Agenda item

To consider report PES/240(d)of the Head of Economic and Environmental Services.

RECOMMENDATION to PERMIT

The Committee considered report PES/240 (d) of the Head of Economic and Environmental Services which proposed as follows:

Demolition of the existing public house and associated flat and the erection of a five storey mixed use development consisting of 7 x one bedroom and 12 x two bedroom flats, 1 x drinking establishment (A4 use) and 2 x retail units (A1 use), with lower ground floor parking (amended description and plans).

Councillors Boxall, Jaggard, Joyce, Portal Castro and Tarrant declared they had visited the site.

The Principal Planning Officer (Marc Robinson) provided a verbal summation of the application and provided the following update.

·         Condition 8 (now condition 9) has been updated, as set out below:

Prior to the installation of any shopfronts (including the drinking establishment), windows, doors and balconies, detailed drawings of them comprising the whole element, to include the reveals, at a scale of 1:20 and joinery details at a scale of no less than 1:5  shall first have been submitted to and been approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority.  The shopfronts, windows, doors and balconies shall thereafter be implemented only in accordance with the approved details.

REASON: To ensure a building of quality in accordance with policy CH3 of the Local Plan 2015-2030.

Mr Richard Elliott, the Agent, addressed the Committee in support of the application.

The Committee then considered the application.  In response to issues raised, the Principal Planning Officer:

·         Indicated that the distance between the front of the proposed development and the existing shops was approximately 10 meters.

·         Confirmed that security issues were the subject of condition 20.

·         Indicated that the lifts for the commercial and residential use would be separated from the public house.

·         Referred to the fact that the nearby garage was open for 24 hours.

·         Emphasised that the public house on the site was defined as a community facility and its loss would be contrary in principle to policies CH1 and IN1 of the Crawley Borough Local Plan 2015-2030 that sought the retention of these community facilities and the protection of the operation of the neighbourhood centres.  

·         The proposal sought to replace the existing public house with a smaller A4 use class drinking establishment on the ground floor of the new building, opening out onto the pedestrianised Broadfield Barton. 

·         Commented that whilst the Planning Authority could not enforce people to operate the proposed public house to keep it open, it was essential that there were adequate controls to ensure that the replacement A4 drinking establishment use was re-provided and the current building was not demolished and the site left empty.  It was recommended that this would require control via a legal agreement, in addition to the infrastrucuture S106 requirements. 

·         Confirmed that subject to these controls and the respective conditions, the development would provide additional housing including 40% affordable units.

·         Emphasised that security issues would continue to be the subject of further control.

·         Acknowledged the suggestion that a new condition should be inserted to provide more flexible use in terms of the proposed A1 and A4 Units. 

The new condition, Condition 8, is as below:-

The two units indicated as A1 shops shall be used as only either A1 shops or as a part of a single extended A4 drinking establishment.

REASON: To support the retention of the community facility use on site in accordance with policies CH1 and IN1 of the Crawley Borough Local Plan 2015-2030.

·      Acknowledged the suggestion of making alternative arrangements in terms of parking space allocations, to be reflected by condition as below:-

Parking condition 14 (now condition 15) as updated:

The car parking shall allocate at least a single parking space for each of the 19 dwellings.  The remaining two parking spaces shall be allocated to either the individual dwellings or for the use of the employees of the A4 drinking establishment and shall not be used for general visitor parking.

REASON: To ensure that adequate and satisfactory provision is made for the parking of vehicles clear of the highway and to ensure the security of future residents of the flats/employees of the site in accordance with policy CH3 of the Crawley Borough Local Plan 2015-2030.

RESOLVED

Permit, subject to:

(i)         The completion of a S106 Legal Agreement to ensure the long term viability of a public house on the site, replacement and additional tree planting and the provision of affordable housing.

If a Legal Agreement is not in place by 1^st December 2017 then the application be refused for the following reason:

An agreement is not in place to secure the appropriate infrastructure provisions, the retention of community facilities and affordable housing.  The development is therefore contrary to policies CH1, IN1 and H4 of the Crawley Borough Local Plan 2015-2030 and the emerging Affordable Housing SPD and the adopted Green Infrastructure SPD.

(ii)        The conditions set out in report PES/240 (d) and the new condition (x1) and updated conditions (x2) above.