Agenda item

Agenda item

121647/FO/2018 - 1 - 4 Sagar Street Manchester M8 8EU

The report of the Head of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is attached.

 

There will be a site visit for members of the Committee with the arrangements as follows:-

 

Meet at the entrance of the Town Hall, Lloyd Street at 10.15am

Arrive at the site at 10.30am

Leave site at approximately 10.50am.

Minutes:

The Committee undertook a site visit prior to the meeting.

 

Councillor S Ali having declared an interest addressed the Committee as a Ward member and withdrew from the meeting whilst the item was discussed and determined)

 

The application site relates to an existing, two storey, flat roof building which occupies an end terrace position at the corner of Bury New Road and Sagar Street.

 

The building contrasts to the Victorian design of the host terrace and incorporates a flat roof design, with the front and side elevations clad with ‘Cobalt Blue’ Trespa cladding panels. Traditional red brickwork forms the rear elevation.

 

Officers advised the Committee that the construction of the extra storage space would result in an additional 3 delivery trips per day, which was considered acceptable.  In addition, officers advised the Committee that servicing would be managed by way of a condition, and that the waste management and servicing arrangements were considered acceptable.  Officers confirmed that there were existing issues with fly tipping but advised that these were outside of the remit of the Committee and were a management issue for the local neighbourhood team.

 

A representative of a local business spoke in objection to the proposals and said that the main area of concern was deliveries and servicing.  He said that the applicant had submitted that the main purpose of the businesses was as a showroom with limited storage, but the resident said that this was contradictory with the stated need for storage as a showroom should not need more storage.  He said that the current delivery and service arrangements were dangerous for both pedestrians and other road users, and that even just 3 more trips a day would make this worse. 

 

He also explained that the larger vehicles blocked access for the other businesses at the site, for up to 20 minutes at a time.  He also pointed out that there were several empty storage units in the vicinity which should be more economically viable to increase storage. 

 

The applicant spoke to the Committee and said that they have fewer deliveries that the other traders at the site.  He also said that another reasons for the application is to improve the current flat roof which is difficult to maintain satisfactorily.  He added that the other units around his building are all a story higher than his building and the problems with the flat roof are made worse by rainwater run off from the other buildings.  In addition to the structural improvements, the proposals would improve the visual amenity of the site and therefore add value to the area. 

 

Councillor S Ali spoke in objection to the proposals and said that while he had sympathy for the applicant, any approval would result in an increase in vehicle movements along a very narrow dead end street.  He said that vehicles have to reverse back onto a main arterial route which was very dangerous indeed.  He also said that the main road had been designated as the intended route of the B-Line Cycle Route, which would further present danger to other road users.

 

Officers confirmed that the B-Line Cycle Route proposal was at a very early stage of planning, and that any potential routes would be fully risk assessed before any cycle routes were installed. 

 

Officers confirmed that the service plan that has been lodged as part of Condition 5 does contain a clause requiring that servicing is carried out with vans.  As a result, if larger vehicles were used on a regular basis, this condition could be enforced by officers. Officers also agreed to further negotiate specific hours of servicing to ensure that this took place outside of peak times. 

 

Decision

 

To approve the application subject to the conditions in the report and a further condition which requires servicing to outside of peak hours. 

 

(Councillor S Ali declared a prejudicial interest in this item and took no part in the debate or the decision, and left the room while the decision was made)

 

 

 

Supporting documents: