Arrowhead Quay, Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Planning Application No

planning report D&P/0018c/02 4 February 2015 Arrowhead Quay, Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets planning application no. PA/12/03315 Strategic planning application stage II referral Town & Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended); Greater London Authority Acts 1999 and 2007; Town & Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008. The proposal Erection of two buildings of 55 and 50 storeys to provide 756 residential units and ancillary uses plus ground floor retail uses, provision of ancillary amenity space, landscaping, public dockside walkway and pedestrian route, basement car park, servicing and a new vehicular access. The applicant The applicant is Ballymore, the architect is Glen Howells and the agent is GVA. Strategic issues Issues with respect to principle of development, inclusive design, housing, noise, climate change and transport have been satisfactorily addressed since Stage One and the proposed residential development is supported in strategic planning terms. The Council’s decision In this instance, Tower Hamlets Council has resolved to grant planning permission, subject to conditions and completion of a section 106 agreement. Recommendation That Tower Hamlets Council be advised that the Mayor is content for it to determine the case itself, subject to any action that the Secretary of State may take, and does not therefore wish to direct refusal or direct that he is to be the local planning authority. Context 1 On 6 February 2013, the Mayor of London received documents from Tower Hamlets Council notifying him of a planning application of potential strategic importance to develop the above site for the above uses. This was referred to the Mayor under Categories 1A, 1B and 1C of the Schedule to the Order 2008: 1A: Development which comprises or includes the provision of more than 150 houses, flats, or houses and flats; page 1 1B: Development (other than development which only comprises the provision of houses, flats, or houses and flats) which comprises or includes the erection of a building or building outside Central London and with a total floorspace of more than 15,000 square metres; 1C: Development which comprises or includes the erection of a building of more than 30 metres high. 2 On 6 March 2013, the Mayor considered planning report PDU/0018c/01, and subsequently advised Tower Hamlets Council that the application was generally acceptable in strategic planning terms; however further discussion was needed on the issues set out in paragraph 77 of that report. 3 A copy of the above-mentioned report is attached. The essentials of the case with regard to the proposal, the site, case history, strategic planning issues and relevant policies and guidance are as set out therein, unless otherwise stated in this report. Since then, the application has been revised and further information submitted in response to the Mayor’s concerns (see below). On 6 November 2014, Tower Hamlets Council decided that it was minded to grant planning permission, subject to conditions and completion of a section 106 agreement, and on 28 January 2015 it advised the Mayor of this decision. Under the provisions of Article 5 of the Town & Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008, the Mayor may allow the draft decision to proceed unchanged, direct Tower Hamlets Council under Article 6 to refuse the application, or issue a direction to the Council under Article 7 that he is to act as the Local Planning Authority for the purposes of determining the application and any connected application. The Mayor has until 10 February 2015 to notify the Council of his decision and to issue any direction. 4 The environmental information for the purposes of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011 has been taken into account in the consideration of this case. 5 The decision on this case, and the reasons will be made available on the GLA’s website www.london.gov.uk. Update 6 At the consultation stage, Tower Hamlets Council was advised that the application was generally acceptable in strategic planning terms; however further information was required on the issues set out in paragraph 77 of that report: Principle of development: Whilst the provision of a residential led development of this site is supported in principle, further discussion is needed regarding the provision of social infrastructure in the wider area and associated section 106 contributions. Inclusive design: Further information was requested on the location and design of wheelchair accessible units; inclusive access at the southern arrival court; ramps to the raised amenity space and the upper level of the cafe; and accessibility of the proposed ‘trim trail’. Housing: Further discussions are needed on viability, the level of affordable housing and off-site provision. Noise: A noise assessment needs to be submitted, which sets out the NEC categories for the site. Climate change: The applicant should provide a commitment to ensuring that the development is designed to allow future connection to a district heating network should one become available. The applicant should provide confirmation that all apartments page 2 and non-domestic building uses will be connected to the site heat network. Further discussion and commitments are needed regarding flooding and drainage. Transport: Contributions should be provided towards bus capacity, real-time information boards and Legible London. Any improvements identified in the PERS audit should be funded. A stage one safety audit for the access ramp should be carried out and confirmation of the type of cycle parking should be provided. 