Borough of Poole
Planning Committee
List of Planning Applications
17 November, 2016
BOROUGH OF POOLE
Planning Committee
DATE: 17 November 2016 at 13.00
NOTES:
1. Items may be taken out of order and therefore no certain advice can be provided about the time at which any item may be considered.
2. Applications can be determined in any manner notwithstanding the recommendation being made.
3. Councillors who are not members of the Planning Committee but who wish to attend to make comments on any application on this list or accompanying agenda are required to give notice by informing the chairman or Head of Planning and Regeneration Services before the meeting.
4. Councillors who are interested in the detail of any matter to be considered should consult the files with the relevant officers to avoid queries at the meeting.
5. Any members of the public wishing to make late additional representations should do so in writing or by contacting their Ward Councillors prior to the meeting.
6. Letters of representation referred to in these reports together with any other background papers may be inspected at any time prior to the Meeting and these papers will be available at the Meeting.
7. For the purposes of the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, unless otherwise stated against a particular report, “background papers” in accordance with section 100D will always include the case officer’s written report and any letters or memoranda of representation received (including correspondence from all internal Borough Council Service Units).
8. Councillors are advised that if they wish to refer to specific drawings/plans which are not part of these papers to contact the relevant case officer at least 24 hours before the meeting to ensure these can be made available.
9. Members are advised that, in order to reduce the size of the agenda, where conditions are marked on the plans list as Standard these will no longer be reported in full. The full wording of the condition can be found either in hard copy in the Members rooms, or via the following link on the Loop http://bopwss3/sus/ww/Shared%20Documents/Standard%20Conditions.doc
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Planning Committee
17 November 2016 at 13.00
Not before 13:0001 / The Quarterdeck Hotel, 2 & 4 Sandbanks Road, Poole, BH14 8AQ / APP/16/01014/F / 4
02 / 32 York Road, Broadstone, BH18 8ET / APP/16/01003/F / 16
03 / 73B Waterloo Road, Poole, BH17 7JY / APP/16/00589/P / 24
04 / 7 Crawshaw Road, Poole, BH14 8QZ / APP/16/01236/F / 31
Not before 14:00
05 / Land adjacent to 53 Queens Road, Poole, BH14 9HG / APP/16/01404/F / 36
06 / Highways Land, Holes Bay Road, Poole, BH15 2BQ / APP/16/01414/TE / 40
07 / Hamworthy United Football Club, The County Ground, Blandford Close, Poole, BH15 4BF / APP/16/01470/TE / 44
08 / 47 Uplyme Close, Poole, BH17 8AR / APP/16/01578/F / 51
ITEM NO / 01
APPLICATION NO. / APP/16/01014/F
APPLICATION TYPE / Full
SITE ADDRESS / The Quarterdeck Hotel, 2 & 4 Sandbanks Road, Poole, BH14 8AQ
PROPOSALS / Demolition & redevelopment to form 27 sheltered apartments for the elderly, including communal facilities, access, car parking, and landscaping.
REGISTERED / 8 July, 2016
APPLICANT / Renaissance Retirement Ltd
WARD / Parkstone
CONSERVATION AREA / Poole Park
CASE OFFICER / Clare Spiller
INTRODUCTION
This application is brought before committee at the request of Councillor Challinor because of neighbours' concerns about the proposals being visually intrusive; overly dominant; overbearing; giving rise to overlooking; failing to demonstrate that the hotel is no longer viable and cannot contribute to tourism accommodation; and the removal of the house at No. 4 being contrary to policy PCS5(iv)
Recommendation for Grant Section 106
THE PROPOSAL
Demolition & redevelopment to form 27 sheltered apartments for the elderly, including communal facilities, access, car parking, and landscaping.
MAIN ISSUES
The principal issues for consideration in this case relate to:
· The Loss of Tourist Accommodation
· Impact of the Proposed Development on the character and appearance of the area; Conservation Area; and Poole Park, which is a registered Park and Garden
· Residential amenity
· Highway and parking issues
· Impact on protected trees and landscaping
· Affordable housing provision
· Flood risk and sustainable urban drainage
· Financial contributions
SITE DESCRIPTION
The application site extends across two sites in separate ownership and use. The larger part of the site, adjacent to Poole Park, is occupied by a 3-storey hotel, 'The Quarterdeck', which provides 13 en-suite bedrooms and fronts onto Sandbanks Road with parking provision to the front and side of the building. There is a detached flat-roof garage to the side at a lower level than the hotel. There are mature trees in the grounds of the hotel, only some of which are protected, but which all make a positive contribution to the visual amenities of the area. The existing building has been subject to extensive ad-hoc alteration and extension over the years. This has resulted in a building of significantly larger form; scale; and mass than its neighbours to the south and east.
