planning report PDU/2079a/01 25 June 2012 Land adjacent to Langdon Park Station, 71 Carmen Street & 134-156 Chrisp Street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets planning application no. PA/12/00637 Strategic planning application stage 1 referral (new powers) Town & Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended); Greater London Authority Acts 1999 and 2007; Town & Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008 The proposal Redevelopment of the site to provide a residential led mixed use development, comprising the erection of part 6/7 to 25 storey buildings to provide 232 dwellings and 143 sqm of new commercial floorspace falling within use classes A1, A2, A3, A4, B1, D1 and/or D2, plus car parking spaces, cycle parking, refuse/recycling facilities and access together with landscaping including public, communal and private amenity space The applicant The applicant is Ballymore and the architect is Stock Wolstencroft. Strategic issues The principle of a residential development including a tall building on the site is acceptable. Viability discussions are ongoing and it is not yet clear that the proposal delivers the maximum reasonable amount of affordable housing. Urban design, inclusive design and climate change issues require some further information. Further work and conditions and obligations are also required with regards to transport to address outstanding concerns. Recommendation That Tower Hamlets Council be advised that while the application is generally acceptable in strategic planning terms the application does not comply with the London Plan, for the reasons set out in paragraph 84 of this report; but that the possible remedies set out in paragraph 85 of this report could address these deficiencies. Context 1 On 23 May 2012 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. Under the provisions of The Town & Country Planning (Mayor of London) page 1 2 The application is referable under Categories 1A and 1C of the Schedule to the Order 2008: “Development which comprises or includes the provision of more than 150 houses, flats, or houses and flats.” “Development which comprises or includes the erection of a building of one or more of the following descriptions— (c) the building is more than 30 metres high and is outside the City of London.” 3 Once Tower Hamlets Council has resolved to determine the application, it is required to refer it back to the Mayor for his decision as to whether to direct refusal; take it over for his own determination; or allow the Council to determine it itself. 4 The Mayor of London’s statement on this case will be made available on the GLA website www.london.gov.uk. Site description 5 The site is located in Poplar and is bounded to the west by Chrisp Street, to the south by Carmen Street, with Langdon Park DLR station and tracks to the east. Cording Street bounds the site to the north and across the DLR line is Langdon Park. Adjacent to the south is a 15 storey residential building built by Galliard Homes. The area is characterised by low scale residential properties however there a number of development sites either under construction or in pre- planning for higher density schemes within the vicinity of the site. The site is currently cleared and unoccupied. 6 Thenearest Transport for London Road Network (TLRN) is East India Dock Road (A13), 300 metres away to the south of the site. The site is remote from the Strategic Road Network (SRN) as the nearest section, the A124 is 2 kilometres away. 7 Langdon Park station entrance is a minute walk away from the site. It provides services on the Stratford to Canary Wharf and Lewisham branch of the DLR. There is no London Underground station within reasonable walking distance of the site. Bus route 309 operates along Cordelia Street, 100 metres to the south, while route D8 serves Chrisp Street with stops adjacent to the site. Three further bus routes; 15, 115 and D6 operate along East India Dock Road, approximately 400 metres to the south. The Public Transport Accessibility Level (PTAL) of the site is good and calculated to be a 4 (where 1 is low and 6 is high). 8 The site lies within the area covered by the Mayor’s Cycle Hire Scheme. Docking stations are located at Langdon Park, Lindfield Street and Chrisp Street Market, all within 300m of the site. Details of the proposal 9 Full planning permission is sought for a single 25 storey tower on the south east corner of the site and a U shaped residential block formed by three adjoined blocks to the north. The tower (block 1) is located directly adjacent to the DLR Station or Cording Street completing a gateway entry point and contains a total of 153 units. The U shaped block forms a courtyard with through access, consists of three linked blocks with Block 2A (23 dwelling units), Block 2B (22 dwelling page 2 10 The proposed scheme offers a range