Agenda item

The Planning Team Leader:

 

a.    advised that planning permission was requested for the demolition of existing City Council owned garage blocks at the garage court off Hermit Street and erection of eleven dwellings with associated parking, bin stores, landscaping and boundary treatments

 

b.    reported that the application proposed removal of the existing 55 garages, within two blocks, to accommodate eleven 2 and 2½ storey dwellings arranged as four pairs of semi-detached dwellings and one terrace of three

 

c.    highlighted that the five 2 storey houses would accommodate two bedrooms with the six 2½ storey dwellings accommodating three bedrooms

 

d.    clarified that the scheme would be 100% affordable and would be delivered and managed as affordable rented accommodation by the City of Lincoln Council

 

e.    reported that the application also proposed:

 

·         Associated parking for the dwellings including public parking.

·         Two bin stores.

·         Alterations to the existing access from Hermit Street and to the electricity sub-station.

·         The application site also included areas of land to the north east, on the corner with Hermit Street and Portland Street, and to the south, off Monson Street. These would receive landscape improvements and additional tree planting to off-set the proposed removal of three Ash trees within the existing garage court.

·         A further parcel of land within the passageway serving the Portland Street terrace was also included within the site, which would have a secure gate installed.

 

f.     described further the location of the site to the west of Hermit Street with:

 

·         The 2 and 3 storey flats of 1-21 (odd) sitting on the opposite side of the street.

·         The rear of two terraces on Portland Street to the north.

·         The terrace to the western end of the site which included no’s 3-17. These were a mix of flats with some of the properties having a commercial use on the ground floor with residential above.

·         The other terrace included no’s 21-23, which was occupied as The Nest Nursery and Pre-School, and no’s 25-43, each occupied as five flats.

·         Three storey flats located on Hermit Street to the north.

·         A 2m high palisade fence in place to the west of the site with the end of Chaplin Street and the Thomas Cooper Memorial Church beyond.

·         An access within this boundary to 3 and 5 Portland Street, which would be blocked up as a result of the development.

 

g.    highlighted that the site was located within Flood Zone 2 and abutted the West Parade and Brayford Conservation Area to the north

 

h.    reported that the application was submitted by the City Council’s Major Developments Department as part of wider proposals to undertake enhancements to some of the existing flats to improve the housing in the area; works were expected to be delivered in two phases over the next three to four years, with the proposed 11 dwellings forming Phase 1

 

i.      advised that as part of the design and planning process, the Major Developments Department carried out a survey both online and via post to 238 residents which took place from the 27^th January to 10^th February; a total of 18 responses were received, overall, the results showed that the most important issue was a feeling of safety and security, followed by the desire to have an affordable home, in terms of regeneration of the area, most people said they would prefer to see a mix of houses and flats in any future development plans, with more green open spaces for residents to enjoy

 

j.      reported that the proposed development had been formulated to address these comments and some key challenges facing the area, including poorly defined private and communal external spaces with little direct value to the adjacent residents, lack of natural surveillance which contributed to incidences of anti-social behaviours and fear of crime, the need to provide affordable rented housing in the area for mixed families and a lack of on street parking

 

k.    advised that prior to the submission of the application the proposals were subject to extensive pre-application discussions between the applicant, agent, Planning Officers and the Principal Conservation Officer and had been revised during the application process to address concerns raised, followed by a further consultation period on the revised proposals

 

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

 

·         Policy S1: The Spatial Strategy and Settlement Hierarchy

·         Policy S3: Housing in the Lincoln Urban Area, Main Towns and Market Towns

·         Policy S6: Design Principles for Efficient Buildings

·         Policy S7: Reducing Energy Consumption - Residential Development

·         Policy S12: Water Efficiency and Sustainable Water Management

·         Policy NS18: Electric Vehicle Charging

·         Policy S21: Flood Risk and Water Resources

·         Policy S22: Affordable Housing

·         Policy S45: Strategic Infrastructure Requirements

·         Policy S47: Accessibility and Transport

·         Policy S53: Design and Amenity

·         Policy S54: Health and Wellbeing

·         Policy S56: Development on Land Affected by Contamination

·         Policy S57: The Historic Environment

·         Policy S61: Biodiversity Opportunity and Delivering Measurable Net Gains

·         Policy S66: Trees, Woodland and Hedgerows

·         Supplementary Planning Document: Central Lincolnshire Developer Contributions

·         National Planning Policy Framework

 

13. highlighted that the application was submitted in March 2023

 

14. added that as the planning application was submitted prior to the adoption of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan in April 2023, before the new biodiversity policy requirements were in place; these were therefore not always met in full; however positive steps had been taken towards satisfying the policy requirements where possible including the utilisation of heat pumps, additional insulation, triple-glazing, and additional planting, which was considered to be a reasonable approach

 

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

 

 

16. outlined the responses made to the consultation exercise

 

17. concluded that:

 

 

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

 

The following comments were received from members:

 

·         This development represented an excellent improvement plan in the centre of our City.

·         Once residents parking came into force, residents in the area would benefit greatly.

·         The use of a previous garage site for two bed and family accommodation may see issues of anti-social behaviour improved.

·         The development would retain some car parking spaces.

·         There were not as many bio diversity directives in the scheme as would have been liked, however, steps had been taken to address this where possible.

·         Use of Brownfield sites to build much needed family homes was very welcome.

·         The scheme provided much needed affordable housing at the start of a significant redesign development in the area, which would also reduce anti-social behaviour.

·         The dwellings would be efficient, provide parking space and electric charge vehicle points.

 

Members asked:

 

·         Who would be responsible for the Digi-lock gates at the rear access to the properties and locked bin storage facilities?

·         Would the bin storage accommodate communal bins or individual bins; would there be enough bin space to accommodate purple lidded bins once introduced?

·         Would provision be made for eye-level fencing and CCTV cameras to deal with police security concerns?

 

The Planning Team Leader offered the following points of clarification to members:

 

·         Bin storage would be spread over two areas and offered adequate room within for communal bins.

·         Fences would be installed to protect rear gardens.

·         Fencing had been raised to a height of 2 metres to meet the requirements of Lincolnshire Police. The gates would be of similar height.

·         There was provision secured for several locked gates to protect access from Portland Street, which would be the responsibility of our housing colleagues at the City of Lincoln Council.

·         CCTV surveillance would be the responsibility of the housing department

 

RESOLVED that subject to final comments being received from Lincolnshire County Council raising no objection in relation to the revised site layout plan and drainage information, planning permission be granted subject to the following conditions:

 

1.    Delegated authority be granted to the Assistant Director of Planning to secure the financial contribution towards health;

 

2.    Conditions:

 

·         Time limit of the permission

·         Development in accordance with approved plans

·         Samples of materials including hard surfacing

·         Windows and doors to be set in reveal

·         Landscaping schemes

·         Tree protection measures

·         Surface water management strategy

·         Archaeological Written Scheme of Investigation

·         Development in accordance with specified FFLs and FRA

·         Contaminated land

·         ASHPs sound level emissions equal to or less than specified

·         Implementation of energy efficiency measures

·         Water efficiency standards

·         Provision of EV charging points for dwellings and EV underground infrastructure for parking spaces

·         Hours of construction/delivery