PLANNING SUB-COMMITTEE Date: 17Th July 2002
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PLANNING SUB-COMMITTEE Date: 17th July 2002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applic. No: C/01/1276 Agenda Item No. : Date Recvd: 27th November 2001 Officer: Kim Winwood Ward: Castle Site: Land adjacent to 1 Hertford Street, and at 1-3 Chesterton Road, Cambridge Proposal: Construction of new College Residential Court and associated facilities. Applicant: Cloverleaf Ltd Magdalene College Cambridge ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.0 SITE DESCRIPTION/AREA CONTEXT 1.1 The application site relates to a plot of land, located on the north side of Chesterton Road, owned by Magdalene College. It is roughly rectangular in shape although includes a dogleg addition which fronts Hertford Street. There is a 5.5m change in ground level across the site, where land slopes steeply upwards towards its rear boundary. 1.2 The site has its main street frontage along Chesterton Road and encompasses Nos.1 and 3. The north boundary extends along the full length of the house and garden of No.5 Magrath Avenue and is separated from it by an existing 4m high brick wall. The east boundary abuts rear gardens of Nos. 1-11 Hertford Street, together with the rear gardens of Nos.5-9 Chesterton Road. The west boundary extends along an existing private access controlled by and serving the neighbouring Clare College. The south side of Chesterton Road, opposite the application site, forms the private Fellows garden extending from the main college building at Magdalene Street. 1.3 The site has a City Centre location, and straddles the boundary line of Conservation Area No.1, where the buildings on the Chesterton Road frontage only are included within the conservation area. There are no listed buildings on site. Existing Buildings on Site 1.4 The principal buildings on the site are Nos 1 and 3 Chesterton Road. No 1 is a substantial two-storey mid-Victorian property of gault brick with hipped slate roofs and Gothic detailing. Attached at the east end is a servants wing (now 1a), and the whole appears on the 1886 Ordnance Survey Plan as ‘Sunnyside’. Adjacent to the east is No 3, a tall 4-storey brick house, probably slightly later than No1, but again appearing on the 1886 OS as ‘Highclere’. This has Classical (or Italianate) detailing and the first floor rooms are raised up as a piano nobile level. 1.5 To the rear of No 1, and presumably originally its stable and coach house, is No 4 Magrath Avenue. This is a two-storey structure of brick and slate but much altered. Relatively recently it was in use as a funeral parlour. The former Ice Cream factory fronts Hertford Street and is a utilitarian building built originally in the 1950s but added to in haphazard fashion. It has large areas of flat and corrugated roofing over brick and rendered walls. Existing Use of Site 1.6 Nos.1, 1a and 3 Chesterton Road are currently used as student accommodation. The remaining buildings, The Ice Cream Factory and Funeral Directors have been redundant for some time. In the case of the Ice Cream Factory, ownership of the premises was transferred in 1994 from the City Council to Magdalene College, and since this time the premises have remained vacant. 1.7 Part of the site is currently used as an informal car park for approximately 30 cars, with access taken from Chesterton Road. 2.0 THE PROPOSAL 2.1 Full planning permission is sought for a new residential court and associated facilities. The proposal requires the demolition of 1a Chesterton Road, the funeral parlour (4 Magrath Avenue) and The Ice Cream Factory. 2.2 The scheme provides for re-development of the site. A new residential courtyard is proposed and stems from a new entrance building, located between and linking into the existing Nos 1 and 3 Chesterton Road. A total of 45 bedsitting rooms are provided, replacing 25 existing. 2.3 Bedsitting rooms are accommodated within the north and west wings of the courtyard development, together with upper levels of the Chesterton Road buildings. Associated facilities include a primary access taken from the new entrance lobby at lower ground floor level within the new entrance building. Offices, a porter’s room, computer and music rooms and 5 new lecture rooms are also accommodated. 2.4 A substantial part of the development provides for a new 150 seat auditorium, sports hall and gym and a 150 seat dining room and café/bar. These elements are located within the development to replace the Ice Cream factory. A new street frontage elevation onto Hertford Street is therefore proposed. A kitchen, staff and shower rooms and plant rooms are to be accommodated adjacent to the Hertford Street frontage. 