Planning & Development Committee

PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

26th October 2006

APPLICATION NO: M/OUT/1990/05/P

DESCRIPTION: Outline Application – Mixed Use Development for Residential, Commercial, Leisure, Education, Hotel and Ancillary Retail Uses, with Landscaping and Car Parking

LOCATION: Land bounded by Dock Street, Bridge Street East, Durham Street / Cleveland Street, and Vulcan Street: (Phase 2, Middlehaven)

APPLICANT: Tees Valley Regeneration

SUBMITTED BY: Entec UK Limited

1. APPLICATION SITE AND PROPOSAL

Special Meeting

1.1 This report is to be presented to the Planning & Development Committee at its special meeting on the afternoon of 26th October 2006.

Site Location

1.2 This application site comprises the area of land to the west of the former Middlesbrough Dock bounded by Dock Street to the east, Bridge Street East to the south, the continuation of Durham / Cleveland Streets to the west, and Vulcan Street to the north. Otherwise, the buildings on the northern side of Vulcan Street nearest the Clock Tower are also included, whilst those on the eastern side of Queens Square are not. The area basically comprises the Central Industrial Area, but is addressed in this report as Phase 2 of the Middlehaven proposals.

Site History

1.3 Given the size of this application site, and its complexity of different land ownerships, the following limited number of previous applications are considered to be material to the present case:

M/OUT/0288/01/P – Former Oderbrecht Yard – Mixed Use development for residential, business, hotel, leisure and restaurant uses – Approved Conditionally 27/06/01

M/OUT/2289/01/P – Cleveland Cable Company – Office Development (Class B1) – Approved Conditionally 11/03/02

Plan Status

1.4 The relevant Local Plan policies that are material to this case are listed in the attached Appendix.

Outline Application

1.5 This planning application has been submitted in outline only, with all matters (siting, design, external appearance, landscaping, and means of access) being reserved for later approval. The site it refers to is that of the Central Industrial Area (CIA) to the west of the former Middlesbrough Dock, and which occupies a total area of 16.5 hectares (40.77 acres) of either existing or vacant industrial land and buildings that have been in various uses over the years, but which have recently become subject to increasing dis-use and dilapidation. A number of the sites have been acquired (and some cleared) by either the applicants (Tees Valley Regeneration – TVR) or One NorthEast (ONE – the regional regeneration agency) for redevelopment as part of this process of regeneration. Otherwise, the area is occupied by an assortment of business, light industrial and storage uses including port related activities, engineering works, metal fabricators, ship riggers, and printers and auto repairs.

Adjoining Areas

1.6 The site is adjoined by the reclaimed land around the former Middlesbrough Dock, which comprises Phase 1 of the Greater Middlehaven regeneration area to the east, and the St Hilda’s residential estate to the west (a possible later phase of the Greater Middlehaven scheme). To the north, the site adjoins land in the ownership of Able UK with its extensive frontage onto the River Tees. Directly to the southwest of the application site is Queens Square, with the infrastructure of the Darlington to Saltburn railway and the raised A66 dual carriageway forming the boundary between the site and Middlesbrough town centre.

The Framework Plan

1.7 In their introductory letter the agents explain that “TVR is championing the regeneration of the Greater Middlehaven area in Middlesbrough. The entire Greater Middlehaven scheme is intended to reposition Middlesbrough as a destination of international significance, to reconnect the town centre with the Riverside, and to create a high quality mixed-use environment that is built upon the sustainable principle of ‘live-work-play’”. The letter further explains that “a new framework for the regeneration of Greater Middlehaven titled ‘The Greater Middlehaven Strategic Framework’ (The Framework Plan) was prepared on behalf of TVR and was published in October 2004. The Framework Plan maps out a rolling regeneration process consisting of 3 phases, the subject site containing most of the planned 2nd phase works. Included in the Framework is an indicative development scheme for the CIA”. The agents also advise that “work on the first phase of the scheme is underway and TVR are committed to sustaining the momentum of the regeneration process and, therefore, plan to progress to the next phase, the CIA. Further phases are also intended to follow. As with each of the main phases of the scheme, it is proposed that the CIA will provide a mixed and sustainable community, involving housing, education, leisure, community, environmental and employment opportunities.”

