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Item 4 (c)

Site: 116 High Street Application No:

2007/0584/F

Target Date: 2nd November 2007 Agent: Makasis GML Architects Applicant: Quad Inc. Limited Development:

Erection of One 4 Storey Building and One 2 Storey Building to Provide 20 Residential Units and Retail Units (A1) at Ground Floor.

Background The application site is 116 High Street, an existing 2 storey furniture shop unit that occupies a prominent position on the west side of the High Street. The site is located to the north of Gaunt Street between the Central Methodist Church and The City Vaults Public House. To the north the site is bounded by the service yard for the shops at 119-122 High Street, where there is an existing Substation adjacent to this northern boundary. No. 115 High Street adjoining the application site to the south comprises three full floors of mixed-use development, which appears to be residential above the commercial ground floor. The North-West boundary of the site is adjoined to a site currently being developed as two-storey housing whilst to the south-west there is a vehicle repair workshop accessed via Gaunt Street, which has consent for redevelopment into three dwellings. There is an existing vehicular access from Gaunt Street, which currently serves the vehicle repair workshop. The proposal is for the demolition of the existing building and the creation of a mixed-use development incorporating approximately 550m2 of retail floorspace at ground floor together with 20 residential units comprising of 16 flats on first, second and third floors together with 4 houses to the rear of the site accessed from Gaunt Street. The 16 flats comprise 4 x 1-bed, 10 x 2-bed and 2 x 3-bed units, situated above the retail and all accessed from The High Street. The houses to the rear consist of three properties in a terrace backing onto the rear of properties on Gaunt Street and a further detached unit facing east. These properties are set around a shared courtyard with provision for 3 parking spaces and wheeled bin storage.

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Frontage Building The proposals show two full floors of residential above the ground floor with a further third floor set within a double pitched roof set back at right angles to the frontage and viewed as a pair of gable ends. To the northern part of the site and adjacent to no.119 High Street the façade drops by a floor with the top floor then set back 3m with an essentially flat roof. First and second floors contain five and six units respectively. The setback third floor, which provides terraces to the front and rear contains five units. The retail footprint at ground floor extends beyond the residential above which allows for shared amenity for the flats above.

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Rear of site Residential accommodation is proposed to the rear of the site in the form of a detached two-bedroomed house and a small terrace of three houses (1x1-bed and 2x2-bed). This rear block is single aspect with north-west view to the courtyard and a 2.2m high boundary wall to nos. 1-7 Gaunt Street. The detached dwelling is dual aspect, with bedrooms and living room windows to the east (courtyard) and south and a small external amenity space.

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Site Visit Undertaken on 4/9/07. Issues

1) The Effect on Residential Amenity 2) The Effect on the Character and Appearance of the Conservation Area 3) Parking.

Policies Referred to 34: Design and Amenity Standards 28: Development Within or Adjoining Conservation Areas 18: Development in Mixed-Use Areas 56A: New Housing (Self-Contained) Consultations Consultations were carried out in accordance with the Statement of Community Involvement, adopted June 2006. Responses Comments, Head of Environmental Sustainability Scientific Officer, DDES City Hall No objections subject to conditions given. Comments, Lincoln Civic Trust St Mary`s Guildhall, 385 High Street, Lincoln, LN5 7RY The overall scheme is approved with the provision that the high street elevation should feature 4 three-storey gables to maintain co-hesion of style and enhance the street scape on this important approach to the City. Comments, County Cars 381b, High Street, Lincoln, LN5 7SF Have no objections in principle to the outline permission but would strongly object to any intended planning for any other taxi offices opposite. Objection, Dale Whelan 11 Gaunt Street, Lincoln, LN5 7PU Concerned about access, noise and disturbance from extra vehicles, parking

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problems and highway safety; loss of privacy through overlooking. Comments, Ian Wickes, DDES Requests conditions : Consideration of Issues 1.The Effect on Residential Amenity The terraced houses to the rear have been designed to fall within the profile of the existing structures on the site – indeed they are some 2m lower at eaves height ensuring that there will be a reduced impact in terms of overbearing on nos. 1-7 Gaunt Street due to the cat slide roof facing these properties. There are no windows other than two rooflights facing these properties and so there will be no overlooking issues. Likewise, the stand alone property is of a reduced height due to its flat roof construction and has no windows facing west at first floor ensuring that it has a minimal impact on the adjacent sites to the west and south. A letter of objection has been received from the occupants of no. 11 Gaunt Street concerned in part about the potential loss of privacy. Only the stand-alone residential unit will have a direct line of site to this property but this is at a distance of approximately 23m, which is widely regarded as an acceptable relationship of window to window at first floor level. In any case it is not uncommon to find much closer relationships of first floor windows in the locality and so I do not consider their amenity will be unduly harmed.