of housing typologies from studio apartments to four bedroom maisonettes with 10% of homes identified as either accessible or adaptable for wheelchair use. Some 44% of site area and 75% of non-built area is identified as publicly accessible open space. It is also proposed to provide 44 car parking spaces along with secure cycle storage for 260 cycles. Case history 11 In August 2005 the Mayor assessed a previous planning application for this site and subsequently advised Tower Hamlets Council that he was content to allow Tower Hamlets to grant planning permission. This previous application proposed the development of a fifteen-storey building comprising 158 residential units with a range of commercial and retail ground-floor space. The section 106 agreement for this application was never agreed and as such, planning permission was not issued. 12 The scheme was revised and the applicant sought pre-application advice in 2008 on a scheme comprising 283 residential units, with 940 square metres of commercial floorspace and 41 car parking spaces including a 28 storey tower. 13 A further revised scheme was subject to a pre-application meeting on 13 May 2011 and assessment advice was provided on 27 May 2011. The applicant sought further pre-application advice on site development options with a meeting being held on 23 June 2011 and advice letter issued on 15 July 2011. A further pre-application meeting was held in October 2011 for proposals on this site. The advice provided following the most recent meeting, advised that the proposal for a residential-led development did not raise strategic concerns, but that a number of other matters regarding design, energy, climate change and transport needed to be addressed. Strategic planning issues and relevant policies and guidance 14 The relevant issues and corresponding policies are as follows: Principle of development London Plan Housing London Plan; Housing SPG; Interim Housing SPG; draft Housing SPG; Housing Strategy; draft Revised Housing Strategy; Providing for Children and Young People’s Play and Informal Recreation SPG; draft Providing for Children and Young People’s Play and Informal Recreation SPG; Affordable housing London Plan; Housing SPG; Interim Housing SPG; draft Housing SPG; draft Affordable Housing SPG; Housing Strategy; draft Revised Housing Strategy; draft Revised Early Minor Alteration to the London Plan Density London Plan; Housing SPG; Interim Housing SPG; draft Housing SPG Urban design London Plan; Access London Plan; Accessible London: achieving an inclusive environment SPG; Planning and Access for Disabled People: a good practice guide (ODPM) Sustainable development London Plan; Sustainable Design and Construction SPG; Mayor’s Climate Change Adaptation Strategy; Mayor’s Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy; Mayor’s Water Strategy page 3 Transport London Plan; the Mayor’s Transport Strategy; Land for Transport Functions SPG, draft Land for Industry and Transport SPG Crossrail London Plan; Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy; Crossrail SPG Parking London Plan; draft Revised Early Minor Alteration to the London Plan; the Mayor’s Transport Strategy 15 For the purposes of Section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the development plan in force for the area is the 2010 Tower Hamlets Core Strategy and the 2011 London Plan. 16 The following are also relevant material considerations: The National Planning Policy Framework and Technical Guide to the National Planning Policy Framework. The Revised Early Minor Alteration to the London Plan. The Tower Hamlets Managing Development, Development Planning Document (DPD). Principle of development 17 The application site is located within the Tower Hamlets and the Council has previously resolved to grant planning permission for a residential-led development on this site, to include a tall building of 17 storeys. As such, the proposed uses have been established as acceptable and this is no strategic planning concern with the residential uses or the proposed tall building on the site. 18 The proposed commercial uses comply with London Plan policy 4.8 ‘Supporting a successful and diverse retail sector’ which seeks to support a successful, competitive and diverse retail sector and are also supported. Housing 19 London Plan policy 3.3 ‘Increasing housing supply’ seeks to increase London’s supply of housing and sets a London-wide target of 32,210 additional homes per year until 2015/2016 when this target will be reviewed. Table 3.1 sets borough housing targets, of which Tower Hamlet’s is 2,885 additional homes per year between 2011 and 2021. London Plan Policy 3.4 ‘Optimising housing potential’ seeks to ensure that development proposals achieve the optimum intensity of use taking into account local context, the design principles of the London Plan and public transport capacity.