LONDON BOROUGH OF ENFIELD PLANNING COMMITTEE Date : 30th August 2011 Report of Contact Officer: Ward: Assistant Director, Planning & Aled Richards Tel: 020 8379 3857 Cockfosters Environmental Protection Andy Higham Tel: 020 8379 3848 Ms E. Kiernan Tel: 020 8379 3830 Application Number : LBE/11/0007 Category: Other Development LOCATION: BRAMLEY SPORTS GROUND, CHASE SIDE, LONDON, N14 5BP PROPOSAL: Construction of an all weather sports pitch with single storey reception block and 22 car parking spaces at front involving demolition of existing buildings. Applicant Name & Address: Agent Name & Address: Simon Gardner, Kerry White, London Borough of Enfield Archer Architects CIVIC CENTRE, Office 7 SILVER STREET, Gateway 1000 ENFIELD, Arlington Business Park EN1 3XA Stevenage Herts SG1 2FP RECOMMENDATION: That in accordance with Regulation 3 of the Town and Country Planning (General ) Regulations 1992, planning permission be deemed to be GRANTED subject to conditions. Application No:- LBE/11/0007 BRAMLEY ROAD in Dra 89.6m 89.3m Play Area P a t Chicken Shed Theatre h 2 9 0 C H A S E S I D E Clock Tower 88.1m PCs TCB 86.9m Oaktree School Development Control 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 150m Scale - 1:1250 Time of plot: 13:21 Date of plot: 09/09/2011 © Crown copyright. London Borough of Enfield LA086363,2003 0 Note to Members 0.1 At the meeting of the Planning Committee on 24th May, it was resolved to defer consideration of this application to enable further assessment of the options around retaining the existing bowling facility as part of the proposed development of an all weather sports pitch. 0.2 This deferral followed a previous deferral at the meeting on 26th April when additional details regarding the accessibility and availability of alternative bowling facilities was requested. 0.3 The matters highlighted by the Committee needing to be clarified are as follows: i) confirmation regarding current membership; ii) an assessment of the availability of membership at alternative facilities iii) an appraisal of the implications of training the bowls facility alongside the proposed all weather sports pitch iv) an appraisal of the highway implications for any combined facility 1. Site and Surroundings 1.1 The site is located on the eastern side of Chase Side to the south of the Chicken Shed Theatre with the Bramley Road recreation ground to the south and east. The site presently contains an indoor bowls facility, squash courts and informal parking area with access from Chase Side 1.2 Adjacent to the eastern boundary of the site is the Grade II listed Clock Tower 2. Proposal 2.1 The proposal involves the demolition of the existing bowls and squash facilities and the construction of an all weather sports pitch with single storey reception block and 22 car parking spaces. 2.2 The all weather pitch would have dimensions of 14.2m in width by 15m in depth and enclose by 5m high posts to the northern boundary and 3m high weld mesh fencing to the eastern boundary. 2.3 The reception block would have dimensions of 4m in width by 4m in depth and be finished with a flat roof to a maximum height of 3.2m 2.4 The car parking layout to the west, adjacent to Chase Side would be remodelled to accommodate 22 car parking spaces, including 2 disabled bays. 3. Relevant Planning Decisions 3.1 TP/06/1579 - Erection of 8No. columns, 13 metres in height, with floodlights to match pitch adjacent Saracens Football Club - granted 3.2 TP/03/0038 - Moving containers to car park & portakabins to be used as changing rooms – granted 4. Consultations 4.1 Statutory and non-statutory consultees 4.1.1 Traffic and Transportation raise no objection in principle subject to improvement to the access and a management plan to control use of the parking area 4.1.2 Any other comments received will be reported at Planning Committee 4.2 Public 4.2.1 Two neighbouring properties were consulted. Press and site notices were also posted. Any responses will be reported verbally at Planning Committee. 5. Relevant Policy 5.1 Core Strategy At the meeting of the full Council on 10th November 2010, the Core Strategy of the Local Development Framework was approved. The document and the policies contained therein are now material considerations to be taken into account when considering the acceptability of development proposals. The following are of relevance SO8: Transportation and accessibility SO10: Built environment CP9 Supporting Community Cohesion CP11 Recreation, Leisure, Culture & Arts CP20 Sustainable Energy Use and Energy Infrastructure CP21 Delivering Sustainable Water Supply, Drainage and Sewerage Infrastructure CP30 Maintaining and Improving the Quality of the Built and Open Environment CP31 Built and Landscape Heritage CP32 Pollution CP36 Biodiversity 5.2 Unitary Development Plan After the adoption of the Core Strategy, a