Regeneration Phases

1.8 Within this aspirational framework the overall scope of the wider Greater Middlehaven regeneration project includes the following 3 principal phases, of which the current application forms Phase 2:

·  Phase 1 – the Dock, to be based largely on the uses approved originally in 1999 but now to further include the relocation of Middlesbrough College into a single campus at Middlehaven as part of the approval that was effectively renewed by the conditional outline permission granted in May 2005: estimated timescale 2005-2009;

·  Phase 2 – the Central Industrial Area (CIA), comprising existing industrial and cleared sites and uses north of Dock Street and requiring a process of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) to be underpinned by an outline planning permission to be achieved as a result of this current application: estimated timescale 2007-2015; and

·  Phase 3 – the areas of existing housing at St. Hilda’s to the west, and of the Riverside Stadium and land to the east, with any future uses and redevelopment to be established by a further separate permission that could be obtained in due course: estimated timescale 2010-2020.

Although TVR are the applicants in both this case of Phase 2 and that of the previous Phase 1, their primary role is that of development sponsor or co-ordinator, rather than as developers in their own right, with individual phases and/or schemes therefore being brought forward by separate developers and/or consortia as part of this intended rolling programme of linked regeneration schemes.

Proposed Scale and Uses

1.9 The overall quantum of development proposed in this current outline application has been indicated as 116,400 square metres (1,164,000 square feet) of gross floorspace. The floorspace or unit totals for the various uses proposed are set out below, these being maxima and the basis for the 3D modelling exercise referred to later as an essential part of the Environmental Statement (ES) that accompanies this application. These would include the following components:

·  570 Residential Units (Class C3: 49,000 m² consisting of 1,2, 3 and 4 bedroom units);

·  2,400 m² of ancillary retail floorspace (Class A1);

·  25,500 m² of commercial floorspace (Classes A2 or B1);

·  A primary school (Class D1: 2,000 m²);

·  Up to 10,500 m² of leisure uses (Class D2) with a potential additional 20,000 m² for a museum or other visitor attraction;

·  Hotel (Class C1: approximately 7,000 m²);

·  A landscaped buffer area, including the provision for outdoor sports and/or recreation (Class D2); and

·  A total provision of 2,156 car parking spaces.

Ancillary Uses

1.10 The proposed retail floorspace has been described as “ancillary” which would include such uses as hairdressers, sandwich bars, convenience stores, a post office, or pharmacy, which would primarily cater for a local need from the intended resident population, and would fall within Use Class A1 (shops). The proposed commercial floorspace would comprise offices within either Use Classes A2 or B1. The proposed leisure uses (Use Class D2) would include a potential leisure/health and fitness centre, a swimming pool, and an extreme sports centre (e.g. BMX, ski facilities), and a further possible use would be that of a museum or similar form of public attraction. In addition, the proposed retail, leisure, and hotel uses referred to could also include associated uses such as restaurants, drinking establishments and hot food takeaways and these would fall within Use Classes A3, A4 and A5 in the Use Classes Order amended in 2005.

Parking Provision

1.11 The above total of approximately 2,150 parking spaces would form the total parking provision for the development but would comprise only part of a wider parking demand strategy for the proposed development as a whole. As explained in further detail in the assessment of the transportation issues below, this strategy would include measures to minimise parking requirements through a combination of Travel Plans and the design and layout of the development. Cycle parking provision would also be part of this approach.

Layout and Design Components

1.12 The above maxima amount of floorspace has also been illustrated by means of site layout and land use plans, and complemented by worse-than-worst case 3D visuals, which have been largely informed by the overall layout and design principles of the Greater Middlehaven Strategic Framework Plan, and which also repeat the main principles established within the Phase 1 proposals. The following major components are illustrated within the proposed indicative layout, and are subject to a more detailed assessment in the later design analysis in this report:

1. The Southern Mixed Use Strip: framing the southern edge of the site, the proposed buildings within this area would provide a permeable edge and act as the background for the buildings and activities within the central landscape belt. The buildings would be for mixed-use purposes with active ground floor uses.

