Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal & Asset Management

To note the report and:

i)               Agree a non-immediate Article 4 direction be made to remove the permitted development rights (within Schedule 2 of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 (as amended)) to change use from Class E (commercial, business or service) to C3 (residential) on protected employment sites as shown in Appendix B and to prepare and undertake a public consultation.

ii)              Delegate authority to the Assistant Director of Planning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, to approve and publish any minor changes to the Article 4 direction and supporting documents, prior to its publication.

iii)             Agree that the Article 4 direction would be taken back to Cabinet after consultation following a review of the responses received, for a decision on whether it can be confirmed.

AGREED: That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               Agreed a non-immediate Article 4 direction be made to remove the permitted development rights (within Schedule 2 of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 (as amended)) to change use from Class E (commercial, business or service) to C3 (residential) on protected employment sites as shown in Appendix B and to prepare and undertake a public consultation.

ii)              Delegated authority to the Assistant Director of Planning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, to approve and publish any minor changes to the Article 4 direction and supporting documents, prior to its publication.

iii)             Agreed that the Article 4 direction would be taken back to Cabinet after consultation following a review of the responses received, for a decision on whether it can be confirmed.

Councillor Bermange briefly outlined the report that was before Cabinet. The BLP did not only discuss housing requirements but also that places of work for example were also mentioned and how to safeguard them. A permitted development right did exist which allowed for an office site to be converted into a block of flats, which had happened. The main aspect of the report would be to disapply this, with developers having to obtain regular planning permission moving forward.

Councillor Hill supported the recommendations and said that when a commercial building went to residential, the income to the borough in terms of business rates would be lost, which in turn could put a dent in the Council’s business rate income stream quite significantly.

AGREED: That Cabinet noted the report and:

i)               Agreed a non-immediate Article 4 direction be made to remove the permitted development rights (within Schedule 2 of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 (as amended)) to change use from Class E (commercial, business or service) to C3 (residential) on protected employment sites as shown in Appendix B and to prepare and undertake a public consultation.

ii)             Delegated authority to the Assistant Director of Planning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, to approve and publish any minor changes to the Article 4 direction and supporting documents, prior to its publication.

iii)            Agreed that the Article 4 direction would be taken back to Cabinet after consultation following a review of the responses received, for a decision on whether it can be confirmed.