The hotel site abuts the Poole Park Conservation Area and the park, which is registered as a Grade II Historic Park and Garden. There are partial views of the site from the park.
No. 4 Sandbanks Road is a two-storey house which is of traditional appearance with render and wood detailing and has been damaged by fire. The frontage is mainly hardsurfaced to provide off-road parking.
There are a number of protected trees on the site including to the front of the properties.
The application site backs onto bungalows in Copse Close which are sat at a lower level than the application site.
Buildings on the south side of Sandbanks Road are generally of two-storey domestic scale and sit subserviently in the street scene behind varying degrees of soft-landscape and trees although much of the soft landscape has been lost to car parking. The grain is relatively fine, with a consistent building line. On the north side of the road is the Civic Centre and associated Municipal buildings, which are of a larger, commercial scale with large gaps between buildings.
RELEVANT PLANNING HISTORY
2013: Outline application to demolish existing hotel, restaurant and owners accommodation and erect a purpose built building accommodating holiday accommodation, residential flats, restaurant and underground and surface parking. Approved (APP/13/01047/F)
2014: Outline Application to demolish existing buildings and erect block of 7 holiday apartments providing 28 bedspaces and 12 residential units. Approved (APP/14/00319/P)
PRE-APPLICATION ADVICE
2016: Demolition of the existing buildings and redevelopment to provide 27 sheltered apartments, including communal facilities, access, car parking, and landscaping. Advice on proposal was that the scheme seemed acceptable in principle. (PREA/16/00106)
COMMUNITY CONSULTATION
The applicants have submitted a Statement of Community Involvement. This statement indicates that prior to the submission of the application the applicants carried out a community consultation on a scheme for 27 units with a basement and accommodation laid out over 4 floors. 200 Letters were sent out to the residents and businesses surrounding the site and there was coverage in the local press (Bournemouth Echo) inviting people to the exhibition. The applicant carried out a public consultation event on 15th June 2016 between 3pm to 7pm at Parkstone United Reform Church in Poole which was attended by 25 People. Attendees were encouraged to provide feedback at the event or afterwards by returning a feedback card. The feedback received suggested that the scheme appeared to be 'better than expected'; looks like a 'good design'; that retirement homes were 'perfect for that location'; and that the Quarterdeck needed either modernising or knocking down. A neighbour raised concerns about overlooking and the applicants have indicated that they have tried to address this concern in their current proposals.
CONSULTATIONS
The Head of Transportation Services: generally supports the proposed development as adequate car parking is provided on site and highway safety will not be materially harmed. Questions the suitability of the car lifts being used by cyclists and mobility scooters.
The Head of Environmental and Consumer Protection Services:
ECPS (Open Spaces): Considers that the proposal will be visually intrusive on Poole Park.
ECPS (Biodiversity): Support the application. The recommendations as set out in the ecology report should be conditioned.
Head of Tourism: Support the application. Agree with the future viability assessment of the hotel, especially having regard to the modernisation investment that would need to take place to make it competitive in today's environment. Agree with the assessment of investment required and that it would be unlikely that the required levels of return would be achieved. The loss of the rooms should not harm the tourism offer as the current configuration is outdated.
Historic England: Application should be determined in accordance with national and local policy guidance.
Natural England: No objection subject to heathland mitigation being secured. The recommendations as set out in the Ecological Appraisal are welcomed and the mitigation measures should be secured by condition.
Dorset Gardens Trust: No objection. New trees should be planted, if there is scope to do so, on the western boundary to provide continuity as trees die off so that the wooded aspect of the site from Poole Park is not lost.
Wessex Water: No objection. here is spare capacity in the existing public foul sewerage network to accommodate the predicted increase in foul flows. There is adequate available capacity within the existing water supply network to serve the proposed development. Buildings above two storeys will require on site boosted storage.
Dorset Police- No objection. Minor weak points for security which if addressed will not be a crime generator.
