Manderson House Scheme Deferred After Planning Committee Row
Councillor says that inspectorate would find proceedings 'hilarious'
A visualisation of the Makers' Yard scheme from the developer
May 5, 2023
There were angry exchanges at the borough’s planning committee this Thursday evening (4 May) with councillors eventually deferring a decision on the Manderson House redevelopment.
The committee had received a report from planning officers recommending approval for the application (P/2022/2379) for the Makers’ Yard scheme at 24 Commerce Road.
The proposal by Euthenia Developments Ltd is for a mixed residential and commercial development which would include 111 flats ranging from studios to three bedroom units, 71 of which the developer wants to reserve for the private market with 14 (mainly studios) for shared ownership and 28 for social rent.
The lower floors of the nine-storey building would be reserved for light industrial use.
With the planning officers endorsement, the scheme was expected to gain approval but the discussion of the application resulted in robust disagreement between councillors for and against the plan. There a number of suggestions for improving the development including the incorporation of a nearby site and extra contributions from the developer for a local open space.
At one point Cllr Tony Louki, who was opposed to the plan on the grounds of its height and possible loss of jobs locally, said that fellow Labour councillor John Stroud-Turp, who had challenged him on some of the points he raised, would beat him if it came to a fight because of his army training.
It was proposed that a decision should be deferred because of the extra issues raised but, after a period of confusion, it turned out that this vote was tied.
Cllr John Todd was critical of the Chair of the meeting Cllr Pritam Grewal after he declined to use his casting vote to block the deferral. Cllr Todd said, "You're chair of Planning Committee. Your ears weren't muffled. You've heard the evidence. The deferral is utterly spurious. The objection is wholly inappropriate. It should be passed. It's up to you as chair to show leadership if you believe in that."
CGI from the developer of the scheme as seen from Commerce Road
Aware that the meeting was being filmed Cllr Rhys Williams said, "An inspectorate's going to find this hilarious watching this video, honestly. We're just in big trouble if we end up having no good reasons for rejecting."
It is understood that the application will be represented to the committee at a forthcoming meeting.
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