3.2 Matters Arising from the Minutes
3.2.1 Minutes 3.2.2 Point 5.4 - Site Visits
Members were advised that site visits will be considered on a case-to-case basis and was scheduled to fully resume after 21 June 2021. It was noted that developers of large planning schemes had been able to ensure that site visits could be undertaken safely.
3.2.2 Minutes 3.2.3 Point 5.7 – Hybrid Meetings
Members were advised that Officers were working collaboratively with the IT Service and an external Provider to ensure that Hybrid Meetings can take place and be broadcasted from City Hall. The Sub-Committee were informed that local authorities were still awaiting guidance from Central Governments about Legislative provisions in relation to Hybrid meetings.
3.2.3 Minutes 3.2.4 Point 5.9 / 5.9- Public Comments on Planning Portals.
Members were informed that software which enable public comments to be re-edited on the public access systems and ensures that offensive postings are not published on public portals was to be put in place in the forthcoming weeks. The software will categorise and group offensive comments. The Committee was informed that the software will be used for applications which are considered as being contentious and likely to attract inappropriate postings.
3.2.4 4 Annual Update On Planning Applications and Appeals Performance 2019/20
Members were informed that a small number of Planning Applications determined by the Planning Sub-Committees went against Officer recommendations. These determinations were reported to amount to 5% of Planning Applications.
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PROPOSED CLASS E TO RESIDENTIAL PERMITTED DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS PDF 324 KB Additional documents: Minutes: 4.1 The Committee received a report which provided an overview of the proposed changes to permitted development rights to enable changes of use from Class E uses to residential use without the need for planning permission, which the Government recently consulted on during December 2020 and January 2021. The proposed permitted development right would result in the council having significantly less planning policy levers with which to deliver sustainable economic growth through planned growth of existing commercial clusters. Should the Government not introduce the mitigation measures recommended in the council’s consultation response, the principal impacts of the new right are likely to be:
· Large scale commercial floorspace within the CAZ could be lost to residential impacting in the unique contribution the city makes to the local and national economy. · Uncontrolled increases in residential floorspace in the CAZ at the expense of commercial floorspace, irrespective of whether it is vacant or surplus to current demand, would undermine its unique character and function of the area. · Uncontrolled loss of retail and complementary town centre uses at ground floor level within our international, major, district and local shopping centres leading to a loss of overall commercial character and function and an erosion of their vitality and viability. Initial analysis suggests most significant impacts could be in local and district centres outside the CAZ where the offset between commercial and residential property values is typically greater. · Permitted development schemes could be brought forward without the need to provide any affordable housing or infrastructure to support the increased population, unlike schemes granted planning permission. · The council’s efforts to address the climate emergency would be undermined as permitted development schemes, which would not be required to comply with higher energy performance and sustainability standards in the London Plan and City Plan. · Permitted development schemes would not be required to optimise the use of residential land leading to inefficient development that fails to meet identified housing demand.
4.2 Members noted the following: -
· That there were there had been limited studies to date looking at the size of floor plates and the potential loss of office units under the proposed permitted development rights scheme for Class E. Members noted that the data which was available focused on London and looked at various grades of office accommodation. The Sub-Committee were reminded that the CAZ within Westminster and other areas in London such as Canary Wharf and City of London had large floor plates and were subject to Article 4 Directions and therefore it was difficult at this stage to determine potential loss of commercial units or demand for conversions.
· That prior-approval schemes had a shorter determination period and had a limited range of criteria in relation to suitability. Members noted that applicants would be required to apply for a full planning application if they fail to meet the prior approval criteria and noted that the prior approval requirements were not as expansive compared to the planning regime.
· That the mitigation measures recommended in the council’s consultation response include ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |
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DRAFT EARLY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT GUIDANCE PDF 337 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: 5.1 The Committee received a report which provided an overview of the Draft Early Community Engagement Guidance. Over recent years local communities have raised concerns that they are regularly consulted too late in the planning pre-application process by developers, or in some instances not consulted at all. Often the engagement that is undertaken amounts to presentation of a finalised scheme, which is shortly after submitted as a formal application without scope for the community engagement to influence the proposal. In this context, officers have developed a draft Early Community Engagement Guidance Note.
5.2 The purpose of the draft guidance is to ensure that developers are aware of the Council’s expectation that community engagement is undertaken as early as possible during the planning preapplication phase using methods that maximise meaningful engagement with all parts of the local community.
5.3 The draft guidance sets out examples of good practice and provides a template timeframe for engagement to show how community engagement should be scheduled relative to other pre-application engagement with other stakeholders and officers. It also explains the level of information that should be submitted with pre-application requests to officers and with formal planning applications to demonstrate the community engagement that has been undertaken and how the engagement has helped to refine the finalised development proposal.
5.4 The guidance seeks to ensure that all engagement is compliant with the Equality Act 2010 and is inclusive, engaging traditionally disengaged groups as well as those who are more frequently engaged in planning matters. Informal consultation on the draft guidance was undertaken between 15 February and 12 March. In addition to the invitation to provide written comments on the draft guidance officers held discussion forums with residents’ groups and the Westminster Property Association during w/c 1 March. The following groups were consulted: -
• Amenity Societies • Neighbourhood Forums • Other semi-recognised residents groups • Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) • Queens Park Community Council • Westminster Property Association (WPA)
5.5 Members held a discussion and noted the following: -
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ANY OTHER BUSINESS WHICH THE CHAIRMAN CONSIDERS URGENT Minutes:
6.1 The Chair reminded the Committee that they were scheduled to receive training on sustainability, Planning Updates and the City Plan.
6.2 The Committee was informed that the Urban Design London had an annual training programme and that members could enrol on their courses. The Training Programme will be circulated to the Sub-Committee.
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING · 22 July 2021 · 25 October 2021 Minutes: · 22 July 2021
· 25 October 2021 |