Note: Following the proposal from the
Chair, the Committee agreed that items 8 - 22/00733/FUL - Plaza and
Fountain Island the Town London EN1and 9 - 22/00836/ADV - Plaza and
Fountain Island The Town London EN1 would be considered together
and voted on separately.
1. The introduction by
David Gittens, Planning Decisions Manager, clarifying the
proposals.
2. Member’s
debate, comments and questions responded to by officers as
follows:
·
Would the area for the tables and chairs provide
continued easy unhindered access to pedestrians, including those
with limited mobility together with mobility scooters and
prams?
·
Whether security would be provided by the
premises
·
The continues use of the loading bay by the food
kiosk trailer and whether this would impact on the traffic flow and
interrupt deliveries to the commercial premises.
·
Whether public facilities, such as toilets, would be
provided and adequate.
·
The proposal conflicted with the Conservation Area
in which it was to be located.
The Town Centre Development Manager,
Place Department advised the Committee that:
-
The area for the proposed additional
seating was considered to be adequate and would be kept under
review. The business operators would be
responsible for managing their own space and security would be
managed by the operators in accordance with their commercial
contracts.
-
All the outdoor dining/seating furniture
would be removed from pavements and stored indoors within business
premises outside opening hours.
-
Large planters had been placed in the
area as anti-terrorist measures.
-
The Council currently allowed the food
kiosk to use the loading bay, which was sufficiently large to allow
for another vehicle to load there. A
load function was also available on that stretch of
road.
-
Public facilities, such as toilets, would
be provided by individual operators. Bonito Café, which had customer
toilets would be open during the hours of operation of the
kiosk.
-
Concerns were raised regarding the hours
of operation, which had not been agreed.
-
The application, in the context of the
Enfield Town Centre was acceptable, and an appreciation that new
initiatives had to be tried to enhance the area.
-
The proposed signage was out of keeping
in the Conservation Area and it was unnecessary for the sign to be
illuminated if the kiosk was to operate during daylight
hours.
-
Further concerns were expressed regarding
the operation and impact of the proposal on and in the Conservation
Area. The temporary period of three
years was considered too long for this proposal in the Conservation
Area. One year was more
reasonable.
The Heritage Officer, responding to
concerns raised by Members, explained that:
-
The proposal would provide a positive
contribution to Enfield, a market town, with a commercial
centre. It would encourage people to
visit and extend their stay in the town centre which, in turn,
would improve its sustainability and economic vitality. This was essential to the current economic climate
and was linked to the plans for the future of Enfield in the long
term.
-
Careful consideration had been given to
the possible impact on the Conservation Area. The view taken was that there was no harm to the
character and appearance of the Conservation Area and, following
consultation with the agent, the location of the
noticeboard/display unit in this instance was acceptable and would
not impact on the heritage setting.
-
The application did not propose to
display signage on the buildings.
The
Chair proposed and was seconded by Councillor Michael Rye that the
planning application with temporary use for one-year with an
additional condition for a management plan.
On
being put to the vote there were ten votes for with one
abstention.
AGREED that:
-
The Head of Development Management be authorised to
GRANT planning permission subject to conditions contained in the
report of offices and subject to additional conditions limiting
permission to one year and requiring submission of a management
plan for the area.
-
The Head of Development Management be granted
delegated authority to agree the final wording of the conditions to
cover the matters in the recommendation section of the report of
officers.