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

Planning application 120113/FO/2018 for the erection of a seven storey apart-hotel (use class C1), comprising 59 rooms on the upper floors, with reception area and ancillary residents' lounge and breakfast area on the ground floor was received.

 The site measures 0.05 hectares and is within Knott Mill.  It is bounded by Alpha Place, Jordan Street, Commercial Street and buildings that front onto Commercial Street and Constance Street.  Opposite the site, fronting Jordan Street and Commercial Street, is the 10 storey Hill Quays residential development.  To the north is a four storey brick building with a pitched slate roof, which is occupied by offices, with residential use on the top floor and within the roofspace.  The buildings to the west are offices.  The area contains a mixture of uses, including residential, offices and design studios and has a diversity of architectural styles.

The proposal is for a seven storey apart-hotel with a ground floor reception area, including a residents’ lounge and breakfast area.  A cycle store, with nine cycle spaces, and bin storage would be accommodated within the ground floor.  The bin store would have four 1100l bins and two 240l bins, segregated to provide for general refuse, pulpable recycling, mixed recycling, garden waste and food waste.  The bin store would have access doors onto Jordan Street and staff would be responsible for taking the bins to and from the collection point on Jordan Street.  The building would have a basement to accommodate back-of-house facilities.

The applicant spoke to the Committee and said that the proposals would regenerate a currently derelict site, and would provide high quality accommodation with outstanding design quality.  The aparthotel would be run and managed by an experienced operator, who would ensure minimal disruption and disamenity to existing residents. He pointed out that previous similar approval had established the principle that the site was suitable for an aparthotel.

The Committee asked why there was no car parking available, and queried why there was no mention of any off site provision, bearing in mind the prevalence of car use.  Officers confirmed that there were several thousand car parking spaces available in the immediate vicinity, and that the site enjoyed excellent public transport links for train, tram and bus travel.  Officers also reminded the Committee that the assessment of the proposals by Highways Officers included the opinion that the site was in “an optimum location for sustainable transport”, which accorded with both National and Local Policy.  Officers added that the size of the site was so limited that it would not be realistic to expect on-site car parking to be provided. 

The Committee also asked about the management of guests at the aparthotel, and how the operators would ensure that no disturbance would be caused to surrounding residents. Officers confirmed that the premises would be acoustically insulated to a high standard to prevent noise breakout and disturbance, but conceded that the behaviour of patrons while on the street could be hard to control.  However, the responsibility for controlling people on the street was considered to be outside the responsibilities of the proposed operators.  The application terms and conditions will ensure that what the operator can control will be properly controlled. 

Officers also confirmed that there is adequate facilities for disabled people in and around the proposed premises. The Committee concluded that the proposal was in accordance with the City of Manchester’s planning policies and regeneration priorities including the Adopted Core Strategy, the relevant Strategic Regeneration Frameworks and the Community Strategy, as well as the national planning policies contained within the National Planning Policy Framework, and should be approved.

Decision

To approve the application subject to the conditions and reasons in the report and the late representation.