Planning Committee Report Title: Development Management Planni
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Item No. Classification: Date: Meeting Name: 6.1 Open 3 July 2018 Planning Committee Report title: Development Management planning application: 16/AP/4458 for: Full Planning Permission Address: SHOPPING CENTRE SITE, ELEPHANT AND CASTLE, 26, 28, 30 AND 32 NEW KENT ROAD, ARCHES 6 AND 7 ELEPHANT ROAD, AND LONDON COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATIONS SITE, LONDON SE1 Proposal: Phased, mixed-use redevelopment of the existing Elephant and Castle shopping centre and London College of Communication sites comprising the demolition of all existing buildings and structures and redevelopment to comprise buildings ranging in height from single storey to 35 storeys (with a maximum building height of 124.5m AOD) above multi- level and single basements, to provide a range of uses including 979 residential units (use class C3), retail (use Class A1-A4), office (Use Class B1), Education (use class D1), assembly and leisure (use class D2) and a new station entrance and station box for use as a London underground operational railway station; means of access, public realm and landscaping works, parking and cycle storage provision, plant and servicing areas, and a range of other associated and ancillary works and structures. Ward(s) or North Walworth groups St George’s affected: From: Director of Planning Application Start Date 02/12/2016 Application Expiry Date 24/03/2017 Earliest Decision Date 19/01/2017 Draft Planning Performance Agreement RECOMMENDATION 1. a) That planning permission be granted, subject to conditions and the applicant entering into an appropriate legal agreement by no later than 18 December 2018, and subject to referral to the Mayor of London, notifying the Secretary of State, and subject to a decision from Historic England not to list the shopping centre. b) That environmental information be taken into account as required by Regulation 3(4) of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessments) Regulations 2011 (as amended). c) That following the issuing of the permission, the Director of Planning place a statement on the Statutory Register pursuant to Regulation 24 of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessments) Regulations 2011 which contains the information required by Regulation 21, and that for the purposes of Regulation 24(1)(c) the main reasons and considerations on which the planning committee's decision is based are as set out as in the report. d) In the event that the requirements of (a) are not met by 18th December 2018, that the Director of Planning be authorised to refuse planning permission, if appropriate, for the reasons set out at paragraph 757 of this report. COMMITTEE DEFERRAL 2. This application has been presented to two previous Planning Committees, on 16 and 30 January 2018 respectively. At the Planning Committee meeting on 16 January 2018 and following a lengthy debate, a motion to refuse planning permission was started, but members deferred making a decision to enable officers to prepare reasons for refusal based on reasons provided by members at the meeting. 3. Officers presented the draft reasons for refusal to the Planning Committee on 30 January 2018, but on the day of the committee an email by the developer had been forwarded to members of the committee and broadcast on social media making proposals for further discussions. This constituted new material considerations, both in planning terms and in terms of the equalities duty, which councillors had to take into account. This submission was not a formal amendment to the application, but did seek to address the key concerns discussed at the meeting on 16 January 2018, namely: the amount of social rented units, situation of the traders, and leisure provision for groups with protected characteristics. Officers had not had sufficient time to review these proposals, which did not constitute a formal revision of the application, and members of the public were unlikely to have been aware of them. 4. The Chair of the Planning Committee asked whether the member who had put forward the motion to refuse permission on 16 January 2018 wished to withdraw it. The motion was not withdrawn, and the Chair therefore asked for a seconder. There was no seconder, therefore the motion to refuse fell. A subsequent motion to defer this item was proposed, seconded, put to the vote and declared carried, to enable officers to consider and consult upon the applicant’s revised offer. 5. Officers have since considered and consulted upon the revised offer which is set out in a letter dated 13 February 2018 (the applicant’s update letter). The officer report remains largely as per the earlier report but has been updated accordingly, and where substantive new text has been added, this has been italicised. The main changes the applicant has made to the application since it was presented to the Planning Committee on 16 January 2018 are as follows: Affordable housing / Private rented housing (i) A revised affordable housing offer has been submitted which increases the number of social rented units in the development and provides them as traditional social rented units which could be owned by the council or a registered provider, as opposed to ‘social rent equivalent’ units retained by the developer. The revised proposal reduces the number of London Living Rent units within the development, and increases the number of Discount Market Rent units. For clarity, all affordable units within the development would remain affordable in perpetuity. Agreement to a 30 year covenant for the private units on the east site (iii) The applicant proposes a fall back position whereby the housing coming forward on the west site could be either build-to-rent, in which case the private units would have a 30 year covenant, or build-to-sell, in which case no covenant would be required. West site childrens’ playspace (iv) An additional financial contribution is proposed towards childrens’ playspace on the west site to reflect the increased number of social rented units now proposed. Trader support (v) The applicant proposes to set up a trader panel to oversee the delivery of the relocation strategy. This draft proposal is described in the Statement of Community Involvement Section of this report. Pastor Street (vi) The applicant proposes to develop a vision for Pastor Street on the west to provide a cluster of affordable retail and commercial spaces as part of the formal affordable retail offer. A Pastor Street advisory group would be set up to oversee this. Bingo and music venue (vii) The applicant proposes to give the right of first refusal to a bingo operator, on commercial terms, to lease approximately 1,850sqm of the leisure floorspace within the proposed development. This would be large enough to accommodate approximately 959 seats. Transport (viii) Additional information has been submitted to consider what the transport implications would be if the bingo facility referred to above were provided on the west site. (ix) Although not specifically referred to in the applicant’s update letter, at the Planning Committee meeting on 16 January 2018 the applicant agreed to fund a controlled parking zone (CPZ) review in relation to the west site. (x) Additional equalities information has been submitted to assess the impacts of the proposal and to address comments made following public consultation; (xi) An Environmental Impact Assessment update letter has been submitted, which advises that the amendments outlined above would not give rise to any new, additional or different likely significant effects from those already considered within the Environmental Statement. Other matters 6. The applicant’s update letter advises that a temporary retail facility would be created on Castle Square, which is a new area of public realm to the west of the site. The letter advises that it would extend to around 300sqm, and the units would be offered in priority to independent retailers currently located within the shopping centre at affordable rents discounted in line with the standard of accommodation likely to be provided. Members must be aware that this proposal would need to obtain planning permission and the necessary land interest to implement any permission, and as such no weight can be attributed to it in making a decision on the application currently before you. The applicant has agreed that the s106 agreement for the current application can include an obligation requiring the applicant to provide this temporary retail facility in the event that it obtains planning permission, and officers are still in discussions with the applicant regarding this additional proposal. INTRODUCTION 7. The redevelopment of the shopping centre as proposed by this application has been a long held aspiration and is reflected in a series of development plan documents over many years. The Elephant and Castle has experienced enormous change over the past 10 years with the redevelopment of the Heygate Estate which is well under way, the new leisure centre, developments at Elephant One and One the Elephant to name a few. However, the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre has been seen as a very poor design almost since it was completed in the 1960s. Perhaps, more importantly, the access to Elephant and Castle Underground Station has also been seen as a severe defect in the functioning of the area, preventing the town centre from taking its proper place as a focus for the commercial and social life of Southwark and south London. The redevelopment of the shopping centre will provide key new infrastructure to support the changing environment. Critically this scheme provides a unique opportunity for improvements to the Northern Line ticket hall to support new and existing residential development, commercial development and the various education institutions in the area including the London College of Communications intends relocate within the new development, reinforcing the area’s position as a major centre for higher education and further contributing to the life and character of the area.