PRESENT: Councillors Natasha Airey (Chairman), Eileen Quick (Vice Chair), George Bathurst, Tom Bursnall, James Evans and Sue Evans.

Also Present: Justin Burns (Windsor Express), Andrew Melville (Chair of the Heritage and Environment Committee of the Windsor and Eton Society), Anne Taylor (Windsor and Eton Society) and Garry Williams (Resident).

Officers: Suki Coe, Sara Davidson and Tanya Leftwich.
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies were received from Councillor John Fido.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

None.

MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Forum held on 4 February 2013 were approved as a correct record.

STATUS AND LEGAL ISSUES REGARDING RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS & SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WITHIN THE INNER WINDSOR CONSERVATION AREA.

The Chairman explained that Mr G Williams, a local resident, had requested that this item be included in the agenda.

The Chairman welcomed the Development Control Manager, Suki Coe, and the Assistant Conservation Officer, Sara Davidson, to the Forum and invited them to address the Forum.

The Development Control Manager informed Members that a number of issues and processes had changed and that whilst the significant economic downturn had seen pressures it had not resulted in a vast number of empty shops in Windsor. It was noted that the Council was working with local businesses to help keep them afloat.

The Development Control Manager explained that a report which had set out implications of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill had been passed by Parliament on 08 May, that secondary legislation had been published on 09 May and that it had come into action on the 30 May 2013. Members were informed that the government had announced significant changes to the development control system by extending permitted development rights, and enabling changes of use and extensions to be undertaken, designed to support business growth and development.

It was noted that the changes were intended to:

o Simplify the planning control system.
o Encourage business development especially in town centres.
o Bring empty buildings back into beneficial use.
o Help with the establishment of new schools.
o Help homeowners to extend their properties with the minimum of bureaucracy.

The Development Control Manager explained that the key elements were:

Changes of use would be permitted to enable new retail ventures, financial services, restaurants, cafes and offices; buildings currently designated as A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, B1, D1 or D2 classes (shops, financial services, restaurants, pubs, hot food takeaways, business, non-residential institutions, leisure and assembly) can temporarily change to another use class (retail, financial services, restaurants and cafes and offices) for a single period of up to 2 years.

Thresholds for permitted development rights for change of use from B1 (business) or B2 (general industry) to B8 (storage and distribution) classes and from B2 (general industry) or B8 (storage and distribution) to B1 (business) would increase from 235m2 to 500m2.

Existing agricultural buildings less than 500m2 could change to other business uses, but for buildings between 1590m2 and 500m2, prior approval would be needed.

New permitted development rights would allow change of use from offices B1 (a) to homes (C3) to provide new homes in existing buildings.

Offices, hotels and assembly or leisure uses could change to permanently to state-funded school. A temporary permitted development right was being introduced allowing any building to be used as a state-funded school for 1 academic year.

Householders could use an increased permitted size limits for the depth of single-storey domestic extensions from 4m to 8m (for detached houses) and from 3m to 6m (for all other houses), in non-protected areas, for a period of three years (May 2013-May 2016). No changes were proposed for extensions of more than one storey.

In the ensuing discussion the following points were noted:

It was noted that the changes would result in no S106 funding for the Royal Borough which would mean that only immediate adjoining neighbours would be informed and could take part in the ‘amenity’ test.
Members were informed that listed buildings, flood zones and monuments were not included.
The Development Control Manager explained that change of use for two years allowed new businesses to try their venture and if successful after two years they could apply for planning permission but if unsuccessful the usage would revert to what it previously was.
The Development Control Manager explained that whilst the Council did review conservation areas they did not do it as often as would be liked due to limited resources.
Members were informed that the Government had changed business rates so that any uplift in rates could be retained by the Royal Borough up to a ceiling amount but that if businesses were lost they Royal Borough would need to pay the difference.
The Development Control Manager explained that with regard to setting up state-funded school the legislation covered changes of use without any operational developments and that if alterations were needed planning permission would be required.
The Development Control Manager informed Mr Williams that with regard to cash machines being placed on the front of buildings the Royal Borough was in a relatively strong position to object to them if they were being placed in conservation areas.
The Development Control Manager explained that the Development Control Panels considered the planning applications that were not considered ‘straight forward’.
The Development Control Manager informed Members that new Borough Local Plan was looking to be rewritten as it had originally been produced in 1993. It was confirmed that the heritage section of the Borough Local Plan had not been relaxed.
Members were informed that the ‘Article 4 Direction’ tool was in place in some of the streets in Windsor and was used when the planning of an area would be compromised. It was noted that once resources were available the Article 4 Directives and conservation areas would be reviewed.
It was noted that whilst an Article 4 Directive did not strop the threat it simply meant that planning permission was required.
Councillor Tom Bursnall welcomed the changes in legislation with regard to the changes in use of businesses as he believed it would benefit market fluidity in Windsor.
Members were informed that the supplementary document entitled ‘Town & Country Planning (General Permitted Development)(Amendment)(England) Order 2013’ regarding the changes in legislation could be found on www.legislation.gov.uk and that the report presented to Cabinet on the 23 May 2013 could be found on the www.rbwm.gov.uk website.

