Agenda item

Report HPR2022/036

The Committee considered a report providing an update on various Article 4 Directions recently made or confirmed by the Council. The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) wrote to the Council in May 2022 to note that they had reviewed Bromley’s Class MA and Class ZA Article 4 Directions in accordance with new national policy and that they were not convinced that they complied with this new policy. As a result, DLUHC had invited the Council to reconsider the Directions, to ensure that the Article 4 Directions were proposed only where they would have wholly unacceptable adverse impacts and apply to the smallest geographic areas possible.

Officers had considered this request and prepared an updated methodology to reduce the areas, while ensuring that the rationale behind the Directions – to protect vitally important commercial space – still applied. The report presented sought endorsement of this methodology, which officers would then implement to determine the modified areas, and subsequently request that the Secretary of State (SoS) for DLUHC formally modifies the Article 4 Directions on this basis.

The Chairman advised that an Article 4 Direction did not stop development, however the Permitted Development (PD) rights were forfeited, and a formal planning application would need to be made, which added an extra layer of protection. The Head of Planning Policy and Strategy noted that the Council could only make or cancel Article 4 Directions, whereas the Secretary of State could modify them.

In response to questions, the Head of Planning Policy and Strategy advised that a specific meeting had been held with the officers from DLUHC who had sent the correspondence – they had been unable to clarify the concerns, which had not been elaborated on. Members’ frustrations were shared, as they would have liked the issues to be stated but unfortunately they had been left to speculate. With relation to PD rights that changed an office to residential accommodation, it was confirmed that these units would count towards the housing target. It was noted that in the reports recommending Article 4 Directions, the commentary had highlighted that removing PD rights may impact the housing supply. However, on balance, it had been considered that the protections Article 4 Directions provided outweighed this. A Member questioned what the next steps would be if the DLUHC did not accept the proposed methodology. The Head of Planning Policy and Strategy said that, in conjunction with the Director of Housing, Planning, Property and Regeneration and Portfolio Holder for Recreation, Renewal and Housing, a finalised set of areas to be modified, in line with the methodology, would be submitted. If the DLUHC responded and provided some clarification of the issues, this could be reported back to the Committee.

With regards to paragraph 3.16 of the report, the Head of Planning Policy and Strategy said that a housing scheme had been put forward for The Walnuts site. However, PD rights had different limitations and it was unlikely that the shop units would be changed to residential units as they would need significant alterations which would require a separate planning application. In response to a further question, the Head of Planning Policy and Strategy said that the level of uptake with the recent PD rights for office to residential had not been seen – however there were still concerns, and in the methodology they had been cautious in order to protect economic areas.

In response to questions, the Head of Planning Policy and Strategy advised that Class MA (retail to residential) allowed up to 1,500 sqm of floorspace to be converted in a building. Class ZA (demolition of buildings and construction of new residential) had an absolute size threshold – splitting a space into smaller units would create a new date from which the use was live, which may mean that it did not meet the requirement of other PD rights. If additional areas of concern were identified, they could look at implementing further Article 4 Directions. They were also required to review all Article 4 Directions that were already in place – any Article 4 Directions to be implemented, or cancelled, would be reported to Members.

RESOLVED that the Development Control Committee endorse the proposed methodology for modifying the Part 3, Class MA and Part 20, Class ZA Article 4 Directions and note that the Director of Housing, Planning, Property and Regeneration, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Recreation, Renewal and Housing, would be asked to agree the final amended areas prior to submitting these areas to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for consideration.