number of UDP policies are retained as material considerations pending the emergence of new and updates policies and development standards within the Development Management Document. The following are of relevance: (II)GD3 Design (II)GD6 Traffic Generation (II)GD8 Access and Servicing (II) H8 Privacy 5.3 London Plan 3.2 Improving Health and Addressing Health Inequalities 3.6 Children and young Peoples Play and Informal Recreation facilities 3A.16 Protection and Enhancement of Social Infrastructure and Community 3.19 Sports facilities 5.3 Sustainable Design and Construction 5.13 Sustainable Drainage 6.9 Cycling 6.13 Parking 7.1 Building London’s Neighbourhoods and Communities 7.2 Inclusive Environment 7.4 Local Character 7.8 Heritage Assets and Archaeology 7.17 Metropolitan Open Land 7.18 Protecting Local Open Space and Addressing Deficiency 7.19 Biodiversity and Access to Nature 5.4 Other Relevant Policy PPS1 Delivering Sustainable Development PPS5 Planning for the Historic Environment PPG13 Transportation PPG17 Planning for Open Space, Sport and Recreation 6. Analysis 6.1 Loss of Bowls and Squash Building 6.1.1 Core Policy 11 of the Core Strategy seeks to resist the loss of existing recreation and leisure facilities unless it can be demonstrated that they are no longer required or will be provided elsewhere. 6.1.2 It is acknowledged that due to the size and configuration of the existing bowls building, it does not readily lend itself to an alternative leisure use. In addition, it condition requires on going investment to maintain it as a useable facility and more significant investment (in the region of £500k if the facility were to be brought up to modern standards. 6.1.3 There is clearly a current level of usage which would be displaced by the closure of the bowls facility. Leisure has provided a breakdown of the current membership i.e. those that have paid a subscription to use the facility, to gain an understanding of the level of impact. This info confirms that there are currently 98 members of which 49% reside in the Borough with 51% outside the Borough (predominantly from Barnet and Potters Bar). In addition to this official membership, there are additional users who benefit from “guest” arrangements and from information supplied by the users would appear to double the level of usage. 6.1.4 To address concerns over the loss of this facility, the Applicant has undertaken a review of alternative bowls facilities. The first part of this is to identify the spatial distribution of alternatives; The accessibility of alternative bowling facilities including journey times from Bramley Sports Ground + Availability of Capacity at Alternative Venues LOCATION DISTANCE FROM ACCESSIBILITY AVAILABILITY BRAMLEY FROM BRAMLEY SPORTS SPORTS GROUND GROUND Bounds Green 1.87 miles Bus (382 via Yes Recreational Club Southgate or 298 via Arnos Grove) Underground- Piccadilly line from Southgate or Arnos Grove taking 15 minutes Glebelands Indoor 2.59 miles Bus (382 towards Yes Bowls Club Mill Hill East Station) taking 27 minutes David Lloyd Club 3.62 miles Bus (121 towards Yes Enfield Island Village and 191 towards Brimsdown Station) taking 45 minutes Picketts Lock 4.19 miles Bus (W6 towards Yes Indoor Bowls Club Edmonton Green and W8 to Picketts Lock) taking 56 minutes Mansfield Bowling 5.22 miles Bus (299 towards Yes Club Muswell Hill and 134 towards Tottenham Court Road) taking 38 minutes Cheshunt Club 5.92 miles Bus (121 towards Yes Enfield Island Village and 217 or 317 towards Waltham Cross taking 58 minutes 6.1.5 Additionally, although at a greater distance, there are a further five indoor bowls facilities within 10 miles of Bramley Indoor Bowls Centre at: Paddington Sports Club - 7.95 miles Century Indoor Bowls Club - 8.22 miles David Lloyd Club (Chigwell) - 8.92 miles Harga Indoor Bowls Club – 8.36 miles Hatfield Lawn Tennis and Bowls Club – 9.73 miles 6.1.6 It is considered that the demand for this facility could therefore be accommodated elsewhere in the area. Furthermore, at the time of undertaking this review, all alternative venues confirmed that membership was available although it is acknowledged that no one venue could accommodate the membership as a single group. It must also be noted that the Bramley only has a single rink and cannot itself accommodate all 98 members at once. 6.1.7 In addition, Fusion has stated that they will ensure both Southgate and Edmonton Leisure Centres can accommodate short map bowls when Bramley is no longer available: the availability of that at Southgate Leisure Centre being of greatest value in terms of a replacement facility. 6.1.8 The Applicant at the request of the Committee has also looked at the option of retaining the bowls facility as well as proving the all weather pitch alongside and a plan illustrating this option is attached to this report.