Agenda and minutes

The Evacuation Procedure was noted.

There were no declarations of interest.

Consideration was given to the Planning Committee minutes from the meeting which was held on 7 June 2023 for approval and signature.

RESOLVED that the minutes be approved and signed as a correct record by the Chair.

The planning protocol was noted.

Consideration was given to reserved matters application for 23/0061/REM, Castlegate Shopping Centre, Multi Storey Car Park and Former Swallow Hotel, High Street, Stockton-on-Tees.

Outline planning permission with all matters reserved was approved by Planning Committee on the 9 August 2021, for demolition of existing structures, including shopping centre, hotel and multi storey car park for the erection of new mixed use building(s) incorporating Use Classes E and/or F1 and/or F2, re-alignment and bridging over the A1305, creation of new urban park, performance space and pavilions, public realm improvements, and associated hard and soft landscaping, parking, vehicular access, highways alterations and servicing provision (21/0786/OUT). Work had commenced on the demolition and work was ongoing.

The application sought reserved matters approval for phases 3-9 of the development which is generally the new urban park, bridge and road alignment changes.

The vision remained to deliver transformational change within Stockton Town Centre through the demolition of the Castlegate Shopping Centre and consolidation of Stockton Town Centre’s retail offer to address the oversupply of retail floor space within the Town Centre, which had now already occurred. The park was designed to be a destination with multiple spaces for events and part of a wider strategy to reduce reliance on retail and address the unit vacancy rates. The layout of the park was informed by the historic burgage plots and the east west movement route from High Street to the Riverside. Overlaying this was the free flowing “cultural ribbon” that leads people through the park to the event spaces and link to areas of “cultural confetti” - features that told the heritage stories of Stockton. The ‘ribbon’ was a trail through the park and the ‘confetti’ were points with heritage interpretation along the way.

The application had been considered in full and there were no policy or consultation objections to the proposals subject to a number of conditions which had been recommended.

The application was recommended for approval with conditions.

The consultees that had been notified and the comments that had been received were detailed within the main report.

Neighbours were notified and the comments received were detailed within the main report.

The planning policies and material planning considerations that were relevant to the consideration of the application were contained within the main report.

The Planning Officers report concluded that overall, the submitted details had been considered and were broadly compliant with the approved parameters of the outline planning permission, therefore the application was recommended for approval with conditions as detailed within the main report.

A representative from the architects involved in developing the scheme gave Members a 5-minute presentation explaining the design approach. The main topics highlighted were as follows;

- The park would reflect the rich heritage of Stockton including the strong connection between the high street and the river, Stockton’s rail heritage with rail routes mapped out in the park as well as great stories of the fascinating shops and amazing produce that was located in the area where the Castlegate Centre once  ...  view the full minutes text for item P/11/23

Consideration was given to an application to vary for 22/2517/VARY, Playing Field, Aislaby Road, Eaglescliffe. Stockton-on-Tees.

Planning permission was sought to remove conditions no1 and no2 of planning approval S268/79 to allow community use of the playing pitches at the Yarm School Playing Field, Aislaby Road, Eaglescliffe.

The proposal also included the creation of an extended car parking area to facilitate 97 car parking spaces. Planning permission was approved in 1979 for the use of the land as school playing pitches with restrictive conditions for use by Yarm School only.

The applicant sought consent to allow Yarm School along with their associated partners/community groups and facilitate wider community use and participation in sport at the site.

There had been 34 letters of support and 11 letters of objection which the main cause for concern relating to on street and indiscriminate parking. To overcome this the applicant had proposed the provision of a 97-space car park.

The proposed extended community use would be supported by national and local planning policy and with conditions to control the operation and use of the site it was considered that there were no sustainable planning reasons to refuse the application and the application was therefore recommended for approval subject to planning conditions.

The consultees that had been notified and the comments that had been received were detailed within the main report.

Neighbours were notified and the comments received were detailed within the main report.

The planning policies and material planning considerations that were relevant to the consideration of the application were contained within the main report.

The Planning Officers report concluded that overall, it was considered that the benefits from allowing the community use of the playing fields was significant and the site could be sufficiently controlled through conditions to manage the site so as not to adversely affect residents, therefore the application was recommended for approval with conditions as detailed within the main report.

Members were given the opportunity to ask questions / make comments. These could be summarised as follows: -

- Concerns were raised relating to parking due to the very narrow road which was frequently used and whether there would be any modifications to the entrance.

- It was suggested that a condition be added so the playing fields could be used by the local community.

Officers were given the opportunity to respond to comments/issues raised. Their responses could be summarised as follows: -

- Officers explained that should there be any issues around parking then enforcement would deal with any issues identified and if required traffic regulations orders could be introduced such as double yellow lines.

- In terms of community use Officers explained that condition 3 ‘Community Use Agreement’ within the officers’ report covered this.

A vote then took place, and the application was approved.

RESOLVED that planning application 22/2517/VARY be approved subject to the following conditions and informatives

Approved Plans

01 The development hereby approved shall be in accordance with the following approved plan(s);

Plan  ...  view the full minutes text for item P/12/23

Consideration was given to application 21/0345/FUL, Erection of local centre comprising of eight, commercial units and associated infrastructure work. Land East of Hanzard Drive, South of Bloomfield Drive/Applecross and Nort of Glenarm Drive, Wynyard, Stockton-on-Tees.

The application site extended to approx. 0.7 ha and was currently undeveloped land, formerly in agricultural use, situated between the existing Bloomfield Drive residential development to the north, various commercial units served from Glenarm Road to the east and south and Hanzard Drive spine road to the west.

The site was within defined development limits and was identified as a local centre within the Wynyard Masterplan. The principle of development within the location had therefore been established.

The application was also previously heard and approved subject to the

applicant entering into a Section 106 agreement by planning committee in January 2022, which at the time consisted of a mixed commercial and residential development with a total number of 20 flats and c.1,300 square metres of commercial floorspace. However, the S.106 agreement had not

been signed and following a review of the scheme with regards to build costs, the applicant had resolved to remove the apartments to bring forward the delivery of the commercial units and local centre.

The overall footprint remained largely the same although the removal of the apartments saw an overall reduction in the bulk of the development which was now a series of single and two storey buildings forming a total of eight commercial units (as opposed to 6 previously). Given the nature of the changes along with the consequences for planning conditions and heads of terms, the item was referred back to planning committee for determination.

One additional representation had been received, although the original 11 letters of objection, 9 letters of support and 1 letter of representation also remained on the file and had been considered in the re-assessment of the proposals.

The principle of a commercial local centre development had already been established within the adopted Wynyard Masterplan and the overall scale of the development was considered to be appropriate and could be accommodated on the site within any significant resultant impacts on the character of the area, amenity of neighbouring properties/residents or highway safety.

For the avoidance of doubt as the residential element had been removed from the proposals, the requirement for planning obligations no longer applied to the scheme.

The application was recommended for approval with conditions.

The consultees that had been notified and the comments that had been received were detailed within the main report.

Neighbours were notified and the comments received were detailed within the main report.

The planning policies and material planning considerations that were relevant to the consideration of the application were contained within the main report.

The Planning Officers report concluded that the principle of the development had been accepted. The proposed development was also considered to be visually acceptable and would not have any significant adverse impacts on the amenity of the neighbouring occupiers to justify a refusal of the application.  ...  view the full minutes text for item P/13/23

The Appeals were noted.