Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Member:-

RESOLVED:  To note that the Declarations of Interests published in advance of the meeting on the Council’s website were taken as read and no further interests were declared.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 February 2020 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 February 2020 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To consider the appointment of a Vice-Chair to the Major Developments Panel for the Municipal Year 2020/21.

RESOLVED:  To appoint Councillor Marilyn Ashton as Vice-Chair of the Major Developments Panel for the 2020/2021 Municipal Year.

To receive any public questions received in accordance with Executive Procedure Rule 49 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

Questions will be asked in the order in which they were received.  There will be a time limit of 15 minutes for the asking and answering of public questions.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions if 3.00 pm, Friday 3 July 2020.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were received.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Executive Procedure Rule 47 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions had been received.

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Executive Procedure Rule 48 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

The Chair advised the Panel that he had received a request from Councillor Marikar in relation to agenda item 11, Vaughan Road Car Park, West Harrow.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          no requests for a deputations had been received;

(2)          in accordance with paragraph 38 of the Executive Procedure Rules, Councillor Kareema Marikar be permitted to speak on agenda item 11, Vaughan Road Car Park, West Harrow if she was in attendance.

To receive a presentation from the applicants, Pocket Living

Members received a presentation from representatives of Pocket Living who outlined the proposed development comprising 149 intermediate affordable homes for the Halfords, Sheepcote Road site.

During the presentation, Members were advised:

·                     the homes would be available to first time buyers and sold at 20% lower compared to local properties;

·                     of the eligibility criteria for a Pocket home - 40% of Pocket buyers were key workers;

·                     the target date to start on site was Spring 2021.

Members made comments and asked questions of the Pocket Living representatives which were responded to as follows:

·                     The homes were reserved for Harrow residents, or those who worked in the borough, and keyworkers.  In terms of residents, priority would be given to those who had historically resided in Harrow the longest.  Key workers were the demographic that were drawn towards Pocket homes.

·                     In terms of ownership, if a Pocket home owner were to sell their property in the future it would be to an eligible person and, at that time, would instruct a RCIS registered valuer.

·                     Whilst acknowledging that ‘car free’ developments did not prevent car ownership, the overwhelming majority of Pocket home buyers did not have, and could not afford, a car.  There was a Controlled Parking Zone around site and buyers would be actively discouraged to have a car.  Many Pocket residents tended to cycle.

·                     Thorough checks were carried out in terms of means testing prospective buyers, who also had to be registered with a government scheme and Pocket.

The Chair thanked the presenters for their attendance.

RESOLVED:  That the presentation be noted.

To receive a presentation from the applicants, North London Collegiate School

Members received a presentation from representatives of North London Collegiate School who outlined the proposed development for the site.

During the course of the presentation Members were advised of the aims of the development, masterplan site analysis, the phasing plan, the desire to preserve the history of the old buildings, the way the buildings worked together, the interior and materiality of the buildings.  Further, the MOL had been considered whilst balancing other constraints and account taken of the critical views and the special circumstances case.

Following the presentation, Members made comments and asked questions which were responded to as follows:

·                     no increase in student number was envisaged; the approved pupil number for the school was 1,250 and actual numbers were lower than this;

·                     in terms of the planning application, it would be phase 1 in full and all other phases in outline;

·                     it was clarified that the breach was due to a marginal increase in the footprint so the developers had taken an educational and community need approach – the proposed development was 3% over the existing footprint and 5% over the three phases excluding those buildings that were not included;

·                     the developers were working with the school in order to minimise disruption during construction and were mindful that the students’ education was the priority.

The Chair thanked the presenters for their attendance.

RESOLVED:  That the presentation be noted.

To receive a presentation from the applicants, Akelius Thirteen Ltd

Members received a presentation from representatives of Akelius Thirteen Ltd

who outlined the proposed development for a build to rent scheme, including an affordable element, comprising 116 units on the Premier House site.

During the course of the presentation, the representatives provided a description of the site, including transport links and planning history.  Members were advised of the proposal for each floor of the development and that the majority of the application would relate to the new floors 5, 6 and 7.  Whilst the ground floor would not form part of the application, suggestions for the floorplan/use were also shown.

Members were advised

·                     the development would comprise an affordable mix of predominantly  1 and 2 bed units – 15% would be affordable;

·                     in terms of height, the proposal was for an additional 3 storeys to be added to the existing building to create an 8 storey building;

·                     the only parking on the car free development would be 4 disabled parking bays and each would have an electric vehicle charging point;

·                     there were permitted development approvals in place and the planning application would be submitted in the summer.

A Member sought clarification in terms of the banqueting suite and a representative advised that the suite was still in operation and renting the space from Akelis who had purchased the premises.

The Chair thanked the presenters for their attendance.

RESOLVED:  That the presentation be noted.

To receive a presentation from the applicants, Dandi Living

Members received a presentation from representatives of Dandi Living who outlined the proposed development of an Aparthotel on the Vaughan Road Car Park site.

During the course of the presentation, the representatives advised that the whilst the site already had approval for an 8 storey building, they were some way from submitting a planning application.  It was hope that the development of a 150 room aparthotel with a rooftop restaurant would be a landmark presence in Harrow and also improve the public realm.  Members were advised:

·                     on the proposed development’s impact on the street scene and near views;

·                     there would be a mixture of 146 single, double, family/interconnecting rooms and rooms with access for guests with disabilities;

·                     inspiration was being taken from Harrow School buildings in order to create a rich materiality;

·                     a survey carried out by Dandi Living had indicated that there was a need for the type of development proposed;

·                     the development would include a quality function room of a type not currently available in Harrow.

A Member questioned the type of guest targeted for the hotel in terms of length of stay and was advised that a variety of offer would be available but that this would be limited by conditions.  The aparthotel would operate on the basis of a pay per room per night / week basis.

In response to a Member’s question, a representative acknowledged that a couple of hotels had ceased operation in Harrow in recent years but explained that the proposed development was not going to offer executive type rooms.  Instead, rooms would also included basic services such as fridge and microwave as this is what hotel users now looked for when booking accommodation.  Further, the development would be car free with the exception of 2 parking spaces for guests with blue badges and this would be made clear on the aparthotel’s website.  It was expected that the majority of guests, 85-90%, would arrive by public transport and that a small number would use taxis.  There was currently 24 hour parking available near the site.

A Member challenged the availability of car parking near the site stating that the Harrow on the Hill station car park was to be redeveloped.  In response, a representative advised that Queens Car Park was currently underused and that Dandi Living owned a further property close to the site, on College Road, that could potentially be used for guest parking.

A Member challenged the Chair in terms of his attendance at the Panel for the discussion on this particular development proposal.  In response, the Chair advised that he had not attended Cabinet for the discussion on the proposals the previous year and that the Panel was not a decision-making body.

The Chair thanked the presenters for their attendance.

RESOLVED:  That the presentation be noted.

No updates were received.

Members were invited to send suggestions for future topics and presentations to the Interim Chief Planning Officer.