planning report PDU/2757b/01 26 September 2012 Reynard Mills Trading Estate, Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow planning application no.P/2012/2147 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 An outline application for demolition of the existing buildings and a redevelopment of the site to provide 229 residential units, with all matters other than access and layout reserved for future consideration. The applicant The applicant is LP (Brentford) Ltd and the architect is Tate Hindle Architecture + Design. Strategic issues The application raises a number of strategic matters including the loss of industrial land and employment, housing mix, affordable housing provision, urban design and housing quality, density; children’s play space, inclusive access, sustainable development, flood risk management, employment and training; and transport. Recommendation That Hounslow 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 114 of this report; but that the possible remedies set out in paragraph 115 of this report could address these deficiencies. Context 1 On 16 August 2012 the Mayor of London received documents from Hounslow 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) Order 2008 the Mayor has until 26 September 2012 to provide the Council with a statement setting out whether he considers that the application complies with the London Plan, and his reasons for taking that view. The Mayor may also provide other comments. This report sets out information for the Mayor’s use in deciding what decision to make. 2 The application is referable under Category 1A of the Schedule to the Order 2008: “Development which comprises or includes the provision of more than 150 houses, flats, or houses and flats.” page 1 3 Once Hounslow 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 roughly rectangular site is approximately 2.41 hectares in size and situated behind a row of terraced house along the B452 Windmill Road in north Brentford. It is occupied by a number of old industrial/warehouse buildings with ancillary offices, all except two of which are presently vacant. It is also parallel to, but set back from Windmill Road, with both orientated in a north-west to south-easterly direction. Figure1: Site location plan - Source: Tate Hindle Architecture and Design. 6 The ‘backland’ site has no direct frontage onto any road and is bounded on all sides by built development, comprising the premises of Gunnersbury Catholic School for Boys on the north- west; the rear gardens of a row of two-storey terraced houses fronting Windmill Road on the north-east; St Faith’s Church Hall and Vicarage abuts the south east; whilst the three-storey apartment blocks of Manor Vale, the premises of Our Lady and St John’s Roman Catholic primary and nursery school, and a modern block of flats that form part of Thames Valley University’s Paragon campus separate the site from Boston Manor Road on its south-western side. 7 There are two access points to the site off Windmill Road (B452); one in the north east and one in the south east corner of the site. The A4 (Great West Road) is a short distance away, providing access to the M4 and beyond. page 2 8 The surrounding area is predominantly residential in character, interspersed by a mixture of playing fields, schools and a few small-scale business/commercial uses. The elevated section of the M4 motorway is situated south of the application site, providing a link between Central London to the east and Heathrow Airport to the west. 9 The nearest Transport for London Road Network (TLRN) is the A4 Great Western Road, located approximately 250m south. The nearest Strategic Road Network (SRN) is the High Street A315, located 700m to the south. 10 The bus route E2, providing services between Brentford to the south and Greenford to the north serves Windmill Road with stops in close proximity to the site. Rail services can be accessed from Brentford Rail station, 800m to the south, providing direct links towards Waterloo to the east and Twickenham to the west. The closest London Underground (LU) station is Northfields (Piccadilly Line) which is approximately 1km from the site to the north. Further bus services can be accessed from Little Ealing Lane / Northfield Avenue and Boston Manor Road. It should be noted that these bus services and Northfields LU station are outside the respective public transport accessibility level (PTAL) threshold distances. As such, the PTAL of the site is 2, on a scale where 1 is lowest and 6 is highest. Details of the proposal 11 Outline permission is sought for the principle, access and layout of a residential development of up to 229 dwellings. All other matters are reserved for future consideration. 12 The planning statement states that as an outline application is submitted, the exact number of residential units, including the proposed quantum and mix of affordable housing, to be delivered on site is yet to be finalised. For the purposes of assessment it is anticipated that the overall number of dwellings will not exceed 229. 13 The application proposes amendments to a scheme that was previously refused (see case history below). 14 The planning statement states that the key changes in the revised scheme are as follows: One storey reduction on three apartment block buildings; Removal of a terrace of eight houses Expanded area of public open space, creating an open, green and welcoming entrance to the site from the southern access Reduced street level car parking Case history 15 There is an extensive planning history relating to the application site. 16 At the end of 2011, an outline application was submitted for demolition of the existing buildings and a redevelopment of the site to provide 275 residential units, with all matters other than access and layout reserved for future consideration. The application was considered by the Deputy Mayor in January 2011 as a Stage 1 (PDU/2757a/01) and the scheme did not fully comply with the London Plan. Possible remedies were suggested in relation with employment relocation and skills training strategy, independent review on the level of affordable housing, urban design, sustainable development, transport, inclusive design and a separate pedestrian access. page 3 17 Hounslow Council refused the application in April 2012 on five grounds, density and excessive amount of development and the relationship of the site to neighbouring properties, internal street scenes that are dominated by car parking and the scheme fails to provide sufficient areas of good quality amenity space, failure to provide adequate levels of off-street parking, the fourth and fifth reasons for refusal were related to the absence of a completed legal agreement. This application does not appear to have been referred back to the Mayor, as required by Article 5 of the Order 2008. 18 Whilst the applicant does not agree with these reasons for refusal, and an appeal has been submitted (appeal reference APP/F5540/A/12/2177852), the applicant has put forward the current application to provide a scheme which positively responds to the Council’s concerns. 19 A similar outline planning application for redevelopment of the site to provide up to 315 dwellings (PDU/2757/01) was considered by the Mayor in August 2011, which raised the following issues: the need for an independent review of the affordable housing proposal, a children’s play strategy, an employment strategy for any displaced employees, additional transport provisions and further information on energy provisions. Subsequently, the application was withdrawn. 20 The site has a history of continuous commercial (predominantly industrial and storage) usage dating back to the mid 1930s. The planning history indicates that it was subsequently used for the storage of film archives by the BBC from 1978 until recently, when the corporation vacated the site following an estate-restructuring programme. The site is predominantly vacant at present. Strategic planning issues and relevant policies and guidance 21 The relevant issues and corresponding policies are as follows: Principle of development London Plan Loss of employment London Plan; Industrial Capacity SPG; draft Land for Industry and Transport SPG 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 Density London Plan; Housing SPG; Interim Housing SPG; draft Housing SPG Urban design London Plan; Access London Plan; Accessible London: