Issue - meetings

The Committee considered the Chief Planner’s report on the following planning application:-

Oral representations in objection to the application were received from Mr John Cossa, resident of Worsley Bridge Road who spoke on behalf of a local protest group.

Mr Cossa referred to Policy G2 of the Unitary Development Plan in relation to development of Metropolitan Open Land and to paragraph 3D.10 of the London Plan.  Taking these paragraphs into account, Mr Cossa believed there were no special circumstances for the ground to be changed from sport and recreational to housing use.

Mr Cossa then referred to the Supplementary Design and Access Statement and commented on the proposed scheme in general.  He ended his representations by outlining the reasons why he thought the application should be refused.

Oral representations in support of the application were received from Mr Andrew Braddon, Chairman of Leander Holdings Ltd.  Mr Jamie Clifford, Chief Executive of Kent County Cricket Club (KCCC) was also in attendance.

Councillor John Ince asked whether the applicant would be prepared to reduce the amount of new build by amalgamating two buildings into one.  Mr Braddon replied that having analysed four projects over the last two years, the application before Members was the minimum amount of build required to make the project sustainable in the forthcoming years.

Mr Braddon informed Members that 26.5% of the land would be used for the proposed application, of which 10.6% would be residential build.  The figure of 26.5% included all sports buildings, houses, gardens and highways.

In response to a question from Councillor Simon Fawthrop, Mr Clifford agreed that profit made from the sale of the residential units would enable the club to become sustainable. 

Mr Clifford stated that with the new scheme in place, the indoor facilities would attract an increase in participation and although the cricket programme changed year on year, he envisaged an increase in the amount of first class cricket played in the Borough.

Mr Clifford confirmed that four football pitches would be lost if the application was granted.

In response to a question from Councillor Mrs Manning in relation to the lack of affordable housing, Mr Braddon confirmed that, as agreed by the Council's auditors, no offer in lieu of affordable housing would be made.

Councillor Russell Jackson asked Mr Clifford how he proposed to balance membership levels with the rising costs associated with county cricket.  In response, Mr Clifford stated that the club would be playing a certain number of games and that infrastructure costs on a day to day basis were high.  However, players were on short-term contracts and due to the current economic climate, player salaries were decreasing. 

Mr Braddon informed Members that funding in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31

The Committee considered the Chief Planner’s report on the following planning application:

Oral representations in support of the application were made at the meeting by Mr Nigel Cronin, Technical Director of SLR Consulting, an environmental consulting business. 

SLR Consulting had provided technical support for the application specifically on air quality, dispersal modelling, noise and alternative site assessments together with advice on highways and landscape.

Since 2001, the site at Cookham Road had provided waste management services to the Borough via a simple small scale composting operation.  Since that time, the site had continued to develop as a key asset within Bromley, assisting in the diversion of garden waste from landfill. The current application sought to bring the operation to the forefront of waste technology to enable the treatment of a wider range of organic materials including food waste generated by householders and commercial businesses within the Borough. The proposed technology of Anaerobic Digestion (AD), was the Government’s and the UK Environment Agency’s preferred solution for treating organic waste and would enable a move away from open windrow composting.

AD technology was entirely self-contained, encompassing tried and tested processing equipment which produced a high quality natural compost product as well as a nutrient rich liquid fertiliser.  As part of the proposal, much of what is produced would be utilised by directly adjacent agricultural users. The process also captured significant volumes of renewable energy in the form of gas which would be converted on site into electricity. This would enable the site to operate self-sufficiently in terms of energy and any surplus energy would be exported to the National Grid. 

During the application process, SLR Consulting had engaged with Council Planning Officers, Environmental Health Officers within Bromley, Bexley and Sevenoaks, the Highways Authority and the GLA on a variety of matters including government policy and environmental impacts, in particular, air quality concerns. All parties were fully satisfied by the inclusion of mitigation measures where required in order that all reasonable design and operating measures were incorporated within the application.

There were no objections from any statutory consultee on the proposal and Bromley’s Waste Management officers were keen to see such a facility developed within the Borough rather than have to rely on the current ‘out of Borough’ solution that impacted on travel times, carbon efficiency and costs. 

SLR Consultancy were happy to be given the opportunity, via the proposed planning conditions, to enhance the scheme further by discussing landscaping and colour finishes on the main process buildings as suggested within the report’s recommendation. This would run in tandem with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18