City Council officers will be present to provide an update on plans for the development of the Wheatsheaf Works site.
Minutes:
Santokh Bansal, Senior Planner was present at the meeting to provide an update on the Wheatsheaf Works Planning Application and he explained that the application would be considered at a meeting of the Planning and Development Control on Monday 21 March 2011.
Councillor Shelton explained that he was a member of the Planning and Development Control Committee, and as such he would not be able to give any answers or comments on the application, which might prejudice him at the planning meeting and therefore prevent him from sitting on the Committee.
Santokh made the following points:
Members of the community were invited to ask Santokh questions and the following queries/comments were raised:
Santokh responded that Planning Officers did go out and visit sites. In respect of this application, he had been out on several occasions and put up site applications, notices and had delivered letters.
Several members of the community commented that they had not seen any notices and had not received letters relating to the planning application.
Santokh replied that the developer would need to start within 3 years.
Santokh explained that the Planning Authority had made very effort to ensure that the work on the Wheatsheaf would be carried out, but it was understood that the developer needed to progress some of the new build first in order to generate the required income.
Santokh responded that proposed site would be densely populated as the developer would not be interested unless the development was profitable. He added that the current developer was the only one who had shown any interest in the Wheatsheaf.
Santokh explained that this was not a planning consideration.
Santokh responded that road humps would be installed in the latter stages of the development. There was no point in installing them too early as they would be flattened by the construction traffic.
Santokh explained that the Highways Officers would need to look at this; he was not able to comment as he was not a Highways expert.
A member of the public commented that as traffic was such a crucial issue, a Highways Officer should have been present at the meeting and Jerry Connolly, Member Support Officer explained that on this occasion, the Highways Officer had not been invited. However at the previous Freeman Community Meeting, there had been a detailed presentation and discussion on the Wheatsheaf Planning Application and comprehensive minutes had been taken, which people may find informative. Paper copies of the minutes were circulated to some members of the public and Jerry also offered to email the minutes out to people after the meeting.
Councillor Shelton responded that the planning application for the Manchester Hotel would be considered at the Planning and Development Control Committee on 13 April 2011. He added that he was opposed to the application and would be speaking against it, which meant that he would not be able to participate or vote as a member of the committee at the meeting.
Santokh was thanked for coming to the meeting.