2.5 Vehicular access is taken from the rear of the site off Magrath Avenue. Here, a 16 space car park, of which 2 spaces are for disabled persons, is located to the rear of the site alongside the boundary with No.5 Magrath Avenue. 158 cycle parking spaces are provided throughout the site both within the rear compound of the site and on the Chesterton Road frontage. A new pedestrian crossing is proposed on Chesterton Road to allow for easy pedestrian and cyclist movement between the main college and this development. 2.6 The scheme also seeks removal of three existing street trees on Chesterton Road, but provides for replacement planting of the same species but in a more suitable and sustainable location. New boundary walls and railings are also proposed along Chesterton Road. 3.0 SITE HISTORY 3.1 None relevant 4.0 PUBLICITY Advertisement: Yes Adjoining Owners: Yes Site Notice Displayed: Yes 5.0 POLICY 5.1 Central government advice PPG1 General Policy and Principles (1997) paragraph 40 states that Section 54A of the 1990 Act requires that applications for planning permission shall be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Conversely, applications which are not in accordance with relevant policies in the plan would not be allowed unless material considerations justify a planning permission. PPG 3 Housing (2000) gives guidance on developing within established residential areas. Emphasis is also placed on making the best use of land, sustainability and securing adequate housing for all groups within the community. PPG 3 encourages the use of previously developed land for housing development and is supportive of such schemes as they can provide an important source of additional dwellings, particularly in town centres. Paragraphs 59-62 advise that car parking standards for housing have become increasingly demanding, and developers should not be required to provide more car parking than potential occupiers might want. PPG13 Transport (2001) paragraph 4, identifies the government’s objectives of promoting more sustainable transport choices and reducing the need for travel, especially by car. Paragraph 6 suggests ways in which these objectives can be delivered by local authorities, including accommodating housing principally within existing urban areas. PPG15 Planning and the Historic Environment (1994) gives guidance on the assessment of proposals for development which affect the character of conservation areas and settings of listed buildings. PPG16 Archaeology and Planning (1993) advises, at paragraph 30, that in cases when planning authorities have decided that planning permission may be granted, but wish to secure the provision of archaeological excavation and the subsequent recording of remains, it is open to them to do so by the use of a negative condition. PPG23 Planning and Pollution Control (1994), at paragraph 3.21, advises that in cases where the environmental effects are not of sufficient significance to affect the principle of whether the development should be permitted, planning authorities may attach conditions to the outline planning permission requiring particular environmental matters to be considered in more detail at a later stage. At para 3.25 planning authorities are encouraged to use conditions to meet planning goals to protect the environment, where these are relevant to the development proposed. PPG24 – Planning and Noise (1994) – states at para.12 that planning authorities should consider carefully whether new noise-sensitive development would be incompatible with existing activities. At para 13 a number of mitigation measures are suggested which could be introduced to control the source of, or limit exposure to, noise The Development Plan 5.2 Cambridgeshire Structure Plan 1995 SP1 Key note sustainable development policy SP3/6 Re-using urban land SP4/1 Housing – scale of development SP4/2 Form of Development SP7/1 Traffic management and road improvement SP7/4 Direct access from new development SP7/7 Cyclists SP7/8 Pedestrian SP7/9 Special Mobility Needs SP12/10 New development SP12/11 Historic Buildings and Conservation Areas SP12/13 Nature and landscape in the built environment SP12/14 Archaeological heritage SP18/19 Urban Conservation SP18/20 University Development 5.3 The Cambridge Local Plan (1996) EO1 Pollution – noise, smell and air pollution EO3 Pollution – safeguarding rivers, streams and ground water EO5 Re-use and conversion of existing buildings EO7 Energy and resource efficient development & means of transport EO11 Redevelopment and regeneration EO12 Contaminated Land NE7 Structural open space in major new development NE16 Trees of amenity value NE17 Development and existing trees NE18 Landscaping of sensitive sites BE1 Excellence in urban design