Agenda item

Reference No – 140434

Planning application documents can be viewed here – http://planning.aberdeencity.gov.uk/PlanningDetail.asp?ref=140434

The Committee had before it a report by the Head of Planning and Sustainable Development which recommended –

That the Committee express a willingness to approve the application in respect of the construction of a 595 space partially decked car park with associated landscaping and lighting columns, to include the demolition of the existing dwelling, but to withhold the issue of the consent document until the applicant (Argon) had entered into a legal agreement with the Council to secure (i) the inclusion of 36 parking spaces within the parking allocation for the future City Park 2 development, or their removal after five years of occupation of City Park 1, (ii) financial contributions towards capacity improvements on Wellington Road and (iii) the proposed tenant of the building approved under application P131742 (Wood Group PSN) enter into a legal agreement to implement the actions with the Green Travel Plan and submit regular monitoring reports to the Council, subject to the following conditions:-

(1)  that no development (other than site preparation and ground works) shall take place unless the development subject of planning application P131742 has commenced, thereafter the car park shall be used for no purpose other than to accommodate vehicles of staff and visitors associated with the office development which is subject of planning application P131742 - in order to provide a suitable level of vehicle parking for the proposed office building, avoid an overprovision of parking unrestricted parking in the area and ensure the free flow of traffic in surrounding streets; (2)  that no development shall take place unless a scheme of all drainage works (including calculations as necessary) designed to meet the requirements of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems has been submitted to and approved in writing by the planning authority, thereafter no part of the office building shall be occupied unless the drainage has been installed in complete accordance with the said scheme, unless a written variation has been granted by the planning authority – in order to safeguard water qualities in adjacent watercourses and to ensure that the development can be adequately drained; (3)  that an archaeological watching brief shall be carried out during the removal or undertaking of any alterations to the broad consumption dyke located on the east side of the site and identified as 'Dyke F1' in the archaeological report and data structure report produced by Cameron Archaeology, dated 9th December 2013 and entitled 'Nigg Caravan Park, Altens Farm Road, Aberdeen, AB12 3FY' - in the interests of protecting items of historical importance as may exist within the application site; (4)  that no development (other than site preparation and ground works) shall take place unless a further detailed scheme for the landscaping for the site (which shall include (i) indications of all existing trees and landscaped areas on the land, and details of any to be retained, together with measures for their protection in the course of development, (ii) tree/shrub planting including details of numbers, densities, locations, species, sizes and stage of maturity at planting and (iii) the proposed materials to be used to surface areas of hard landscaping) has been submitted to and approved in writing by the planning authority - in order to satisfactorily integrate the development into its surroundings and maintain the visual amenity of the area; (5)  that all planting, seeding and turfing comprised in the approved scheme of landscaping shall be carried out in the first planting season following the completion of the development and any trees or plants which within a period of 5 years from the completion of the development die, are removed or become seriously damaged or diseased shall be replaced in the next planting season with others of a size and species similar to those originally required to be planted, or in accordance with such other scheme as may be submitted to and approved in writing for the purpose by the planning authority - in the interests of the amenity of the area; and (6) that no development shall take place within the application site until the applicant has secured the implementation of a programme of archaeological work for the areas not already covered by Cameron Archaeologies Evaluation Reports dated 2013 and 2014, which shall include post-excavation and publication work in accordance with a written scheme of investigation which has been submitted by the applicant and approved by the planning authority – in the interests of protecting items of historical importance as may exist within the application site.

The Committee discussed parking pressures faced by larger developments in the city, and asked that a letter be sent to the relevant Scottish Minister to request that dispensation be made for Aberdeen in relation to maximum parking standards.  Dr Bochel advised that as such an approach would be directly contrary to the requirements of Scottish Planning Policy and transport policies in both the adopted Structure Plan and adopted Local Plan which aim to promote sustainable transportation, modal shift and reduce the reliance on private car as well as being contrary to the adopted Local Transport Strategy previously approved by the Council. With this in mind it would be necessary to refer the matter to the Enterprise, Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee for consideration.  The Committee further noted the difficulties caused by not being able to legally enforce Green Travel Plan targets, and requested that this also be raised in the letter to the Scottish Government.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to recommend to the Enterprise, Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee that a letter be sent to the relevant Scottish Minister to (a) request that a dispensation be made for Aberdeen in relation to maximum parking standards, and (b) ask for consideration of how targets set within Green Travel Plans could be legally enforced;  and

(ii)        to approve the recommendation contained with the report, with an additional condition that Altens Farm Road should not be used as an exit or entrance point for the site.