REPRESENTATIONS
A representation on behalf of 33 households has been received, plus further letters of objection, objecting to the proposed development on the following grounds:
· Width, height, depth, and massing would be visually intrusive and at odds with the character of the south side of Sandbanks Road and Poole Park (Grade II Listed), contrary to policies PCS5, PCS23, DM1 and Poole Characterisation Study
· The proposal will have a negative impact on the Conservation Area and the heritage value of Poole Park
· Lead to loss of privacy to 4A Sandbanks Road caused by overlooking from the southern end of the side elevation, including the projecting angled bay which would incorporate full height windows.
· The scale of the building and rearward projection will be overbearing and oppressive in outlook from windows and garden of 4A
· The rear elevation will obstruct evening sunlight to rear windows and the sun terrace to 4a Sandbanks Rd
· Overlooking and loss of privacy to properties at the rear in Copse Close. The lower garden levels of these properties will make the building appear overbearing and overly dominant.
· Failure to demonstrate that the hotel is no longer viable for tourism either as a hotel or holiday flats. No marketing of the hotel has been evidenced, so the proposal is contrary to DM5
· The site is more than 400m from a designated local centre and contrary to PCS5 (iV).
PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS
POLICY AND GUIDANCE
STRATEGIC CONTEXT
National Planning Policy Framework (Adopted March 2012)
NPPF
NPPG
LOCAL CONTEXT
The following policies are listed as applying to this application.
Poole Core Strategy (Adopted February 2009)
PCS05 Broad Locations for Residential Development
PCS06 Affordable Housing
PCS15 Access and Movement
PCS16 The East-West Bournemouth-Poole (A35) Corridor
PCS19 Other Prime Transport Corridors And Main Routes
PCS23 Local Distinctiveness
PCS26 Delivering Locally Distinctive, Self-Reliant Places
PCS27 Safer Communities
PCS28 Dorset Heaths International Designations
PCS31 Sustainable Energy - General
PCS35 Energy And Resources Statements
PCS37 The Role of Developer Contributions in Shaping Places
Supplementary Planning Document
Parking & Highway Layout in Development (Adopted 2011)
Heritage Assets (Adopted 2013)
The Dorset Heathlands Planning Framework 2015-2020 (Adopted November 2015)
Affordable Housing (Adopted 2011)
Poole Site Specific Allocations & Development Management Policies DPD (Adopted April 2012)
Development Management Policies:
DM1 Design
DM2 Heritage Assets
DM5 Tourism and the Evening Economy
DM6 Accommodation for an Ageing Population
DM7 Accessibility and Safety
DM8 Demand Management
PLANNING JUDGEMENT
The applicant specialises in building retirement housing. The facilities provided include an office with a concierge service, a guest suite (twin room) and a large communal lounge with kitchen facilities (garden room). The applicants also state that an emergency call system will be installed in every apartment. These communal facilities and safety features do not tip the balance of being any kind of sheltered housing where an element of care is required and therefore the proposal is considered to be a flatted development scheme.
Loss of Hotel Accommodation
Policy DM5 of the Poole Site Specific Allocations and Development Management Policies DPD seeks to prevent the loss of such forms of tourist accommodation. Where evidence is provided demonstrating that the existing accommodation is no longer viable, appropriate or necessary then the loss may be accepted. A previous outline application to demolish existing buildings and erect a block of 7 holiday apartments providing 28 bedspaces and 12 residential unit on the Quarterdeck Hotel site was approved. That application represented a small reduction in the tourism offer.
The hotel currently provides 12 en-suite letting bedrooms (26 bedspaces); a restaurant with approximately 30 covers (although only light snacks are served); and a bar area which can seat 20 customers. There is further seating for 12 guests in the lounge. There is 'owners accommodation' to the rear of the building.
The hotel viability report by Savills confirms that the main issues affecting the business are associated with:
"the very dated nature of accommodation and the very small letting rooms that were added in the 1980's. As a consequence, very little of the facilities on offer at the Quarterdeck Hotel are suitable for the modern requirements of tourist and business trade. This would require substantial remodelling of the hotel and the number of letting rooms would be reduced to 10 en-suite bedrooms with sufficiently sized sleeping areas and improved bathrooms."
The hotel also lacks many disabled accessibility equipment such as lifts or stair lifts and the corridors and rooms are not wide enough to turn a wheelchair without difficulty