Agenda and draft minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the Planning Committee (A) meeting held on 28 March 2013 were agreed and signed.

The Planning officer outlined details of the proposal and reported to Members that the Environment Agency requested 2 additional conditions be included, which were tabled to Members before the meeting.

The Committee received verbal representations from Mr T Eagle a Franchisees of McDonald’s restaurant and Mr Henderson Planning Consultant, who addressed Members’ concerns.

Councillor Clutten arrived at 7:35pm and did not take part in the decision making of this item.

Councillor Owolabi-Oluyole moved a motion to accept the officer’s recommendations with amendments, which was seconded by Councillor Adefiranye.

Members voted as follows:-

FOR:                      Councillor Amrani (Chair), Councillors Adefiranye and Owolabi-Oluyole.

ABSTAINED:       Councillor Jacq Paschoud.

RESOLVED         that planning permission be granted in respect of Application No. DC/13/82885, subject to conditions (1) to (17) as set out in the report, with additional conditions (18) & (19) as follows:

Conditions

(18)     If, during development, contamination not previously identified is found to be present at the site then no further development (unless otherwise agreed in writing with the local planning authority) shall be carried out until the developer has submitted a remediation strategy to the local planning authority detailing how this unsuspected contamination shall be dealt with and obtained written approval from the local planning authority. The remediation strategy shall be implemented as approved.

(19)     Piling or any other foundation designs using penetrative methods shall not be permitted other than with the express written consent of the local planning authority, which may be given for those parts of the site where it has been demonstrated that there is no resultant unacceptable risk to groundwater.  The development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details.

Reasons  (18) & (19)

To ensure development does not mobilise any residual contamination remaining in soils or groundwater beneath the site that could affect nearby groundwater and surface water bodies, including the Pool River and Source Protection Zone 1 for a nearby public water supply.

The submitted planning statement acknowledges that this development site was part of the wider former Bell Green Gasworks, which underwent substantial site investigation and remediation. Whilst those previous works have largely dealt with the relevant environmental risks, a large part of those works was about containing contamination rather than removing it.

Therefore any development works likely to disturb the current ground conditions (such as emplacing foundations and installing services etc.) could potentially either expose buried contamination to the surface (allowing contact with the air, rainfall, site workers and so on), or affect the integrity of existing remediation measures. This could place various environmental receptors at risk, including nearby groundwater and surface water bodies.

and the applicant be informed as set out in the report.

The Planning officer outlined details of the proposal.  He also reported to Members that due to a clerical error an email from Councillor Susan Wise, objecting to the loss of the laundrette was not reported in the planning report.

The Committee received verbal representations from Mr B Gannon, who read from a prepared statement on behalf of the applicant and from Mr M Abrahams Vice-Chair of the Forest Hill Society, who spoke on behalf of the Forest Hill Society and other local residents raising concerns regarding the loss of a shop (Use Class A1) in such a prominent position.

Councillor Philip Peake spoke Under Standing Orders as a Forest Hill Ward Member in support of objections raised by local residents and the Forest Hill Society.

Councillor Davis arrived at 8:30pm.  He apologise for his late arrival and did not take part in the decision making of this item.

Councillor Owolabi-Oluyole moved a motion to accept the officer’s recommendation with amendments, the motion was not seconded and the motion fell.

Councillor Clutten moved a second motion to reject the officer’s recommendation and refuse permission, which was seconded by Councillor Adefiranye.

Members voted as follows:-

FOR:         Councillor Amrani (Chair), Councillors Adefiranye, Clutten, Owolabi-Oluyole and Jacq Paschoud.

RESOLVED     that

(A)         planning permission be refused in respect of Application No. DC/DC/13/82357 for the follow reason:

The loss of the launderette would have a detrimental impact on the level and range of services and facilities in Forest Hill, to the detriment of the vitality and viability of the town centre and would therefore be contrary to Spatial Policy 3: District Hubs of the Lewisham Core Strategy (June 2011).

and

(B)         Authorisation be given to officers to determine the Advertisement consent application.