2. The Northern Mixed Use Strip: framing the northern edge of the site, the proposed buildings within this area would also act and provide uses similar to those in the above Southern Strip.

3. The Central Landscape Belt: this area would incorporate an area of 7 hectares for a central landscape setting to various major buildings and major elements of Public Realm would also be provided here.

4. The Forest Walk: this would delineate the boundary between the Phase 2 proposals and the established town centre, and is intended to form an attractive landscape feature which would accommodate surface car parking as well as providing an acoustic and visual buffer to the A66.

5. Converted Buildings: the southernmost area of the site is envisaged as an area for the retention and conversion of various existing buildings that would provide a fine-grain of uses linking Middlehaven through the Station Conservation Area to the main town centre. The proposed uses would be for office and leisure purposes.

6. The Landmark structures within the Landscape: these proposed buildings would comprise a series of high quality and distinctive landmark buildings that would respond to the scale of the surrounding riverside infrastructure, and would be located within the central landscape belt. Possible uses within this area would include a museum, hotel, leisure and recreational facilities, offices and a primary school.

Supporting Statements

1.13 The outline planning application as submitted is supported by the following series of statements, reports and studies:

(a)  Planning Statement;

(b)  Sequential Analysis with Assessment of Need and Demand;

(c)  Design Statement;

(d) Transport Assessment & Travel Plan Framework (TA); and

(e)  Flood Risk Assessment (FRA).

Although a further report has been provided in the form of the Middlehaven Housing Demand and Impact Study (carried out on behalf of both the Borough Council and the applicants) this does not form part of the planning application itself. However, this study is referred to in the Analysis below in the section regarding the proposed housing element. As a result of specific consultation responses the applicants have provided supplementary supporting statements that have examined the issues of traffic impact on the trunk road network, a parking demand management strategy, and the industrial archaeology of the site. Furthermore, the application is accompanied by an Environmental Statement (ES) in accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations 1999. The results of this ES are described further and assessed throughout the Analysis section.

1.14 Both the above Planning Statement and Environmental Statement also include an outline of the consultation and publicity processes that the applicants undertook in the preparation of this application, and as such this can be interpreted as their Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). When submitting planning applications for Major Developments applicants are now, as set out in the Council’s own approved Statement of Community Involvement, obliged to submit a supporting SCI in order to explain the exercise(s) they have undertaken to publicise their proposal and to engage the local community in the formulation of such proposals. This obligation is a relatively recent one that stems from the Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

1.15 The applicants explain that “from the outset of the project, a proactive and open approach to consultation was initiated by TVR to ensure that potential issues of concern were taken into consideration in the development of the scheme. Inclusiveness was a hallmark of the preparation of the Framework Plan that includes the founding principles for the scheme, and stakeholders, community groups and relevant public organisations were all engaged in the development of the Framework Plan from its inception.” As such, during the preparation of the planning application, bodies such as the Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit, the Government Office for the North East, the Environment Agency, and others – as well as the Borough Council – were consulted. However, the main process of community involvement was carried out by the applicants during 2003 and 2004 as part of the preparation and adoption of the Greater Middlehaven Strategic Framework Plan in 2004, and prior to the submission of the previous application related to Phase 1 during December 2004.

Publicity: Site Notices and Neighbour Letters

1.16 The application has been advertised in the local press as a departure from the approved development plan; as a proposed development that would affect both the settings of listed buildings and the character/appearance of the Station Conservation Area; as well as under Circular 15/92 as a proposal for a Major Development, and one that would also affect public rights of way. This publicity has also referred to the application as being accompanied by an Environmental Statement in accordance with the EIA Regulations 1999. This publicity expired on 28th October 2005. Neighbouring businesses, residents and landowners have also been notified of these proposals by letter, as have the Ward Councillors and the Community Council, and the stipulated notification period in these cases expired on 25th October 2005. A single representation was received as a direct result of both of these methods of publicity and consultation in that period, this being from Network Rail who have no objection, as the site is some 17 metres from the railway boundary. Approximately 217 letters were sent out in this exercise.