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The rear elevation of the apartment building has an 11m wide projection, which is partly canted and creates oblique angles and obscured vision lines to minimise overlooking from the apartments back towards properties on Gaunt Street. The remainder of the windows on this west elevation are too far back to allow any overlooking. At first floor level, the scheme includes an amenity space to the rear, which would be enclosed by a 1m high handrail. This would allow a certain amount of overlooking down to the communal courtyard proposed at ground level, which I do not consider to be problematic, however the south west corner of this amenity space would potentially afford the opportunity for overlooking into the rear gardens of nos. 1-7 Gaunt Street. Likewise there would be the potential for overlooking into the first floor windows of the three proposed terraced properties to the rear. In light of this I would recommend a condition which requires a screen of etched glass or similar to prevent this overlooking and act as more of a physical barrier between these two elements of the scheme.

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2. The Effect on the Character and Appearance of the Conservation Area

The southern half of the elevation fronting The High Street picks up the proportional fenestration and rhythm of the gables of 115 High Street and is of the same height, pitch, proportion and bay width. This part of the frontage is proposed in red brick, which will tie in with 115 High Street immediately adjacent. The northern part of the High Street elevation continues the proportions across the whole of the frontage of 115 whilst increasing opening widths for living spaces. Whilst these openings provide a unity across the frontage, this part of the frontage is proposed in render which creates a contrast with the adjacent building and acts to break up the frontage, being more appropriate for this simple and more modern section of the frontage.

The ground floor frontage has a well-proportioned shop front with vertical piers to continue the architectural rhythm at street level.

The overall appearance from The High Street is a well proportioned building which takes a cue from the good quality surrounding buildings in terms of scale, massing and architectural rhythm but still manages to create a contemporary aesthetic which is a marked contrast to the adjacent buildings. I consider that the development will therefore enhance the character and appearance of the Conservation Area.

The houses to the rear of the site pick up on the materials and proportions of the rear of the apartment block – principally rendered with elements of timber panelling. The combination of render and timber used across the frontage of the terraced houses creates a distinct separation between the three houses. The design approach here is clearly modern which I consider to be entirely appropriate for this part of the site, having no frontages onto a street.

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3.Parking

The scheme provides 3 off road parking spaces to the rear, which would be accessed from the lane off Gaunt Street. Clearly this does not provide parking provision for every unit but The Highway Authority have made several site visits at off-peak times which has revealed excess parking capacity in the surrounding streets. Furthermore, the eastern end of Gaunt Street has double yellow lines to prevent parking in any event and so on this basis they have raised no objections to the proposal. I concur with this view and consider that the site is in a highly sustainable position being centrally located and well served by established bus routes. There is also a cycle storage facility to encourage modes of transport other than the private car.

4.Other issues

Section 106 agreements have been drafted for the retention of the four properties at the rear of the site as social rented accommodation as well as a contribution towards children play space. The applicants are aware of the proposed agreements and any permission would clearly be conditional on these agreements being signed and returned to the Planning Authority.

The 16 apartments would operate a communal bin system and sufficient bin storage is proposed towards the High Street end of the building to accommodate this. The four dwellings to the rear would have individual wheeled bins and space has been provided on site for their storage.

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Due to the archaeological sensitivity of the site, a condition requiring the submission of details to evaluate, preserve and record the archaeological content of the site is suggested prior to the commencement of any works.

Due to the size of the existing building, Conservation Area Consent is required for its demolition. An application for this has been submitted and as consideration has been made regarding the aesthetic and character value of the existing building, no objections will be raised. Conclusion The proposed scheme will positively contribute to the character and appearance of the Conservation Area without causing harm to the amenities of adjacent neighbours in line with policies 18, 28, 34 and 56A of The City of Lincoln Local Plan.

Financial Implications None. Legal Implications None. Equality Implications There are no equality implications raised by this proposal, which are not considered under other legislation. Application Negotiated Either at Pre-Application or During Process of Application Yes. Application Determined Within Target Yes.

Recommendation Grant with conditions subject to the receipt of signed section 106 agreements for play space and affordable housing 1) Samples of materials 2) Archaeological measures 3) Details of screening to first floor external amenity space 4) Revised details of bin storage 5) Highways - Min access width of 4.1m 6) Bike store retained as such in perpetuity 7) Surfacing of access track Report by: Head of Planning Services