Agenda item

(Councillors C Burke and Strengiel left the room during the discussion and determination of this item, having declared a personal and pecuniary interest in the matter to be discussed.)

 

The Planning Manager:

 

a.    described the location of Lord Tennyson House to the north side of Rasen Lane on the corner of the entrance with Sastangate House, opposite Cecil Street, with all other boundaries occupied by residential terrace properties 

 

b.    advised that planning permission was sought to vary Condition 13 of planning permission reference 2015/0530/F, granted 18 September 2015, which prohibited the occupation of the building by anyone other than students; the apartments had been occupied by students of Bishop Grosseteste University since opening

 

c.    highlighted that the applicants had stated that the University had recently exercised their right to a clause which broke the lease of these student accommodation blocks; as this had only just been received there was a reduced chance of securing its full occupation for the next academic year

 

d.    reported that permission was now sought to vary condition 13 to:-

 

·         “Notwithstanding the provisions of Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 (or any subsequent re-enactment or revocation thereof) the accommodation hereby approved shall only be used by students or those provided with supported living accommodation and for no other residential use without the prior consent of the City Council as Local Planning Authority”.

 

e.    outlined the site history in relation to the application site as detailed within the officer’s report

 

f.     provided details of the policies pertaining to the application, as follows:

 

·         National Planning Policy Framework

·         Central Lincoln Local Plan – Policy LP26 Design and Amenity                                  

g.    outlined the responses made to the consultation exercise

 

h.    referred to the update sheet which contained a further response received from Lincoln Civic Trust, together with a revised proposed officer recommendation in relation to Condition No 13

 

i.      advised members of the main issues to be considered as part of the application to assess the proposal with regard to:

 

·         Residential Amenity

·         Visual Amenity

·         Applicants Reasons for Varying Condition 13

 

j.      concluded that:

 

·         The variation to allow the occupation of the apartments by both students and as supported living accommodation would have no adverse impacts on neighbouring residents nor result in any visual impacts.

·         The condition still allowed control of car parking which was the reason for the condition being imposed on the original consent.

·         Therefore it was acceptable to allow the variation and it accorded with national and local planning policy.

 

Councillor Donald Nannestad, addressed Planning Committee as Ward Advocate in relation to the proposed development, covering the following main points:

 

·         He thanked members of Planning Committee for allowing him the opportunity to speak.

·         He raised concerns regarding the way in which this issue had been dealt with.

·         According to comments made by objectors, they understood that the application requested authority to remove the condition requiring the premises to be occupied only by students, reverting to open access for all, although this was not the case.

·         There was no mention of provision for supported living accommodation displayed on the planning notice on site.

·         Had the planning notice been set out as per the officer’s report most people would not have objected.

·         Residents were concerned that the development would acquire permission for the premises to be accommodated without restriction which wasn’t what this was about.

·         Residents were not against YMCA accommodation, other supported housing operating in the vicinity was managed very well by this organisation.

 

Mr Phil Scrafton, representing Globe Consultants, agent, addressed Planning Committee on behalf of the applicant in support of the planning application, covering the following main points:

 

·         He hoped he would be able to clarify this matter in a relatively simple form.

·         The development included 13 car parking spaces for 12 apartments.

·         The lease for the property had not been renewed by Bishop Grosseteste University.

·         Some students may still want to remain at Lord Tennyson House and this was not an issue. The accommodation was accredited by the University and in close proximity to the campus.

·         The University now had other needs.

·         The YMCA were happy to take on the lease for the remainder of the accommodation.

·         Provision of off-street parking was sufficient for the scheme.

·         To allow flexibility for YMCA use, Condition 13 required an amendment to be made to allow YMCA occupation as well as student accommodation.

·         The agent had waited for the YMCA to firm up its interest in the accommodation before advertising this in the public domain.

·         Further consultation on the revised use had since been carried out, in order to arrive at the current position.

 

The Planning Manager advised that planning officers could not support the removal of condition 13 in its entirety. The application was then varied to allow student and supported living accommodation at the premises and further consultation carried out on that basis.

 

Members discussed the content of the report in further detail.

 

Individual members made comments in relation to the proposed development as follows:

 

·         We were told that the city did not have enough student accommodation, although in this case the University had not renewed its lease agreement.

·         Could an assurance be given that the flats would remain as single occupancy and that study rooms would not be converted into bedrooms.

·         Perhaps the accommodation could be offered to the University of Lincoln.

·         YMCA support staff would require car parking spaces.

·         We should look into whether student occupation had to be specifically high density accommodation.

·         Student accommodation was not always fully utilised due to it being less affordable than alternative family accommodation.

·         Students had different lifestyles to those living in supported accommodation.

·         There was concern that a precedent could be set here putting a caveat on the type of permitted living only to be overturned at a later date.

·         Potential safeguarding issues may arise with mixed occupation.

 

The Planning Manager offered the following points of clarification:

 

·         A precedent would not be set here as each planning application was considered on its own merits.

·         Members concerns regarding the premises previously being identified solely for student accommodation were appreciated. The original model working within the planning process had been based on the requirement to have a reduced impact on parking pressure in the area. The existing operation of supported accommodation provided by the YMCA on Rasen Lane demonstrated that supported accommodation would not be made worse by the proposals.

·         It was not known what the overall mix of student/supported accommodation mix would be, however, the YMCA would be on site to manage their side of the scheme.

·         The Bishop Grosseteste University had not specified why it had not renewed its tenancy. The remit of Planning Committee was to assess the impact of the proposals before it this evening.

·         It was not possible to impose a condition regarding single occupancy at this point. It was highlighted at the time planning permission was originally granted although there had not been many complaints in term of volume of occupancy and it seemed to be working smoothly.

·         Safeguarding was not a planning issue. It would be an integral inherent requirement of the YMCA to manage the facility taking into account this matter in the discharge of their responsibilities.

 

RESOLVED that planning permission be granted subject to the following conditions.

 

All those conditions on the previous application which are still valid:-

 

• Prior to the installation of any stationary external plant or machinery (including air source heat pumps), a noise impact assessment report shall be submitted to the planning authority for approval.
• The arrangements shown on the approved plan for the parking/turning/manoeuvring/loading/ unloading of vehicles shall be available at all times when the premises are in use.
• Any gates to the vehicular access shall be set back and shall not open over the highway.
• Notwithstanding the provisions of Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 (or any subsequent re-enactment or revocation thereof) the accommodation hereby approved shall only be used by students or those provided with supported living accommodation by the YMCA and for no other residential use without the prior consent of the City Council as Local Planning Authority