Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

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

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Panel;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 September 2011 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 September 2011, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Executive Procedure Rule 51 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions, petitions or deputations were received at this meeting under the provisions of Executive Procedure Rules 51, 49 and 50 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

Report of the Corporate Director of Place Shaping and presentation

Members received a report of the Corporate Director of Place Shaping which provided an update on the preparation of the Harrow and Wealdstone Area Action Plan and the steps that were being taken to secure Cabinet approval of a Preferred Option for public consultation.

A Member expressed concern at the quality of the print in the Heart of Harrow document provided to Members the previous day and the lateness it was received.  He added that it would be helpful if the document had shown tracked changes.  The Chair responded that it had been thought that it would helpful to have early sight of the document, which was to be considered by the Local Development Framework Panel (LDF) and Cabinet later that month.  He reminded Members that they had seen the key elements of the document before and that the printing issue would be addressed.

The Corporate Director of Place Shaping reported that since the last meeting of the Panel, detailed work had been done and that in the run up the meeting of the LDF Panel a series of briefings would be organised for Members if the Panel felt that it would be helpful.  The report detailed the next stage in the Area Action Plan (AAP) process, the proposed form, content and purpose of the Preferred Option and the scope of the consultation exercise.

The Divisional Director of Planning gave a detailed presentation, ‘Harrow:  A borough at the edge of London’, a copy of which can be viewed on the Council’s website.  He advised that the aspiration was to increase the richness and diversity of the town centre.  The AAP was effectively about encouraging and managing development and Harrow was fortunate in that it had over 30 development sites and was well placed to explore the opportunities for growth.

The Divisional Director then went on to describe each of the seven sub areas that made up the AAP area and the current position and responded to Members questions as follows:

Wealdstone West

In terms of Colart, the Divisional Director advised that this was a relatively low density development and therefore car parking would be relatively modest.  He was, however, aware of the concerns regarding parking levels but this would be a matter for the planning application.  In response to a Member’s concern in relation to the existing Colart building and whether it would survive, the Divisional Director advised that the owners had indicated that they wished to work with the Council on the AAP but that the position would be monitored.

A Member sought clarification as to the entrance and exit from the Colart site and was advised that it would be necessary to introduce measures to ‘frustrate’ rat running through the site via the route shown in the masterplan.  In terms of a bridge link over the railway between Kodak and the Teachers’ Centre and the funding available, the Divisional Director advised that there was not a dedicated fund and in order to make a route  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

Report of the Director of Planning and presentations

The Panel received a report and appended schedule from the Divisional Director of Planning which provided an overview of current progress with the development of strategic sites across the borough and drew Members’ attention to two specific proposals for development in Lyon Road and on the Kodak/Zoom Leisure sites.  He gave a presentation, prepared by Land Securities, on the Kodak site, and which may be viewed on the Council’s website. Stephen Neal of Land Securities was also in attendance.

The presentation highlighted both the good and bad perceptions of Harrow from local community and business organisations.  Land Securities viewed the Kodak site as a real opportunity and the feedback from the latest consultation exercise was broadly supportive of the masterplan.  The Divisional Director detailed the benefits of the proposals, which included provision of a new primary school, affordable housing, new play space and public realm and commercial leisure.

In terms of the outstanding issues detailed in the presentation, the Divisional Director voiced his concerns as to whether an out of centre supermarket of the scale proposed was required but that Land Securities were building a case for this.  It was expected that Land Securities would be submitting a planning application on 9 December and, subject to the conclusion of the outstanding issues, a special Planning Committee would be convened in Spring 2012.

Members asked a series of questions which were responded to as follows:

·                     The Divisional Director advised that the Kodak chimney would be retained with a café at its base.  Mr Neal added that its maintenance would be part of the wider discussion on how the public realm was maintained over its life.  Those that lived and worked on the site would be asked to contribute.

·                     There had been discussions with Sport England about the playing fields at the Zoom Leisure site and how they would be replaced.  The existing pitches were not available for general public use.  There would be investment in current facilities at Headstone Manor Recreation Ground and the Roger Bannister playing fields.  In responding to a request from a Member that a more detailed report be prepared for the next Panel meeting, the Divisional Director advised that, by that time, a planning application would have been submitted and the information that had been requested would be a material planning consideration which the Panel would be unable to discuss.  The Chair reminded the Panel that the Open Spaces Strategy had recently been approved by Cabinet.

·                     Mr Neal advised that there was a drive to move students away from the centre of London and to encourage them to use public transport.  A Member stated that 90% of the students attending the Harrow Campus lived at home so he remained to be convinced on this point.

·                     There had been discussions on the access to Headstone Manor via the new development but Land Securities had indicated that they did not propose to provide additional access.  There were issues in terms of the existing flood plain.

·                     The proposed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.

Members considered which items they would like to receive at their next meeting.  The Corporate Director advised that work was ongoing with the Youth Parliament for a future submission to the Panel on youth aspirations for the Borough.  He added that Transport for London had been invited to attend a future meeting to discuss its broad approach to managing traffic flows.  In addition, the Corporate Director advised that the product of the commercial master planning exercise would be reported to the Panel.

In accordance with the provisions of Executive Procedure Rule 48.2 (Part 4D of the Constitution) it was

RESOLVED:  At 9.55 pm to continue until 10.10 pm.