London Road Area LAT – draft minutes for 10th July 2018

 

Minutes of the London Road Local Action Team (LAT) Meeting

18:00 10th July 2018 (note earlier start due to World Cup football)

  1. Welcome and introductions

Apologies:

  • Mick and tony on holiday

  • Janice and Tony (Fire station)

  • Andy winter

Present

Mike Gray, Alan Briggenshaw, Sandy Crowhurst (NLCA), Cath Prenton, Daphne de Boissiere, Mark de Boissiere, Penny Morley, Nikki Harper, Andy Keeffe (UOB), Simon Bannister, Spencer John (C-W architects), Pest West, Simon Bareham (Lewis &Co Planning) , Corinne Lamb, P.Wells (it was noted that there was World Cup football on this evening).

  1. Minutes of last 2 meetings

  • The minutes from the last two meetings were agreed.

  • Date of Next meeting is September 11th

  1. C-and-W presentation

A presentation by C-and-W for a proposed development, of the Co-op building, on London Road, to be built on the site of the existing building was brought to the meeting.

The plan:

  • To make it student residential open plan apartments for Post Graduates and international students, not intended for families or locals.

  • They propose a total of 5 floors which adds to height of the existing building.

  • The shops will be retained as retail space below, but there will be a addition of a reception space at the back on Oxford Street.

  • The doctor’s surgery would be going and merging with Circus parade development.

  • There will be a visual impact from north and south and the Level. Taking away and bringing the building line back toward to Level.

  • The plan is subject to negotiations with the businesses and residents.

  • The artist impression of what it would look like in terms of brick work was shown, and the views looking at the building from London Road.

  • The overhang at the front to be added back to the building after the whole build is complete.

  • It will be a similar height to Abacus . If it was a storey higher it would have issues.

  • There will be another residential exhibition. It is good to keep this conversation going, through the LAT and bounce off ideas with the developers.

The outline of each level:

Ground floor

There is going to be a car park at the back, which would be for the retail shops, it would have enhanced security from what it has at present. There would be no parking on site for residents. Co-op and Boots are in negotiation regarding this and wish to trade from their existing spaces as long as possible.

There will be no resident parking permits offered to the students.

Oxford street car park has areas where at present it is not clear on who owns on who owns it. These need to be looked after properly and not left as “wasteland”. The car park and courtyard would be part of the fire escape plan.

The bins that are currently there would be removed, as it would deter potential students aesthetically. The universities deter students from using cars, although some still do.

Cycle parking: there is going to be 65 square meters of cycle space, made up of 2 levels. 96 spaces. It was suggested that this does not meet building guidelines.

There is a going to be a cycle hire scheme, which is incentive for students. Q: would there be provision for basic cycle maintenance and repair?

1st floor plan

  • Reception, laundry room on Oxford Street.

  • Lounge, study and gym space overlooking London road

2nd floor, 3rd floor & 4th floors

  • Accommodation floor: Cluster suits and living space – this is a trend. To help the mental health of the students as this is a concern for potential residents and their families.

The construction process

  • The application is at the pre-application stage at present.

  • The process could take 18 months and 2 years for construction. Realistically 18 months.

  • There will be vehicles coming and going constantly and access onto site needs to be taken into consideration.

  • The extension material is going to be pale brick; residents were not keen on some possible materials . (e.g. as used in the Vogue Gyratory)

  • The windows will be fixed, as air quality is a key selling point issue.

Concerns:

  • There are loads of student residential buildings around the area.

  • It becoming very expensive, for people and families in the area.

  • There are no plans to build family homes.

  • If the first year students go into these blocks and then free up the normal houses (HMOs)

  • It would control the housing issue a little but this might well be off-set by expansion of student numbers.

  • The expectation from the universities is for 1st years to go into these student blocks and then move into resident housing.

  • The Brighton University has never been able to house all students; they are not expanding the volume of students at present.

  • Need to manage the balance between the university students and the residents, when considering allocation of occupants into these forms of apartments

  • The construction management plan needs to liaise with highways.

  • There is a lot of construction going on in the city. The client is aware of this.

Publicity

  • Letters and site notices regarding the time scale of the development will go out to immediate neighbours.

  • There will be a 3-week consultation period.

  • 13 weeks to determine consultation, hopefully finished by 13th August 2018

  • Planning Application is pencilled in for February

  • Start the build in the next autumn.

4. Going forward:

Langley’s development proposal.

Action point: Philip to try get Longley to come.

Meeting finished around 19:15