Agenda item

Conversion of former community building to create 9no. flats, with construction of 1no. new house and garage block to rear (as amended)

5 Palace Street East, Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Northumberland, TD15 1HT

Conversion of former community building to create 9no. flats, with construction of 1no. new house and garage block to rear (as amended)

5 Palace Street East, Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Northumberland, TD15 1HT

J. Sharp – Senior Planning Officer, introduced the application to members with the aid of a PowerPoint presentation and gave the following updates:

·       There had been a late representation from the Victorian Society objecting to the demolition of the Spier & Co. of the Glasgow hut, this had been circulated to members prior to the meeting.

·       There had also been a late representation from the Twentieth Century Society objecting to the demolition of the Armstrong hut, this had been circulated to members prior to the meeting.

E. Convey spoke in objection to the application and gave the committee the following information:

·       There had been strong objections to the gross overdevelopment of a sensitive conservation area planned for the grounds at the back.

·       The proposed garage was 72ft long and both new builds were 21ft high and would be an eyesore, projecting over the town walls.

·       The site would tower over the neighbouring properties and invade privacy to the homes on the opposite side.

·       The Armstrong hut and the Spiers classroom were important listed buildings.

·       The new builds would detract from the long-established open landscape and would not be a positive contribution to the local character and distinctiveness of the area.

·       The plans had included a motorcycle workshop, which would produce overwhelming noise, dirt and fumes. The applicant had removed the motorcycle workshop but that did not exclude the possible establishment for one at a later time.

·       A condition should be added that no motorbike workshop should be allowed on the site, on the grounds that the noise and fumes would be extremely detrimental to the mental health and well-being of anyone living in the area.

·       The suggested hours for any workshop noise of 8am-6pm every weekday was hardly any restriction and needed to be considerably reduced.

·       The development, the overshadowing, the invasion of privacy and the likelihood of intrusive noise would interfere with the enjoyment of neighbouring properties and should not be allowed.

G. Davies spoke on behalf of Berwick Town Council and gave the committee the following information:

·       In the absence of a user or developer willing to take the building on, it would not stay preserved and would rot away.

·       The building had been subject to weather, vermin and to vandals which no listed building consent could prevent.

·       The residents of Berwick agreed that something must be done with the building, but the options were limited.

·       There was a suggestion of donating the listed buildings.

·       There would be no conservation without some form of development.

·       The potential for nuisance noise was a statutory matter which would be addressed under the existing laws relating to nuisance.

·       The public benefit would arise from the accommodation that would be provided by the development.

·       Berwick Town Council were in support of the application.

J. Bell spoke in support of the application and gave the committee the following information:

·       Berwick Youth Project was an important part of the Northumberland County Councils youth service and delivered the county’s service in Berwick under and SLA agreement between 2006 to 2021.

·       Over the last twelve years, over £1,000,000 had been lost from funding in the Berwick and Boulmer area.

·       Since 1997, the service had given over 270 young persons a chance to become responsible householders and understand what was needed for independent living.

·       The condition of the building was poor and had sustained substantial damage and theft of materials.

·       The project had only been able to be developed so far due to donations from the Architectural Heritage Fund and the Community Red Housing Fund.

·       The spend so far had been £71,000 with little to show for it.

·       Northumberland County Council should waive the Section 106 contribution condition.

·       There had been an exaggeration of the motorcycle workshop.

Following members questions to the planning officer, the following information was provided:

·       The proposed development would project over slightly but would blend in with the roof lines.

·       The roof lights of the development would be at an angle.

·       The listed buildings were curtilage listed and there was a condition placed on the application that those buildings were to be recorded if they were unable to be saved and relocated.

·       Planning conditions had to be necessary to make a development acceptable and had to be directly related to the development and reasonable in scale and kind to the development.

·       Covenants were not a material consideration.

·       A condition could be added to phase the works to the development.

Councillor Seymour proposed to defer the application on the grounds that there were late objectors and that in her opinion the application needed to be split into two separate applications. Following legal advice that Councillor Seymour needed to consider the applications are they were before her and that deferrals are usually for further information or site visits not to seek alternative planning applications, Councillor Seymour withdrew her proposal to defer the application and made a proposal to refuse the application on potential harm to a Grade II listed building, visual impact and removal of heritage assets, with exact wording delegated to officers. This was not seconded and the motion to refuse failed.

Councillor Bridgett proposed to accept the recommendation with an additional condition to phase the building works and that works to the huts should not start until first occupancy of the main Georgian building, with exact wording of the condition to be delegated to the director of planning in consultation with the chair of planning, this was seconded by Councillor Thorne who stated that it was the right decision for Berwick and asked to add a note to the applicant to take reasonable steps to preserve the huts. The addition of a note to the applicant was agreed by Councillor Bridgett

A vote was taken as follows: FOR; 10, AGAINST; 0, ABSTAIN; 1.

RESOLVED that the application was GRANTED subject to a S106 legal agreement securing Coastal Mitigation (£6150) and Open Space contributions (£12,494.34) in line with the conditions set out in the report, and a further condition dealing with phasing the building works and that works to the huts should not start until first occupancy of the main Georgian building with the exact wording delegated to the director of planning in consultation with the chair of planning  and a note to the applicant to take reasonable steps to preserve the hut.

A 5-minute comfort break was announced.