Localocal resident Martin Staniforth was present at this afternoon’s meeting ofLocal resident Martin Staniforth was present at this afternoon’s meeting of plans panel West, and has kindly agreed to let us publish the following account of what was said in relation to the School’s latest planning application.
“I attended the Plans Panel West discussion on the latest application this afternoon. This was a preliminary discussion and no decisions were made on the application.
Panel was chaired by Cllr Taggart in Cllr Harper’s absence. Tony Clegg from the Planning Dept outlined the key changes from the earlier applications and flagged up the issues which were of concern to officers and on which Panel’s views were sought (these are contained in the paper for the meeting, a link to which was circulated by Ryan Platten on 6 June).
There was a fairly lengthy discussion but three key points arose. First Cllr Akhtar raised the issue of retaining tennis courts but was told firmly by Cllr Taggart that he did not intend to reopen discussion on this issue which had already been dealt with comprehensively by Plans Panel and the Planning Inspector.
Second, the issues raised by officers were all agreed by Panel members and there will now be further discussion with the School to seek to resolve them. Panel members were particularly concerned about:
- the proximity of Block 10 to the western access road and trees, the risk of damage to tree roots and likely pressure from residents for trees to be removed.
- the size and scale of the gatehouse blocks (17 and 18) and the new block in the North East corner of the site (Block 19)
- the need for high quality treatment of the perimeter wall along Victoria Road
- the need for a fuller design code for the site.
Panel members felt they were being asked to take too much on trust.
Third there was discussion of whether affordable housing should be provided off-site, as previously agreed, or on-site, now that the affordable housing requirement had been reduced to 5%. Local councillors spoke eloquently in favour of an off-site approach, and Cllr Taggart supported this in principle. Other members were less persuaded. Officers were asked to do further work particularly on what a 5% contribution would purchase off-site before the application returns to Plans Panel (which may be in July).
There was no discussion of other issues.”