Agenda item
18/4767 - Access Storage, First Way, Wembley, HA9 0JD
Minutes:
PROPOSAL:
Demolition of the
existing building and erection of five buildings comprising
self-storage space (Use Class B8), office space (Use Class B1) and
retail/commercial space (A1/A3), with residential units (Use Class
C3) on the upper levels, new landscaping and public realm,
ancillary servicing and plant, car and cycle parking, and
associated works.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the Committee resolve to GRANT planning permission subject to any direction by the London Mayor pursuant to the Mayor of London Order, any direction by the Secretary of State pursuant to the Consultation Direction and the prior completion of a legal agreement to secure the planning obligations as set out in the report.
That the Head of Planning is delegated authority to issue the planning permission and impose conditions and informatives as set out in the report.
That the Head of Planning is delegated authority to make changes to the wording of the committee’s decision (such as to delete, vary or add conditions, informatives, planning obligations or reasons for the decision) prior to the decision being actioned, provided that the Head of Planning is satisfied that any such changes could not reasonably be regarded as deviating from the overall principle of the decision reached by the Committee nor that such change(s) could reasonably have led to a different decision having been reached by the Committee.
That the Committee confirms that adequate provision has been made, by the imposition of conditions, for the preservation or planting of trees as required by Section 197 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
Neil Quinn, Principal Planning Officer, introduced the report, set out the key issues and answered members’ questions. The Principal Planning Officer advised that a number of revisions to the scheme had been received since its submission in 2018. These included the addition of two storeys on all blocks except on the tallest element of Block a1, resulting in additional office space and the addition of three-bedroom family units and the Southern building line along South Way being set back by between 1-2m from edge of site to enable highways improvements to incorporate two-way working along South Way.
In reference to the supplementary report, Neil Quinn drew members’ attention to the following point:
· Additional representations had been received from the GLA and FA since the publication of the main report. The representations were addressed in the supplementary report.
Faaizia Lalji, the applicant, then addressed the Committee on several matters including:
· Access Self Storage was a family owned multi-generational firm which sought to hold its assets long-term. It held assets across hospitality, industrial, office and retail sectors and was working to deliver build to rent accommodation on land it already owned.
· Access Self Storage was committed to excellence in design and believed the development was an attractive addition to the Wembley Park area, as well as being policy compliant.
· As proposed, the development would be a loss-making venture in the short term. The development would use a longer-term investment return timeframe to ensure the delivery of 60 new affordable homes could be included from the outset. A review mechanism was built into the application to allow for additional affordable homes should the financial situation improve.
In response to questions from members, Faaizia Lalji made the following points:
· Although the affordable housing mix was below target, it had been demonstrated by a financial viability appraisal to exceed the maximum amount of affordable housing which could viably be provided on-site. It would also be subject to a late stage review mechanism to be secured within the S106 agreement.
· The proposed height and scale of development was considered acceptable. Whilst the FA had raised concerns in relation to the proximity of the tallest building to Wembley Stadium, these issues had since been addressed.
In the ensuing discussion, members raised several issues including design, layout and height and affordable housing and housing mix. Officers then clarified a number of key points including:
· The addition of two storeys would result in the addition of three-bedroom family units, increasing the overall number of proposed homes from 555 to 600. The affordable housing offer would increase from 10% to 12.4%. There would be a total of 60 affordable units, 36 of which would be three-bed homes at London Living Rent and 24 of which would be one-bed homes at a Discount Market Rate.
· The applicant’s revised Financial Viability Appraisal had been reviewed independently for the Council and concluded that the scheme was significantly in deficit. A re-appraisal and further independent review was undertaken in light of the applicant's increased affordable housing offer to 12.4%. Both appraisals found that the offer would exceed the maximum reasonable amount of affordable housing on site. Following review of these results, and the offer presented by the applicant, officers considered that the provision of 60 affordable homes would be a significant benefit of the scheme, particularly as a high proportion of these homes (75%) would be family-sized units, which the borough was in acute need of to meet housing demand.
· The FA had raised concerns regarding the proximity of the tallest block to Wembley Stadium, particularly due to the potential trajectory into the stadium bowl from the highest apartments. The revised proposals had been reviewed by the FA and Metropolitan Police who had confirmed that any concerns of views into the stadium had been resolved.
With no further issues raised and having established that all members had followed the discussions, the Chair thanked all speakers for their contributions and asked members to vote on the recommendation.
DECISION: Granted planning permission subject to Stage 2 referral to the Mayor of London, s106 agreement and conditions and informatives as set out in the main and supplementary reports.
(Voting on the recommendation was as follows: For 4, Against 3)
Supporting documents:
- 4. 18/4767 - Access Storage, First Way, Wembley, HA9 0JD, item 4. PDF 474 KB
- 4a. 18/4767 - Access Storage, First Way, Wembley, HA9 0JD, item 4. PDF 135 KB