Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 10 August 2022 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a true record.

No declarations of interest were received.

In the interests of transparency:

·         Councillors Hewson and C Burke wished it to be recorded in relation to Item No 4 (a) of the agenda, 471-480 High Street, Lincoln, that they sat on the board of the Upper Witham Drainage Board, but had no interest in the matter to be determined.

An update sheet was circulated in advance of the meeting, which included:

·         An additional consultation response in respect of agenda Item No 4(a) 471-480 High Street, Lincoln (2021/0598/FUL)

·         An additional consultee response and an updated officer recommendation in respect of agenda Item No 4(b)-Lincolnshire Sports Partnership, Tanners Lane, Lincoln (2021/0584/FUL)

·         Additional consultee responses and photographs in respect of agenda Item No 4 (c) Garage Court, Derwent Street, Lincoln (2022/0542/RM)

RESOLVED that the update sheet be received by Planning Committee

Kieron Manning, Assistant Director, Planning:

1. advised members of the reasons why a temporary tree preservation order made by the Assistant Director for Planning under delegated powers should be confirmed at the following site:

2. provided details of the individual trees to be covered by the order and the contribution they made to the area

3. reported that the making of any Tree Preservation Order was likely to result in further demands on staff time to deal with any applications submitted for consent to carry out tree work and to provide advice and assistance to owners and others regarding protected trees, however, this was contained within existing staffing resources

4. reported that the initial 6 months of protection for these trees would come to an end for the Tree Preservation Order on 26 November 2022

5. confirmed that the reason for making a Tree Preservation Order on this site was as a result of an application by the occupier to fell both of the trees; the trees were located within a Conservation Area, and it was through the assessment process that the Arboricultural Officer identified they were worthy of a Tree Prevention Order to ensure their protection in the future.

6. advised that following a one month consultation period, no objections had been received to the order

7. advised that confirmation of the Tree Preservation Order here would ensure that the tree could not be removed or worked on without the express permission of the council which would be considered detrimental to visual amenity and as such the protection of the tree would contribute to one of the Councils priorities of enhancing our remarkable place.

RESOLVED that Tree Preservation Order No 172 be confirmed without modification and that delegated authority be granted to the Assistant Director of Planning to carry out the requisite procedures for confirmation.

The Planning Team Leader:

a)    described the application site, located at the south end of the High Street on the eastern side, previously part of a Peugeot Garage which was now vacant, and included the former United Reform Church to the boundary of the site fronting High Street

b)    added that the site lay adjacent to the South Park/St Catherines roundabout, with Sincil Dyke located to the south, residential properties on the other side of the bank fronting South Park, and residential properties to the north lining Spencer Street

c)    confirmed that the site was situated within the St Catherines Conservation Ara No 4

d)    stated that the scheme was submitted by Torsion Care, also the applicant for a planning permission recently granted to build a care home fronting High Street (2021/0597/FUL); whilst the applications had been submitted separately due to funding arrangements, the applicant intended to construct the two schemes simultaneously should the current application be granted

e)    advised that planning permission was sought for a new building comprising 20 retirement living apartments and conversion of the former United Reform Church to form 5 residential flats; the new building would be accessed via Cross Spencer Street with provision of 27 car parking spaces on the site including accessible spaces, an attenuation pond, refuse and cycle storage

f)     added that the proposals included demolition of the former Abacus Motor Group Showroom and ancillary motor repair buildings

g)    reported that pre-application discussions had taken place and further discussions had continued throughout the application process with the applicant and their architect; revisions had been submitted to address officer concerns regarding overlook, design and access

h)    provided details of the policies pertaining to the application, as follows:

·         Policy LP1: A Presumption in Favour of Sustainable Development

·         Policy LP2: The Spatial Strategy and Settlement Hierarchy

·         Policy LP9: Health and Wellbeing

·         Policy LP10: Meeting Accommodation Needs

·         Policy LP11: Affordable Housing

·         Policy LP12: Infrastructure to Support Growth

·         Policy LP13: Accessibility and Transport

·         Policy LP14: Managing Water Resources and Flood Risk

·         Policy LP16: Development of Land Affected by Contamination

·         Policy LP21: Biodiversity and Geodiversity

·         Policy LP25: The Historic Environment

·         Policy LP26:Design and Amenity

·         PolicyLP27: Main Town Centre Uses-Frontages and Advertisements

·         Policy LP29: Protecting Lincoln’s Setting and Character

·         Policy LP33: Lincoln’s City Centre Primary Shopping Area and Central Mixed Use Area

·         Policy LP35: Lincoln’s Regeneration and Opportunity Areas

·         National Planning Policy Framework

i)     advised Planning Committee of the main issues to be considered as part of the application to assess the proposal with regards to:

·         Principle and Policy Background

·         Developer Contributions

·         Assessment of Impact to the Character and Appearance of the Conservation Area

·         Impact on the Residential Amenity

·         Highways and Drainage

·         Archaeology

·         Contamination

·         Other Issues

j)     outlined the responses made to the consultation exercise

k)    referred to the Update sheet which contained an additional response received in respect of the proposed application for development

l)     concluded that:

·         The development would relate well to the site and surroundings, particularly in relation to siting, height, scale, massing and design.

