Agenda item

Demolition of 127 Oxford Street and 205 Wardour Street, 129-131 Oxford Street, 133-135 Oxford Street (including 53-54 Berwick Street and 201 Wardour Street) (behind retained Oxford, Wardour and Berwick Street facades and partially retained interior), 137 Oxford Street, 139-143 Oxford Street (behind retained façade) and 55 Berwick Street. Excavation to provide new Basement 02 and Basement 03 levels. Redevelopment of site to provide ancillary plant and facilities at Basement 03 and part Basement 02 level; nightclub (sui generis) at part Basement 02 and part Basement 01 level (with ground floor entrance at No. 55 Berwick Street); retail (Class A1) floorspace at part Basement 01, part ground and part first floor levels; and office (Class B1) at part ground, part first and second to sixth floor levels, and roof top plant.

Additional representations were received from Daejan Investments Ltd (16/01/19) and Historic England (26/11/18).

A late representation was received from the Soho Society Planning Committee (22.01.19).

The Presenting Officer tabled the following amendments:

Planning Application (Ref: 18/00175/FULL)

Amended Condition 28

The retail floorspace (Class A1) hereby approved shall not be used as food retailing.Notwithstanding the provisions of Class A1 of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 as amended April 2005 (or any equivalent class in any order that may replace it) the Class A1 retail accommodation hereby approved shall not be used as a food retail supermarket outlet or similar.

No change to reason.

Additional Condition 31

There shall be no primary cooking on site such that you must not cook raw or fresh food on the premises.

Reason:

We do not have enough information to decide whether it would be possible to provide extractor equipment that would deal properly with cooking smells and look suitable. This is as set out in S24, S29 and S32 of Westminster’s City Plan (November 2016) and ENV 5 and ENV 6 of our Unitary Development Plan that we adopted in January 2007.

Listed Building Consent Application (Ref: 18/00176/LBC)

Delete Condition 5

You must apply to us for approval of a comprehensive method statement and drawings of the following parts of the development.

Proposals for jacking up and modifying the retained street facades of 134-143 Oxford Street.

You must not start any work on these parts of the development until we have approved what you have sent us. You must then carry out the work according to these documents.

Amend Condition 6

You must apply to us for approval of a comprehensive method statement and drawings of the following parts of the development.

Proposals for the reuse of existing internal features, including the main staircase.

You must not start any work on these parts of the development demolition of Ilford House (133-135 Oxford Street (including 53-54 Berwick Street and 201 Wardour Street)) until we have approved what you have sent us. You must then carry out the work according to these documents.

No change to reason.

RESOLVED: Grant: Councillors Mohindra, Freeman, Gassanly, Glen and Hitchcock; Refuse: Councillors Boothroyd and Bush

1.            That conditional permission, as amended, be granted, subject to Condition 30 being amended to permit the nightclub to open until 04:00 hours on Mondays to Saturdays, and subject to a legal agreement to secure the following:

a)        A contribution to the City Council's Affordable Housing Fund of £1,735,000 (index linked), payable prior to commencement of development.

b)        A Carbon Offset Contribution of £80,000 (index linked), payable prior to commencement of development.

c)         A Crossrail payment of £516,309 (index linked) payable within 60 days of commencement of development (minus any relevant Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy paid).

d)        Undertaking of highways works in the vicinity of the site, including alterations to the crossroad of Oxford Street, Wardour Street and Berners Street including but not necessarily limited to kerb line alterations (to enable widening of the footway outside the site on Wardour Street), wayleaving of street light in Wardour Street onto the application site’s frontage, associated traffic order making, alterations to crossing points, associated carriageway marking positions and any other associated works to accommodate the development (highways works to have been agreed and alterations to traffic orders to have been confirmed prior to commencement of development).

e)        An employment and training strategy.

f)          The re-provision of a nightclub (Sui Generis) on site to shell and core (ready for tenant fit out) prior to the occupation of any of the office floorspace on site.

g)        The costs of monitoring the S106 legal agreement.

2.    That if the S106 legal agreement had not been completed within six weeks of the date of this resolution then:

a)        The Director of Place Shaping and Planning should consider whether it would be possible or appropriate to issue the permission with additional conditions attached to secure the benefits listed above. If so, the Director of Place Shaping and Planning was authorised to determine and issue the decision under Delegated Powers; however, if not;

b)        The Director of Place Shaping and Planning should consider whether the permission should be refused on the grounds that it had not proved possible to complete an agreement within an appropriate timescale, and that the proposals were unacceptable in the absence of the benefits that would have been secured; if so the Director of Place Shaping and Planning was authorised to determine the application and agree appropriate reasons for refusal under Delegated Powers.

3.         That the Committee authorised the making of a draft order pursuant to s247 or s248 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for the stopping up of parts of the public highway. That the Director of Place Shaping and Planning, Executive Director of City Management and Communities, or other such proper officer of the City Council responsible for highway functions, be authorised to take all necessary procedural steps in conjunction with the making of the order and to make the order as proposed if there were no unresolved objections to the draft order. The applicant would be required to cover all costs of the Council in progressing the stopping up order.

4.         That conditional listed building consent be agreed.

5.         That the reasons for granting listed building consent as set out in Informative 1 of the draft decision letter be agreed.