PLANNING APPLICATIONS COMMITTEE Report by Executive Director of Development and Regeneration Services Contact: Mr K McCormack Phone: 0141 287 8443 APPLICATION TYPE Outline Planning Permission RECOMMENDATION Grant Subject to Condition(s) APPLICATION 08/00557/DC DATE VALID 09.04.2008 SITE ADDRESS Site Bounded By London Road/St Andrews Lane/Moir Street/ Gallowgate Glasgow PROPOSAL Erection of mixed use development comprising residential and commercial units including shops, restaurants and offices, formation of public realm areas, associated car parking and amenity space (Outline) APPLICANT Strathcarron Estates Ltd AGENT DMD 34 Argyll Arcade Per Deirdre McDermott Glasgow 9 Poolbeg Street G2 8BD Dublin 2 Ireland WARD NO(S) 09, Calton COMMUNITY 02_037, Calton/Bridgeton COUNCIL CONSERVATION LISTED AREA ADVERT TYPE Bad Neighbour Development PUBLISHED 18 April 2008 Affecting Setting of Listed Building CITY PLAN Residential REPRESENTATIONS/ CONSULTATIONS Land and Environmental Services (Environmental Health) - No objection; conditions. DRS Transport Planning - No objection; conditions. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) - No objection; condition/comments provided. Scottish Water - No objection. Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) - No objection; conditions. West of Scotland Archaeology Service (WOSAS) - No objections; condition. Network Rail - No objection; comments provided. The application was advertised in the Evening Times on 18 April 2008 and has generated 2 letters of representation. The grounds of concern can be summarised as follows: PAGE 2 08/00557/DC 1. Proposed development will exacerbate traffic congestion, pollution from exhaust emissions and parking and access problems. 2. The development will significantly impact on quality of life of residents on the east side of Moir Street in terms of traffic, pollution and noise. 3. The development will cut out significant amount of natural daylight/overshadowing to residents of the Monument development (east side of Moir Street) by virtue of its close proximity and the fact that in having 8 floors, it will almost be twice the height of the Monument development. 4. Disturbance during construction. 5. Loss of trees/greenspace at Moir Street with junction of Gallowgate. In addition to the letters received from third parties, Councillor Alison Thewliss (Ward 9: Calton) in correspondence dated 15th May 2008 wishes her concerns about the scale and massing of the development to be noted. SITE AND DESCRIPTION Outline planning permission is sought for a mixed residential and commercial development at a wedge-shaped site bounded by Gallowgate to the north, Moir Street to the east, St Andrews Lane (also known locally as “Schipka Pass”) to the west and London Road to the south near the Barrowland district of the east end of the City and in close proximity to the Merchant City. St Andrews Lane is flanked on its west side by an elevated railway line beyond which lies the Mercat Building at Glasgow Cross. The railway line is used infrequently but its route adjacent to the site would form part of the city’s Crossrail project if implemented which would result in a substantial increase in rail traffic using the line. According to the planning application forms submitted, the application site extends to some 7836.7 square metres and is situated between the busy roads of Gallowgate and London Road which function as a major east- west arterial route into and out of the City Centre. The site is on the whole part derelict with some single storey shops still in operation on Gallowgate behind which lies a derelict area of land and there is a vacant public house on London Road (formerly the “Welcome Inn”) with adjacent vacant shop units. The site was once occupied with traditional Glasgow tenement buildings with residential flats over ground floor commercial units. The flats on the upper levels have since been demolished and only parts of the commercial units remain at ground floor level. It is understood that some basic environmental improvements (turfing/grass seeding and limited tree planting) were undertaken in the 1980s to the resulting gap site on Moir Street between London Road and Gallowgate as part of the Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal (GEAR) project. At that time it was envisaged that the improvements to the visual quality of the area would make such sites more attractive for redevelopment. There has been limited market interest in this land until this time. Indicative drawings have been submitted to support this outline planning application to show how the site could possibly be redeveloped for mixed use purposes (residential, shops/coffee shops, offices, restaurants). These show one possible scenario and are submitted for informative purposes only. The indicative