Issue - items at meetings - London Road Central Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)

Report of the Director of Environment (copy attached).

(1)         That the Cabinet Member notes the results of the public consultation exercise (Appendix 3) and endorses the changes made to the draft London Road Central Masterplan SPD.

(2)         That the Cabinet Member adopts the draft London Road Central Masterplan SPD as part of the Local Development Framework, subject to any minor grammatical and non-material text and illustration alterations agreed by the Director of Environment in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment. The SPD and its annex document are attached as Appendices 1 and 2 respectively.

75.1The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Environment concerning the results of the London Road Central Masterplan consultation held in June 2009 and seeking permission  to formally adopt the masterplan (for copy see minute book).

75.2The Cabinet Member explained that the consultation had resulted in sixty five groups, organisations or individuals sending comments to the council.  A three day exhibition held at the former Co-op in London Road was attended by over a thousand individuals and resulted in hundreds of comments, which have informed further changes to the masterplan. Over the last few weeks the Cabinet Member had received postcards from around two hundred individuals on behalf of the “Another London Road” group summarising the main points made by the group during the consultation period. The Cabinet Member thanked the individuals and for the Another London Road group for their particular interest and obvious passion in the area.  He reported that officers had invited members of the Another London Road group to a briefing to go through the document and explain the changes that had been made to the masterplan.

75.3The Cabinet Member advised that the revised masterplan included an implementation plan that could be updated when needed and which would provide a means to guide and monitor improvements.    Overall, the masterplan would provide a flexible framework to strengthen the role of London Road as one of the city’s town centres and would provide an essential means for guiding future development in the area.

75.4The Cabinet Member invited Ms Christina Summers, from the Another London Road campaign to address the meeting.

75.5Ms Summers thanked the Planning Projects Manager and Senior Planning Officer working on the project for keeping the Another London Road group informed and answering any questions. She was encouraged to see the inclusion of more incremental work alongside the larger projects and was pleased that buildings of architectural interest had been recognised. She explained that concerns remained over the possibility of a superstore moving into the area despite the need for developers to meet certain conditions; she acknowledged that the retail impact assessment would be key. She advised that the group felt that the area should be designated a ‘district centre’ rather than a ‘town centre’ and that traffic issues were still a major concern.

75.6Councillor Mitchell welcomed the revised masterplan and praised the consultation process for resulting in a strengthened and improved document. She echoed the concerns around traffic flow and stated that she would be looking to the Local Transport Plan to address the issue. She added that there was a clear desire to see positive change and she hoped that short and medium terms projects would soon be forthcoming.

75.7Councillor Davey echoed the concerns raised in relation to traffic and the potential for a superstore to move into the area. He thanked officers for the improvements made to the masterplan and emphasised the importance of de-cluttering and the difference that it would make to the area.

75.8The Planning Projects Manager explained that short term measures had been identified against projects where funding was available or those that were achievable in the next one to two years. The implementation plan would be monitored and added to over time. He advised that the London Road area had been designated a ‘town centre’ because other areas in the city had the same designation and it was felt that London Road warranted the same approach. He thanked all the interested parties for contributing to the consultation process.

75.9RESOLVED - That having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Cabinet Member accepted the following recommendation:

(1)         That the results of the public consultation exercise be noted and the changes made to the draft London Road Central Masterplan SPD be endorsed.

(2)         That the draft London Road Central Masterplan SPD be adopted as part of the Local Development Framework, subject to any minor grammatical and non-material text and illustration alterations agreed by the Director of Environment in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment.