The report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licencing is enclosed.

A copy of the late representations received had been circulated in advance of the meeting regarding applications 139778/FO/2024 and 141253/FO/2024.

Decision

To receive and note the late representations.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 19 December 2024.

Decision

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 19 December 2024 as a correct record.

The report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is enclosed.

The Committee considered a report that proposed the part retention, part demolition of existing buildings with the retained fabric forming part the base of an 18 storey ‘tower’. There would be 2 ground floor commercial units, 2 basements and a central landscaped courtyard. There have been 11 objections and a neutral comment.

Objections had also been received from Victorian Society, Georgian Group and Historic Buildings and Places. These National Amenity Societies are not Statutory Consultees for this application.

Historic England’s interest related to the impact on the setting of the Grade II* Listed Express Building. They had not objected.

Consideration of this application was deferred at the meeting of the Planning and Highways Committee on 19 December 2024, to enable a site visit to take place to allow Members to see the nature of the heritage to be retained and the impact the proposal would have on the immediate area.

The applicant’s agent spoke in support of the application. He said that the applicant had worked with Planning Officers and the scheme would deliver significant commercial and economic benefits to the city. He said the scheme would create jobs and deliver 16,989 m2 of office space, attracting both new and existing businesses and create commercial space. He said the proposals would retain some aspects of the heritage buildings, in keeping with other heritage buildings in the locality. He said that Historic England had not submitted an objection to the proposal and that the correct balance had been achieved in bringing forward this proposal and the public benefit outweighed any heritage harm.

Councillor Gartside stated that she had found the site visit undertaken by the Committee to have been very beneficial and this had allayed her concerns expressed at the previous meeting regarding the loss of working class heritage. She said that she would be supporting the officer recommendation to approve the application.

Councillor Curley noted that whilst Historic England had not submitted an objection to the proposal, comments had been received from the Victorian Society, Georgian Group and Historic Buildings and Places and he made reference to the section of the report that identified the 60% demolition of historical warehouses, and he asked officers to comment on this.

The Planning Officer reiterated the comment previously expressed by the agent that none of the buildings were protected and they did not sit within a conservation area. He stated that appropriate and careful consideration was given to the heritage of the city and the Department were satisfied, having undertaken a detailed analysis of the application that the correct balance had been achieved in the proposals presented to the Committee. He commented that the historic façades to be retained were the best preserved and most attractive facades in the block, and their retention would contribute to the continued character of the area at street level.

In response to a question form Councillor Lovecy, the Deputy Director of Planning stated that the internal courtyard area was largely private and intended for the use of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is enclosed.

The Committee considered a report that proposed the retention of two structures for a temporary period of five years, that have been installed at the West Didsbury and Chorlton Football Club. The structures have been in place since June 2023 according to the application documents. The erected outbuilding and metal storage container were used by the football club to provide refreshments to supporters during football matches.

As part of the notification of this application letters were sent to 23 addresses and site notices were posted and an advertisement placed in the Manchester Evening News given the location within the Chorltonville Conservation Area and the Greater Manchester Green Belt. Following amendments to the application to include a storage container, also installed at the site, a further full period of renotification was undertaken and this included further site notices posted at the site and advertisement placed in the Manchester Evening News.

As a result of these two notification periods 8 responses were received, 7 of these set out objections to the proposals including, amongst other matters:

-         The installed structures do not comply with adopted local or national planning policies in respect of design, greenbelt and conservation area;

-         No evidence that the applicant has sought to reconfigure current premises to accommodate the additional food and drink outlets;

-         the proposals increase the creep into the Green Belt;

-         Visual amenity impacts of the structures;

-         Residential amenity impacts due to hours of potential sale for food and drink up until 2300hrs and corresponding odours, noise and disturbance that this could cause particularly to close neighbours.

The matters raised above and set out within the consultations section of the report were set out and considered in full within the main body of the report. The main issues arising from the proposals were the impacts of the proposals on the character of the Green Belt and the Conservation Area as well as impacts on the amenity of neighbouring occupiers.

The Planning Officer stated that if the application was approved an additional condition would be included in relation to waste management. He said such a condition would be in line with the existing waste management plan for the overall site as it was considered to be appropriate.

The applicant’s agent spoke in support of the application. She said that she acknowledged the representations submitted by local residents, however reminded the Committee that the site was already a location where people congregated to watch and enjoy football matches. She said the retention of two structures for a temporary period of five years would not contribute to any increase in noise or disturbance and therefore not warrant any grounds for refusal. She said that the request to retain the structure to serve refreshments would contribute to the safety and enjoyment for all those attending matches, noting that the club was currently not in a financial position to extend the club house. She said the site was also subject to the existing licensing conditions in relation to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.