drawings illustrate two urban blocks with a public piazza between providing new public open space for the city and linking Gallowgate to London Road in terms of pedestrian movement and permeability. Green roofs and solar panels are intended to be included in this development to promote an environmentally sustainable regeneration project. The indicative drawings show 323 residential units (providing a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units) over the commercial units. Communal garden space (in a backcourt style) is shown on an amenity deck above the ground floor commercial space. Residents’ storage space is also shown on the ground floor to the rear of the commercial units. The informative drawings show two 9-storey blocks along Gallowgate linked with a bridging element to create a pend detail through to the public piazza. This indicative massing continues around the corner formed with Moir Street before dropping to a 7-storey block at the southern end of Moir Street. Along this frontage there is a similar pend detail to link the 9 and 7-storey blocks below which is the vehicular entrance to the subterranean car park. This 7-storey form continues westwards along London Road before gradually stepping up from 8 to 9-storeys at a new square to be formed to the rear of the Mercat Building facilitating a potential new rail station which is being investigated by SPT as part of the Crossrail feasibility project. PAGE 3 08/00557/DC Vehicular access is proposed to be taken from Moir Street and will lead to an underground car park with potential capacity for some 221 spaces located below the commercial units. Whist recognising this is an outline application at this stage, the developer understands that flats that are not allocated a car parking space will require to be marketed as ‘car free’ taking cognisance of the location of the site being annexed to the City Centre and benefiting from high public transport accessibility. There is also provision indicated for bicycle storage. Approximately 2432 square metres of ground floor commercial space is shown on the indicative layout in 19 separate units. Potential uses for these units include class 1 retail shops, class 2 financial, professional and other services, class 3 cafes/restaurants and modest class 4 office space. In support of the proposal, the applicant has lodged supplementary statements which examine likely noise and vibration impact from rail traffic; the geotechnical examination of ground conditions; a traffic assessment, flood risk assessment; and a planning/urban design statement/analysis. POLICIES Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Joint Structure Plan 2000 Strategic Policy 4 Glasgow City Plan 2003 • DEV 1 Residential Development Policy Principle • RES 1 Residential Density • RES 2 Residential Site Layouts • RES 3 Residential Greenspace Standards • RES 16 Bin Stores • TRANS 1 Transport Route Reservations • TRANS 4 Vehicle Parking Standards • TRANS 6 Cycle Parking Standards • DES 1 Reinforcing Local Character and Identity • DES 2 Urban Design • DES 3 Building Design and Materials • HER 2 Listed Buildings (Buildings of Architectural and Historic Importance) • ENV 3 Flood Prevention and Land Drainage ASSESSMENT AND CONCLUSIONS Section 25 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 requires that where an application is made under the Planning Acts, it shall be determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The development plan comprises the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Joint Structure Plan (Approved 2000, as amended) and the Glasgow City Plan (Adopted 2003). The principal planning issues to be addressed with respect to this application are considered to be:- 1. whether the proposals are appropriate in land use planning terms having regard to the provisions of the statutory Development Plan; and 2. whether any consultations/representations received are relevant to the assessment of the proposals as material planning considerations. In respect of point 1 above: The Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Joint Structure Plan: PAGE 4 08/00557/DC Strategic Policy 4 Strategic Policy 4 of the Structure Plan supports the development of a number of strategic transport schemes and requires that additional committed and uncommitted road and rail schemes are investigated and confirmed through the development plan. The site is in the location of the protected (under policy TRANS 1 of the City Plan) reservation route for Glasgow Crossrail’s Glasgow Cross station. Cognisance of the importance of this has been taken by the developer in the indicative drawings prepared following consultation with SPT. A planning condition can safeguard this policy requirement in terms of this outline planning application. The reserved matters submission will