The Minutes of the meetings held on 1 June and 22 June 2022 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillor Josh Williams asked the following questions of the Chair of the Planning Applications Committee:

1.       Heritage buildings owned by the Council

Will the Chair please tell us what heritage buildings owned by the Council fall into the following categories:

Locally listed buildings

Grade 2

Grade 2*

Grade 1?

2.       Care and preservation of Council owned heritage buildings

Will the Chair please tell us what Statutory Duties (if any) the Council has to maintain, care, preserve and conserve the heritage buildings that it owns?

If those Duties differ, please could those statutory duties be listed separately for:

Locally listed buildings

Grade 2

Grade 2*

Grade 1?

REPLY to both Questions 1 and 2 by the Chair of the Planning Applications Committee (Councillor Lovelock):

In response to your first question Heritage buildings owned by the Council

A list of the Heritage Buildings owned by the Council is at Appendix 1 with the locally listed (LL) reference (ie. those not Statutorily Listed); or otherwise Listed Grade II, Grade II*, or Grade I.  There are 5 locally listed buildings, 47 Grade II Listed Buildings, 3 Grade II* Listed Buildings and one Grade I Listed Building.

In response to Question 2 Care and preservation of Council owned heritage buildings

The duties upon the Council as landowner are the same as any other landowner.  While Listed Buildings are recognised as being of National importance there is no Statutory duty to proactively maintain them and keep them in good order. 

However, there are measures or powers that allow the LPA (Local Planning Authority) to intervene when a property is at risk of redevelopment or is being harmed through unacceptable alterations. Below is an overview and is divided into under the headings of Locally Listed Buildings, and (Statutory) Listed Buildings.

Locally Listed Buildings

Of the 22 locally listed buildings (and structures) currently on the Council’s Local List, five are Council-owned.  LL buildings are not statutorily protected from demolition or alterations, and their legal heritage status is described in policy as Non-Designated Heritage Assets (NDHAs).  However, the special (local) importance of the Asset will be a material consideration to any relevant planning proposal (planning application, seeking Prior Approval to demolish, etc.) and would principally be considered under Local Plan Policy EN4, Locally Important Heritage Assets.

Statutory Listed Buildings

The majority of controls which LPAs have for preserving Listed Buildings are from primary legislation contained within the Town and Country Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Area) Act 1990 (the LBCA).  Under the LBCA, the LPA can serve the following Notices:

• A Listed Building Enforcement Notice under Section 38(1) to put right any damaging works
• A notice of Compulsory Purchase of listed buildings in need of repair under section 47
• A Repairs Notice under section 48; or
• An Urgent Works Notice under sections 54 and 55 specifying those works it considers reasonably necessary for the proper preservation of the building

Other controls available are:

• A Section 215 (‘untidy site’) Notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

The Executive Director for Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a schedule of applications to be considered at future meetings of the Committee to enable Councillors to decide which sites, if any, they wished to visit prior to determining the relevant applications, and a list of previously agreed site visits.

Resolved –

That application 212037/FUL - Land adjacent to Reading Sewage and Treatment Works, Island Road, together with any additional applications which the Assistant Director of Planning, Transport and Public Protection Services might consider appropriate, be the subject of unaccompanied site visits.

(i)       New Appeals

The Executive Director for Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a schedule giving details of notification received from the Planning Inspectorate regarding three planning appeals, the method of determination for which she had already expressed a preference in accordance with delegated powers, which was attached as Appendix 1 to the report.

(ii)      Appeals Recently Determined

The Executive Director for Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted details of four decisions that had been made by the Secretary of State, or by an Inspector appointed for the purpose, which were attached as Appendix 2 to the report.

(iii)     Reports on Appeal Decisions

There were no reports on appeal decisions.

Resolved –

(1)      That the new appeal, as set out in Appendix 1, be noted;

(2)      That the outcome of the recently determined appeals, as set out in Appendix 2, be noted.

The Executive Director for Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report giving details in Table 1 of seven prior approval applications received, and in Table 2 of 13 applications for prior approval decided, between 8 June and 8 July 2022.

Resolved –    That the report be noted.

The Executive Director for Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report seeking approval for proposed works to Council-maintained trees within and adjacent to St Mary’s Churchyard, which were subject to Tree Preservation Order (TPO) 10/06.  A copy of the TPO plan was attached to the report at Appendix 1 and a copy of the decision notice for the tree works application 181487/TPO was attached at Appendix 2.

The report explained that,whilst the trees were not owned by the Council, the Council inspected and maintained them under a historic agreement.  The works proposed, set out in paragraph 4 of the report, were not considered to be harmful to the trees’ appearance or future health and were reasonable works in order to appropriately manage the trees.  Paragraph 4 of the report also sought approval to renew the element of the tree works approval for 181487/TPO to allow the specified works to relevant trees within the TPO on a regular basis for the next five years.

