Agenda item

At this juncture, Councillor Jennifer Stewart departed the chair and the meeting and was replaced by Councillor Boulton. 

The Local Review Body then considered the third request for a review to evaluate the decision taken by an appointed officer under the Council’s Scheme of Delegation to approve the application conditionally and wished to request the variation of condition 1 (Low and zero carbon buildings) for the erection of an office development with associated car parking and landscaping at Laurie’s Motel, Hareness Road Aberdeen, 170950/DPP.

The Chairperson advised that the LRB would again be addressed by Mr Andrew Miller and reminded members that although the Planning Adviser was employed by the planning authority he had not been involved in any way with the consideration or determination of the application under review and was present to provide factual information and guidance to the Body only.  She emphasised that the officer would not be asked to express any view on the proposed application.

In relation to the application, the LRB had before it (1) a delegated report by Mr Matthew Easton, Senior Planner; (2) the decision notice dated 1 December 2017; (3) copies of the plans showing the proposal; (4) links to the planning policies referred to in the delegated report and (6) the Notice of Review submitted by the applicant’s agent along with an accompanying statement.

Mr Miller explained that the site under review comprised a vacant area of ground but had consent for the erection of an office building with associated car parking.  As way of background, Mr Miller advised that section 58 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (as amended) , provides a time limit of three years for planning permission to be implemented. It was noted that the planning authority may choose to vary this using a direction under section 58. In regards to this application that was approved conditionally, the application was approved with a direction that limited consent to 6 months rather than 3 years.

Mr Miller outlined that the request sought the review of the decision in regards to variation 1 of the planning permission, and the decision of the planning officer stated:-

A reasonable amount of time needs to be given for the applicant to implement the consent before it again expires.  This time period should not be unreasonably long however, as the opportunity for a full review of the consent through a new planning application still needs to be maintained.  Should the applicant wish to proceed with implementation, it is considered that a period of six months would be a reasonable time period for implementation of the consent.

In regards to the consultees and objections, Mr Miller advised that no letters of objection were received and also made reference to the relevant planning considerations.

In relation to the Notice of Review, the applicant highlighted that the time frame for implementation was insufficient in the current economic climate, there was a lack of demand and oversupply in the market at present and therefore it was not possible to implement the application within the six month period and a period of three years would be more appropriate.

Members asked various questions of Mr Miller in regards to the timescale and the condition which was attached to the planning permission.

The Local Review Body thereupon agreed that the review under consideration should be determined without further procedure.  The member of the Local Review Body therefore agreed that a site visit, a hearing session nor further written representations were required, as members felt they had enough information before them.

Mr Miller highlighted that when determining the appeal, members should take into consideration any material considerations they feel would be relevant to the application.

Members agreed unanimously that the decision of the appointed officer to approve a six month period for the implementation of the planning permission, be changed to three years.

In coming to their decision, the Local Review Body had regard to the provisions of the Development Plan as required by Sections 25 and 37(2) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (as amended) which required that where, in making any determination under the planning acts, regards was to be had to the provisions of the development plan and that determination should be made in accordance with the plan, so far as material to the application, unless material considerations indicated otherwise.

More specifically, the reasons in which the Local Review Body based their decision were as follows:-

That the prevailing economic circumstances within Aberdeen’s office market would warrant a grant of consent for a period of three years.

CONDITIONS

(01)     that the building hereby approved shall not be occupied unless a scheme detailing compliance with the low and zero carbon element of the Council's '            Resources for New Development (Part A - Density, Energy Use in New Buildings and Water Use Efficiency)' supplementary guidance has been submitted to and approved in writing by the planning authority, and any recommended measures specified within that scheme for the reduction of carbon emissions have been implemented in full - to ensure that this development complies with requirements of Policy R7 - Low and Zero Carbon Buildings, and Water Efficiency.

(02)     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.

(03)     that no development (other than site preparation and ground works) shall take place unless a scheme of all external finishing materials to the roof and walls of the development hereby approved has been submitted to and approved in writing by the planning authority. Thereafter the development shall be carried out in accordance with the details so agreed - in the interests of the visual amenity of the area.

(04)     That no development (other than site preparation and ground works) shall take place until details of all boundary treatments have been submitted to, and approved in writing by the planning authority. Thereafter the development shall be carried out in accordance with the details so agreed – in the interests of visual amenity of the area.

(05)     That no development (other than site preparation and ground works) shall take place until a scheme of all external finishing/ planting to the walls of the decked car park hereby approved has been submitted to, and approved in writing by the planning authority. Thereafter the development shall be carried out in accordance with the details so agreed – in the interests of the visual amenity of the area.

(06)     That no development shall take place until a Construction Method Statement (CMS) has been submitted to, and approved in writing by the Planning Authority in consultation with SEPA. All works on site must be undertaken in accordance with the approved CMS unless otherwise agreed in writing with the Planning Authority – in order to minimise the impacts of necessary demolition/ construction works on the environment.

(07)     that no part of the office building shall be occupied unless there has been submitted to and approved in writing a detailed occupier specific green travel plan which

(a) shall be in general accordance with the travel plan framework included within the Travel Plan and Transport Statement (May 2014 – Revision B)

(b) must outline sustainable measures to deter the use of the private car, in particular single occupant trips and provides detailed monitoring arrangements, modal split targets and associated penalties for not meeting targets

- in order to encourage more sustainable forms of travel to the development.

(08)     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 it's surroundings and maintain the visual amenity of the area.

(09)     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 order to satisfactorily integrate the development into it's surroundings and maintain the visual amenity of the area.

(10)     that no part of the office building hereby approved shall be occupied unless the vehicular parking, motorcycle parking and cycle parking has been constructed, drained, laid-out and demarcated in accordance with drawing A1-01-02 (Revision A), or such other drawings as may subsequently be approved in writing the planning authority. Thereafter such areas shall not be used for any purpose other than the parking of vehicles, cycles and motorcycles ancillary to the approved office development - in order to provide a suitable level of vehicle parking for the proposed office building, ensure the free flow of traffic in surrounding streets and encourage more sustainable modes of transport.

-       Councillor Marie Boulton, Chairperson