7 Since Stage One, there have been a number of policy amendments and publications. On 6 March 2014 the Department for Communities and Local Government published Planning Practice Guidance to support the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). In addition, the Further Alterations to the London Plan has been through examination and gained further weight and Tower Hamlets has adopted its Managing Development Document (April 2013). These do not result in any fundamental changes to the consideration of the case, but have been taken into account in this assessment. 8 The applicant has responded to the matters raised in the Stage One report, including minor revisions to the scheme, as set out below. Principle of development 9 At Stage One, the proposal for residential-led mixed use purposes was accepted in principle, in view of the site’s location outside the core office area around Canary Wharf. However, in line with London Plan Policy 3.7 ‘Large residential developments’, further information was requested on section 106 contributions for social infrastructure. As discussed under ‘section 106 agreement’ below, contributions of £706,436 have been secured towards leisure facilities; £1,366,418 towards school places; £894,860 towards health facilities; £47,478 towards off-site play space; and £73,066 as a credit towards Crossrail CIL. This is in addition to financial contributions of £5,871,372 received via a section 106 agreement to mitigate impacts associated with the part-implemented office scheme on the site (LPA ref: PA/07/00347). Inclusive design 10 As requested at Stage One, a condition has secured that the location and layout of the proposed easily adaptable wheelchair housing units will be approved by the Council prior to commencement, in order to confirm that the units are distributed across tenure types and flat sizes. Furthermore, revised internal layouts have been provided to demonstrate that the wheelchair accessible units will be easily adaptable. 11 At Stage One, some concerns were expressed about the shared surface at the proposed southern arrival court on Marsh Wall. The space now excludes a previously proposed fountain and includes a clear kerb line to help legibility, which is welcomed. Minor revisions have also been made to the application to provide for a raised kerb line next to the proposed taxi drop-off point, which will help wheelchair users negotiate the transition into and out of a taxi. 12 The applicant was also requested to consider an additional ramp to the raised amenity space to the west of the building, to allow access from the dockside. The applicant has investigated the possibility of a ramp, but concluded that this would negatively impact areas of child play and amenity space. As the currently proposed ramp is centrally located between Marsh Wall and the dockside, it is accepted that this will provide adequate access to the space. The applicant has also confirmed that the child play equipment and outdoor gym equipment as part of the ‘trim trail’ will include accessible equipment. This has been secured by condition. 13 The applicant has also investigated whether a ramp could be included to provide access to the upper level of the cafe, rather than a platform lift, concluding that an overly complicated page 3 and excessive ramp would be required, which would result in a significant loss of space in the cafe, as well as obstructing the dock side entrance and negatively impacting the cafe frontage. This is accepted, in particular since the lower level of the cafe is accessible at ground floor level, and also provides access to wheelchair accessible toilets. 14 The proposals now meet the inclusive design policy requirements of the London Plan. Housing 15 The applicant has provided a revised schedule of the 756 residential units, as follows: Market Intermediate Affordable rent TOTAL TOTAL Stage 1 Current Stage 1 Current Current Stage 1 Current Studio 204 170 0 0 0 204 (26%) 170 (22%) 1 bed 206 171 12 11 27 218 (28%) 209 (28%) 2 bed 337 280 24 21 22 361 (45%) 323 (43%) 3 bed 3 3 6 10 28 9 (1%) 41 (5%) 4 bed 0 0 0 0 13 0 13 (2%) Total 750 624 42 42 90 792 756 (95%) (83%) (5%) (5%) (12%) 16 At Stage One, the high proportion of studio, one and two-bed units was accepted given the location, the typology of the development and the constraints of the site.

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