Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 9 March 2015 as a true and correct record.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 March, be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Resolved: To note the planning/ enforcement appeals lodged and determined.

Background papers:  (1) letter from the planning inspectorate dated 4 March 2015 (2) letter from the planning inspectorate dated 26 January 2015 (3) letter from the planning inspectorate dated 4 March 2015 (4) letter from the planning inspectorate dated 3 March 2015 (5) letter from the planning inspectorate dated 25 February 2015 (6) letter from the planning inspectorate dated 10 March 2015.

Resolved: To note the outcomes of the cases set out in the report and to support the actions of the head of enforcement and quality standards in authorising the notices.

The Committee will be requested to consider an application for planning permission, details of which are set out in the accompanying report.

The Committee considered application 14/0827 for the erection of a six storey building to provide a bar/restaurant use and hotel reception at ground floor level, with hotel accommodation above comprising 150 en-suite bedrooms, with associated rooftop plant deck, ground level plant, yard and sub-station.

Mr Boniface addressed the Committee and spoke in objection to the application.

Mr Krassowski, agent for the hotel chain, spoke in support of the application

Mr Shaw, Principal Planning Officer, advised Committee Members of the additional information and objections that had been received since the publication of the agenda for the meeting. The additional information included comments from the Head of Transportation, the Built Heritage Manager whose comments had been endorsed by the Civic Trust, an objection from Preston and Bedford of 18 Clifton Street and a response from the developer to the comments from the Police Architectural Liaison Officer.

Mr Shaw advised that as a result of the extra information received, an additional three conditions were proposed in the event of the Committee granting permission for the development. Those conditions related to the layout of the ground floor on the Clifton Street side of the building, the design of the roof top windows and a requirement to implement a hotel parking strategy.

Members welcomed the prospect of development on the site but raised concerns regarding the proposed design of the building. The Committee considered that the site was of key importance to the town centre and the Town Centre Conservation Area, but that the proposed design would not achieve substantial benefits in so far as to outweigh the harm to the Conservation Area.

The Committee also considered that there were serious concerns relating to town centre parking issues due to the additional number of guests and staff needing to park in the vicinity. Members also considered that there would be congestion issues caused as a result of guests dropping off luggage at the hotel’s entrance and deliveries being made on the adjacent highway, in light of there also being a number of bus stops also being located on Clifton Street and issues with buses queuing.

The Committee resolved to adjourn for ten minutes from 6.05 p.m. and the meeting reconvened at 6.15 p.m.

Resolved:  That the application be refused for the reasons set out in the appendix to the minutes.

Background papers:  Applications, plans and replies to consultations upon the applications.

During consideration of the preceding item, the following motion was moved, seconded, voted upon and lost:

That the application be deferred until a future meeting of the Committee, so as to allow the applicant to be able to better demonstrate the design of the proposed building.