No objections or comments had been received as a result of the public notice, but the notice period would not end until 27 July 2022 and it was therefore recommended that the works be approved subject to no substantive objections being received by 27 July 2022.

Resolved -   

That the proposed tree works be approved subject to no substantive objections being received by 27 July 2022.

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report seeking approval to make permanent the extension of delegated powers to officers to determine planning applications, as introduced as an interim measure at the start of the Covid 19 pandemic episode. 

• Appendix 1 provided the delegations as preceding April 2020

• Appendix 2 provided a copy of Appendix B as it had appeared in the Policy Committee papers for 27 April 2020, showing the existing delegations and the changes to them agreed as an interim measure for online meetings
• Appendix 3 provided the delegations now proposed

The report explained that a report had been presented at Policy Committee on 27 April 2020 to explain that the Coronavirus Act and associated Regulations from 2020 had enabled Council meetings to take place online during the Covid-19 pandemic.  The report had provided revised protocols for running meetings to help manage online events and had included a proposal to extend the delegated authority for making decisions on planning applications and confirming Tree Preservation Orders to reduce the work handled by Planning Applications Committee (PAC), which had been agreed by the Policy Committee.  The report explained the changes which had been made.

With committee meetings being run mainly in person once again, officers had been considering if the amended delegations should continue to apply. The purpose of the extension, to help to reduce the number of cases needing to be decided by PAC, remained valid as it reduced the burden of work on case officers preparing and presenting reports for committee.

The report stated that, in practice, officers had welcomed being able to use the delegated authority to refuse major applications or to determine amendments in their negotiations to good effect and had exercised common sense by bringing the more controversial cases to committee. Between June 2020 and July 2022, 13 Major applications had been refused planning permission with four coming to PAC for a decision. The ability to deal with Variations to permissions without first clearing the approach with Councillors had also been effective.

Councillors could still call those and other applications to committee for a decision and were aware of the need to justify why. Officers had welcomed this and the way that Councillors had been pragmatic and willing to work with officers to confirm if a call in was still needed as the case had been progressed.

The report clarified that the section on Section 73 Variations – regarding applications to develop land without compliance with conditions attached by Committee - had been deleted, in line with the interim arrangement that those decisions be delegated to officers. However, it was considered appropriate to ask for a PAC decision when an objection to a Tree Preservation Order had been received or where the proposal had been submitted by or on behalf of the Council, so this was no longer proposed to be delegated.

An update report was tabled at the meeting which explained that, when the extended delegations had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

The Executive Director for Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report on a proposal to add the Bugle Public House, 144 Friar Street to the list of Locally-Important Buildings and Structures.  The following documents were attached to the report:

• Appendix 1: Location map
• Appendix 2: Relevant photos and images
• Appendix 3: Proposed Local List text
• Appendix 4: Nomination form
• Appendix 5: Representation by landowner
• Appendix 6: Representation by Conservation Area Advisory Committee

The report set out details of consultation on the proposal and an assessment against the criteria in Appendix 2 of the Reading Borough Local Plan, concluding with reasons why the building qualified for addition to the Local List.

An update report was tabled at the meeting which corrected a typographical error in paragraph 3.4 of the original report and provided more clearly visible versions of the census information provided in Appendix 3 to Appendix 4 of the report.

Objector David Owens, on behalf of the owners of the Bugle PH, and Evelyn Williams, on behalf of the Conservation Area Advisory Committee, attended the meeting and addressed the Committee on this item.

Resolved –   

That the Bugle Public House, 144 Friar Street be added to the list of Locally-Important Buildings and Structures.

Change of use from sui generis (betting shop) to A3 restaurant with ancillary A5 takeaway and replacement shopfront (Part retrospective) 

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report on the above application. An update report was tabled at the meeting which corrected an error in the original report and explained that the applicant had submitted an additional noise report and recommended that consideration of the application should be deferred to allow the further information to be fully assessed and the implications reported to the Committee.

Comments and objections were received and considered.

Resolved –

          That consideration of application 220567/FUL be deferred to allow the further information from the applicant to be assessed.

Erection of 1 x detached and 2 x semi detached dwellings following demolition of the existing bungalow and detached garage. 

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report on the above application. An update report was tabled at the meeting which gave details of an additional letter of representation regarding car parking and officer comments on the matters raised.  It also included further drawings from the agent to provide clarity over the impact on neighbouring amenity and the parking layout.

Comments and objections were received and considered.

