Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Juma Begum and Matthew Dormer.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

The Chair declared that the applicant for agenda item 5 (Minute No5), Mr Taylor, was know to Members due to his years of work with the Redditch Co-Operative group, however, there was no conflict of interest.

Councillor Bill Hartnett declared in regard to agenda item 5 (Minute No5), that he was previously the Chair of the Redditch Co-Operative board, however he has since come off the board and there was no conflict of interest.

Councillor William Boyd declared in regard to agenda item 5 (Minute No5), in that he lives in close proximity to the site location, however he would remain impartial and there was no conflict.

The minutes of the Planning Committee meetings held on 17^th April 2025 were presented to Members.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 17^th April 2025 were approved as a true and accurate record and were signed by the Chair.

To note Update Reports (if any) for the Planning Applications to be considered at the meeting (circulated prior to the commencement of the meeting)

There was no update report, however, the Case Officer detailed to Members that the Council’s Housing Strategy team had formally commented that they had no objection to the application.

This application was reported to Planning Committee for determination because the application was for major development. Furthermore, the application required a Section 106 (S106) Agreement. As such the application fell outside the scheme of delegation to Officers.

Officers presented the report and in doing so, drew Members’ attention to the presentation slides on pages 5 to 20 of the Site Plans and Presentations pack.

The application was for Former Clive Works, Edward Street and sought the Erection of 72 apartments, comprising 57 one bedroomed and 15 two bedroomed units, to be provided as an affordable housing product.

Officers detailed that planning permission had been granted for the erection of 73 units which was approved at the Planning Committee in January 2020. Planning permission was granted subject to a S106 agreement. The S106 had not been completed, however, the permission remains as a material consideration.

The site had since been purchased by the current developer, Green Square Accord, who had developed several local properties including the Victoria Works, the former trades/labour site and the zero plastic Charm works. The locations of which were detailed on page 6 of the Site Plans and Presentations pack.

The proposed layout was shown to Members detailed on page 10 of the site plans and Presentations pack. Officers pointed out the bike storage, pedestrian access created and building layout with parking.

A weberwall Construction method was proposed which constructs on a timber frame with sheets of cladding installed, designed to give a brick like finish. The construction method was detailed to be a much faster construction method as the cladding can be prepared off site and the overall carbon footprint of the construction would be substantially less.

Officers further detailed that there had been extensive conversations with the applicant and that they were satisfied that an appropriate finish could be achieved as to match local buildings.

Officers sought delegated decision making for the Assistant Director for Planning, Leisure and Culture Services to grant the application subject to the finalisation of the Section 106 agreement.

At the invitation of the Chair, Mr Carl Taylor, the applicant, addressed the committee in support of the application.

The following was clarified following questions from Members:

• That the cycle block would be a secure lockable area for standard bicycles, without facilities for charging E-bikes.
• There was a need within the borough for the 1 and 2 bed properties proposed by the development.
• The Section 106 agreement sought to secure £115k to develop the local transport network.
• That Condition 12 covered Bio-Diversity matters and that a requirement for Bat/Swift boxes could be requested as part of that condition.
• The decision was taken not to require the applicant to provide parking spaces for the 1bed apartments due to the sustainability of the area and the close proximity to public transport routes.
• The developer would be responsible for the maintenance of the railway fence and grounds on site.

A number of other points were raised in relation to accessibility and the longevity of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider any Urgent Reports, details of which have been notified to the Assistant Director of Legal, Democratic and Procurement Services prior to the commencement of the meeting and which the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, considers to be of so urgent a nature that it cannot wait until the next meeting.

There was no urgent business.