Action: The Development Control Manager to provide a briefing note to Members and to the neighbourhood planning groups on the changes to the development control system.

The Chairman thanked the Development Control Manager and the Assistant Conservation Officer for attending the meeting and addressing the Forum.

PRE-LISTING OF BUILDINGS

The Chairman explained that Mr G Williams, a local resident, had requested that this item be included in the agenda, which had been deferred from the last agenda due to a lack of officer availability.

The Chairman invited the Development Control Manager and the Assistant Conservation Officer to address the Forum.

Mr Williams informed Members that there was a lengthy history via the Windsor & Eton Society about this subject, although he was no longer a member. Mr Williams went onto explain that he believed there were great possibilities to ruin parts of Windsor which he was very concerned about as they could have a negative effect on the town. It was noted that the areas Mr Williams was concerned about were the green areas and the significant buildings particularly in the Victorian areas of Windsor. Mr Williams suggested he / the Windsor & Eton Society draw up a list of sensitive areas within the Royal Borough.

The Development Control Manager explained that there were two things she could do which were:

1) She could arrange for the list of sensitive areas to be included in neighbourhood planning policies.
2) With regard to local listing - non-designated heritage assets could be afforded some protection.

Members were informed that the Council would like to work with local community groups to produce these lists and had already been in touch with English Heritage who had agreed to help with training Local Community Groups to help make them aware of the sensitivity involved. It was noted that it was considered crucial to set the criteria correctly with regard to listed buildings. The Development Control Manager explained that the Council only currently had one Conservation Officer employed but hoped to appoint a second Conservation Officer shortly.

The Assistant Conservation Officer informed Members that they would start looking at areas outside the conservation areas as conservation areas already had a level of protection.

In the ensuing discussions, the following was noted:

The Windsor & Eton Society confirmed that producing a list of sensitive areas within the Royal Borough was something they were interested in doing.
The Development Control Manager informed Members that the pictures they had access to via Google Maps / Google Street were often taken of the front of the building rather than round the back where the 15^th / 16^th century part of the building tended to be found.
The Development Control Manager informed Members that there was currently no policy available at present, which was to be part of the Local Borough Plan, which was causing a frustration to everyone involved.
Members were informed that the policy, once available, would be included in the new Local Borough Plan as it was as there were no resources available to renew it.

The Chairman thanked the Development Control Manager and the Assistant Conservation Officer for attending the meeting and addressing the Forum, and encouraged all those interested in this matter to contribute to their neighbourhood plan.

PROGRESS UPDATE – DISABLED AND BUGGY/WALKER ACCESS TO WINDSOR TOWN HUB

The Chairman explained that Mr G Williams, a local resident, had requested that this item be included in the agenda as he had been concerned with regard to the winter weather conditions and how they affected access into the town for less mobile people and people with buggies.

The Chairman gave the update on behalf of the Access Officer.

Everyone present was given a briefing note on the Windsor & Eton Accessibility Improvements. Members were informed that the Windsor & Eton Accessibility Improvements formed part of the Capital Programme 2013/14, which had been approved for funding in April 2013. It was noted that a total budget of £50k had been approved for this programme of which £30k would upgrade key pedestrian routes, £10k would upgrade disabled facilities in public toilets and £10k would be spent on the York House car park access.

Members were informed that the first stage of the project would be to carry out an audit of the key routes, as previously identified by the Forum, and then to develop the work programme. It was noted that Tim Clare of the Access Advisory Forum had kindly volunteered to advise regarding improvements.

Members noted that the scope of the works currently included:
• Dropped crossings and tactile paving.
• Controlled pedestrian crossings.
• Lack of footway.
• Footway condition and width.
• Provision of cycleways.
• Obstructions.
• Drainage problems.
• Seating.
• Provision of Grit Bins.

It was explained that the audit would identify accessibility issues linked to the above and potential solutions and might reveal issues not identified within the initial scope of works.

The Chairman explained that whilst the Forum had prioritised the routes they wanted to see included other groups also needed to be consulted and that to date this consultation had not taken place.

Members were informed that a further update would be presented to the Forum at October’s meeting.

In the ensuing discussions, the following was noted:

The Chairman reminded Members that they had been shown a large map of the Windsor Town Centre, which had identified the primary walking routes.
The Chairman confirmed that the whole project had started on the 30 May 2013.

Action: The Access Officer to confirm whether the Forum would be consulted again on the routes once all the other groups had been consulted or whether it would be going to a different Forum / Panel.
Action: The Access Officer to provide a list of the routes previously agreed by the Forum along with a map which was to be added as an appendix to the minutes.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

It was noted that the date of the next meeting was as follows (7pm in the Guildhall, Windsor):

• Thursday 3 October 2013
• Thursday 6 February 2014

Any items suggestions for the next meeting were requested to be emailed to the Chairman (Cllr.Airey@rbwm.gov.uk) and / or the Clerk (tanya.leftwich@rbwm.gov.uk).

MEETING

The meeting, which began at 7.00pm, ended at 8.15pm.