Ward Councillor Liz Terry attended the meeting and addressed the Committee on this application.

Resolved –

          That application 211416/FUL be refused for reasons based on the following issues, with the detailed wording for the reasons for refusal to be finalised by the Assistant Director of Planning, Transport and Regulatory Services, in consultation with the Chair, Vice Chair and Ward Councillors:

a)    the scale and siting in close proximity to side windows of 6 Downshire Square would result in overbearing effects, loss of daylight and loss of privacy harmful to neighbouring amenity (contrary to Policy CC8)

b)    the scale and siting in relation to neighbouring dwellings and private gardens would result in overlooking and loss of privacy causing harm to neighbouring amenity (contrary to Policy CC8)

c)    the scale, plot coverage and layout would represent cramped development failing to accommodate buildings, parking area and landscaping that would be harmful to spacious character of the area, street scene and the Downshire Square conservation area (contrary to Policies CC7, EN1 and EN3)

d)    lack of a Section 106 agreement to secure contribution towards provision of affordable housing elsewhere in the Borough (contrary to Policy H3)

Extension to the existing Berkshire Record Office and associated site works. 

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report on the above application.

Comments were received and considered.

Resolved –

          That planning permission for application 211485/FUL be granted, subject to the conditions and informatives as recommended in the original report, with amendments to Condition 7 to require the provision of areas of green or brown roof where feasible and Condition 8 to require provision of photovoltaic panels to supply electrical energy to the site.

Retention of 28 no. (2 bedroom) self-contained temporary accommodation units with associated access, car parking, communal amenity space, refuse and bicycle storage, a play area and landscaping for Temporary permission (10 years).

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report on the above application.

Comments and objections were received and considered.

Resolved –

That, pursuant to Regulation 3 of the Town and Country Planning General Regulations 1992, the carrying out of the development 220304/REG3 be authorised, subject to the conditions and informatives as recommended.

Proposed demolition of buildings to rear (Olympia Hall) and erection of 12 flats with associated parking, landscaping and courtyard garden and conversion of ground floor of Nos. 75-77 to 3 flats 

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report on the above applications. An update report was tabled at the meeting which gave an update on the affordable housing contribution and amended the recommendation accordingly.  It also had appended further information submitted by the applicant giving details of alternative event venues for the customer base.

Comments and objections were received and considered.

Resolved –

220244/FUL

(1)      That the Assistant Director of Planning, Transport and Regulatory Services be authorised to grant planning permission subject to the completion of a Section 106 legal agreement by 22 September 2022 (unless a later date be agreed by the Assistant Director of Planning, Transport and Regulatory Services) to secure the Heads of Terms set out in the original report, with the amendment as set out in the update report;

(2)      That, in the event of the requirements set out not being met, the Assistant Director of Planning, Transport and Regulatory Services be authorised to refuse permission;

(3)      That planning permission be subject to the conditions and informatives recommended in the original report;

220245/LBC

(4)      That listed building consent for application 220245/LBC be granted, subject to the conditions and informatives as recommended in the original report.

Deed of Variation to approved application 191634 - Conversion of Hamilton Centre into 2 storey Special Educational Needs College for 11 - 18 yr olds. Project also includes a 500m2 new build extension, car parking, landscaping and multi use sports area.

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report on the above application.

Comments were received and considered.

Resolved –

That the Assistant Director of Legal and Democratic Services be authorised to agree a Deed of Variation to the S106 Legal Agreement associated with planning permission 191634 and dated 14 October 2020 as follows: 

·            Playing Pitch Improvements Sum of £25,000 (subject to indexation, calculated from the date of first occupation) to be paid towards physical improvements within three years of first occupation of the development; and

·            If the Playing Pitch Improvements Sum is not paid within three years of first occupation, the clause reverts to the obligations in the original agreement being carried out within six further months (ie on-site improvements to the original grassed playing pitches themselves).

Continued use of Units 4 and 5 within use class E(a)

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report on the above application.

Comments were received and considered.

It was reported at the meeting that there was an error in paragraph 6.15 of the report and the area for sale of food and drink would be no greater than 840 square metres, as set out in the proposed condition, not 280 square metres as set out in paragraph 6.15.

Resolved –

          That planning permission for application 220145/FUL be granted, subject to the conditions and informatives as recommended.

Change of use of an established lake for recreation and sports purposes 

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report on the above application. An update report was tabled at the meeting on a further representation received from a member of the public.

Comments and objections were received and considered.

Resolved –

(1)      That South Oxfordshire District Council be informed that Reading Borough Council raised an objection to the proposal on the transport grounds set out in the report;

(2)      That South Oxfordshire District Council be sent a copy of the report for their information and use.