Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Scott Harris (who was represented by Standing Deputy Gemma New), Councillor Chowdhury (whose deputy Cllr Morgan also sent his apologies) and Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson (whose group standing deputies also submitted their apologies for being unable to attend). 

Planning Applications

Councillor Hugh Mason declared that he had worked for Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners but this had been a long time ago so was not a significant or pecuniary interest.

Councillor Darren Sanders (who was not a member of the committee taking decisions but would be making deputations) declared that he lived in St.Mary's House which was opposite but some distance from the prison site.

After the Chair's introductions Robert Parkin as the legal adviser to the committee advised members that this report had reference to a confidential appendix, which would be supplied by the City Development Manager, and that the committee had the power to move into closed session for its consideration.  This power is granted under 100A of the Local Government Act where there is confidential information of a third party due to their commercial and business interests. He would advise the committee to move into closed session for consideration of this exempt information as the City Council has a duty of confidentiality to the developer.

A running order for consideration of the application was announced, including moving into closed session, during which the developer's representatives would be allowed to remain to be questioned by the members.

During the debate of the following item relating to Planning Application 16/00085/FUL (Former Kingston Prison, Milton Road) there was the need for members to give consideration to the exclusion of press and public  for the confidential appendix to be handed to members for consideration and for the developer and his representatives to be questioned on matters of viability.

In taking this decision the members were mindful that the public interest in maintaining the exemption must outweigh the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED that, under the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act, 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act, 1985, the press and public be excluded for the consideration of the following item on the grounds that the appendix to the report contains information defined as exempt in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972, however that the applicant and his representative are able to remain for the purposes of questioning by members of the committee, namely Mr Purvis, Mr Winsborough, Mr Caslin and Mr Slatford.

Item                                                                            Paragraph

16/00085/FUL - Former Kingston Prison Milton

Road Portsmouth PO3 6AS - (report item 1),

(open report with exempt appendix only)                          3

(Paragraph 3 relates to information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person or authority)

(NB     The exempt committee papers within the appendix contain information which is commercially, legally or personally sensitive and should not be divulged to third parties.  Members were reminded of standing order restrictions on the disclosure of exempt information and were asked to return their exempt documentation to the City Development Manager at the conclusion of the closed session.)

Ruth Ormella, Development Management Manager, presented the City Development Manager's report and outlined the key planning considerations, which included design outcome, amenity of occupiers, highway considerations, housing mix and need.  The application had been received in January 2016 and had been accompanied by approximately 400 detailed plans.  The presentation showed the proposed phasing of development, the Tall Buildings element and their relation to properties outside of the site, use of materials and fenestration details. Regarding the amenities of future occupiers whilst there was a large amount of open space with landscaping and inclusion of some private open space, it was acknowledged that there was a shortfall of public open space.

Richard Lee, Environmental Health Manager, expanded on the comments of Environmental Health (set out on page 22 of the report) regarding monitoring of pollutants and the conclusion that the impact upon completion of the development would be negligible on air quality and should have no long term impact on the amenities of the properties/occupiers.

Peter Hayward, then expanded on the highways issues, in particular the traffic flow to the roundabout with north bound and west bound traffic not coming out onto the roundabout.  A new access point onto Milton Road would direct north bound traffic, and a new access point onto St.Mary's Road would direct west bound traffic.  He stated that there was clear visibility to the crest of the bridge from the proposed new access point onto St.Mary's Road.  There would be modifications to improve the flow at the roundabout to reduce the central island and have hatching and lane lines and the developer proposed to improve the length of the queuing reservoir on Milton Road to ensure a capacity solution for the Milton Road St. Mary's hospital access.

The Development Management Manager clarified the housing numbers and mix with 157 new build units and 73 converted units for a total of 230 properties.  She drew member's attention to the circulated Supplementary Matters List which set out further information on the viability of the scheme:

"The City Development Manager's Report considers matters of viability as part of the assessment.  Listed here are the concluding assessment points that were formed in coming to the recommendation.

Analysis of the Benchmark Land Value undertaken by Savills and conclusion that purchase price is the most appropriate for the viability assessment and appraisal is agreed. 

Based on the figures presented the total scheme costs for this point in time are not in dispute.  Cost certainty will not firm up until early construction phases and a procurement process is complete.  Some of the costs at this point in time are optimistic and some have a contingency allowance.

Savills have undertaken a Sensitivity Analysis to ensure Total Scheme Revenue is accurate based on current values across Portsmouth.  The LPA agrees with Savills evidence on disposal values across the City to establish potential total scheme revenue.

Accurate figures for the gross internal area and net internal area have been applied.  Total Scheme Revenue is negatively impacted as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

Ruth Ormella, Development Management Manager, presented the City Development Manager's report on this Listed Buildings Consent application and displayed plans showing which elements were proposed to be removed and where there would be adaptations such as dropped cills, adjusted windows with fenestrations, and how the wall would be used to access the site.

The Supplementary Matters List reported the schedule of drawings to be approved at Appendix B.

Deputations

The deputations made are summarised.

The applicant Mr R Winsborough, made a deputation on behalf of City and Country to support their application, who explained that they had worked closely with the Conservation Officer at the council and with Historic England to ensure a sympathetic redevelopment of the Grade II Listed Building site.

Councillor Darren Sanders made a deputation and also read the comments from Councillor Lynne Stagg regarding the conservation elements of the proposal, and she felt there should be consistency for residents in the facing Victorian building of St. Mary's House (where residents were told to have sash windows in a listed building because they faced the prison) and she felt the new design was of featureless boxes. Councillor Sanders wanted to ensure that there would be a proper construction management plan put in place to involve ward councillors and local residents to have contact points and information during the 4 year phased construction.

Councillor Steve Hastings spoke to make comment on behalf of residents who did not wish the wall to be touched, although he was aware this was necessary for access to the site.  He therefore asked that there be use of less visually obtrusive arches for the gaps in matching materials so that it still appeared as a continuous wall.

Members' Questions

No questions were raised.

Members' Comments

Members felt that the listed buildings element had been dealt with ingeniously and sympathetically so supported the recommendation.

RESOLVED that Conditional Listed Buildings Consent be granted subject to the conditions outlined in the City Development Manager's report (as updated with the drawing numbers within the Supplementary Matters List).