·         The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

The Assistant Director of Planning:

a)    described the application site, located at the bottom of Tanners Lane, currently accommodating a two storey warehouse along the west boundary with a hardstanding and a number of adjoined portacabins to the east

b)    advised that the site was currently used by Lincolnshire Co-operative Society for storage, accessed to the east from the High Street, via the single width of Tanners Lane

c)    described the layout of the site as follows:

·         A small car park to the north, beyond which was the Coach House and Firth Court, both occupied as offices;

·         The Ritz (Weatherspoon’s) to the north east;

·         A service yard/car park to the east which sat to the rear of 137-140 and 141 High Street, and shared access to the site from Tanners Lane;

·         A former chapel, 134 High Street, to the east of the service yard, that abutted Tanners Lane, now occupied by Flames of Lincoln;

·         Tanners Court to the south of the site, a three and four storey residential development; and

·         To the west Royal Mail Sorting Office.

d)    confirmed that the site was not situated within a Conservation Area although it was abutted to the north by the West Parade and Brayford Conservation Area, which also incorporated properties on the High Street to the east; whilst The Ritz, The Coach House and 134 High Street were of significance, these were not listed and there were no other listed buildings in the vicinity

e)    advised that planning permission was sought for the erection of a single storey extension to the roof of the existing two storey warehouse and a four storey extension to the east elevation to facilitate the conversion to 21 student cluster flats to accommodate in total 80 en-suite bed spaces along with shared communal areas

f)     reported that the extensions would be modern additions, intended to reflect and enhance the industrial character of the existing warehouse

g)    confirmed that there would be no on-site parking although cycle parking would be available within the landscaped forecourt, together with provision of an enclosed bin store

h)    reported that prior to the submission of the application, the site was subject to extensive pre-application discussions with the architect, applicant team, Planning Officer and Principal Conservation Officer; officers raised a number of concerns in terms of scale and massing of the extensions for the initial proposal, since then a number of alternative schemes had been considered prior to the formal submission of the current proposals

i)     provided details of the policies pertaining to the application, as follows:

·         Policy LP1: A Presumption in Favour of Sustainable Development

·         Policy LP2: The Spatial Strategy and Settlement Hierarchy

·         Policy LP9: Health and Wellbeing

·         Policy LP12: Infrastructure to Support Growth

·         Policy LP13: Accessibility and Transport

·         Policy LP14: Managing Water Resources and Flood Risk

·         Policy LP16: Development of Land Affected by Contamination

·         Policy LP18:Climate Change and Low Carbon Living

·         Policy LP25: The Historic Environment

·         Policy LP26:Design and Amenity

·         Policy LP33: Lincoln’s City Centre Primary Shopping Area and Central Mixed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

The Assistant Director of Planning:

a)    advised that Reserved Matters planning permission  was sought including access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale, for the erection of 4 dwellings on a parcel of land on Derwent Street, situated off Carholme Road

b)    described the area characterised by two-storey terrace properties, currently occupied by 18 single storey lock-up garages with outline permission granted for up to 4 dwellings

c)    provided details of the policies pertaining to the application, as follows:

·         Policy LP26:Design and Amenity

·         National Planning Policy Framework

d)    advised Planning Committee of the main issues to be considered as part of the application to assess the proposal with regards to:

·         Principle of the Development

·         Visual Amenity and Design

·         Impact on Neighbours

·         Technical Matters

e)    outlined the responses made to the consultation exercise

f)     referred to the Update sheet which contained additional consultee responses and photographs in respect of the proposed application for development

g)    concluded that:

·         The proposed development would be of an appropriate design and would assimilate well into the streetscene.

·         The proposal would have no adverse impacts on neighbours and would be an acceptable use in this location.

·         The proposal therefore accorded with national and local planning policy.

Julie Lamb, local resident, addressed Planning Committee in objection to the proposed development, covering the following main points:

·         She lived on the curve of Derwent Street , to the front of which a car park would be built as shown on the photographs included on the Update Sheet.

·         She had lived there for 16 years.

·         The road was not wide.

·         Emergency vehicles struggled to access the road due to its width.

·         There was not enough room for turning space.

·         If the houses were moved back 5.5metres a car parking space could be accommodated in front of the dwellings rather than reducing the available car turning area at the end of the street.

·         The lamp post close to her house would need to be moved, making the area very dark around her property.

·         One neighbour would experience overlooking from the proposed development.

·         Construction vehicles parked on the side of her house meaning she had to wait to gain access to her driveway.

·         The car parking area had been removed as part of the land although it did not belong to the developers.

·         Cars often turned round at night in front of her window and that of neighbours, having to reverse due to lack of turning space.

·         She hoped Planning Committee would listen to the impact on existing residents which would occur as a result of the proposed build.

The Committee discussed the content of the report in further detail.

The following comments were received from members:

·         The concerns again related to highway issues, however as the Highways Authority had raised no objections to the proposed scheme there was no valid reason to vote against it.

·         The remit of Planning Committee was to consider the application before it this evening, which already had outline planning permission.

·         Land ownership was a legal matter and not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.