All the planning applications agreed by councillors this week in Northampton

The committee decided to approve nine of the ten applications they discussed, and here’s a rundown of their decisions.

AGREED: Hybrid application for up to 170 new dwellings at University of Northampton Avenue Campus, St Georges Avenue.

The biggest application of the evening saw a scheme from the University of Northampton approved that will see the demolition of most of the buildings on its Avenue campus to be replaced by homes. Part of the Maidwell building, which fronts onto St Georges Avenue, will be retained and converted into apartments. Read more about this decision in detail here.

AGREED: Construction of a residential development, comprising 22 self-contained apartments at 14-18 St Michael’s Road.

The site, in the Boot and Shoe Quarter, has been empty since 1999. This will see 22 apartments built there now, finally bringing it back into use. Councillors had concerns over no affordable homes being offered, while Councillor Danielle Stone raised concerns over the lack of refuse space, saying she feared that a number of black rubbish sacks would end up on the street. But officers said the scheme offered more benefits than harm. Read more about the decision here.

AGREED: Variation of conditions at Sofa King, Tivoli House, Towcester Road.

Permission had already been granted for the demolition of the existing building and the erection of 40 dwellings, car parking and some retail space. Last September saw the planning committee agree to remove affordable homes from the scheme so the developer could make a profit.This new variation application proposed altering the design of the approved building by slightly reducing the size of the corners of the building; amending the flood risk assessment and to reduce the level of parking by one space to 39. Councillors were happy with the proposal.

AGREED: Change of use from retail shop to takeaway at 103 St Leonard's Road.

The unit, next to Ying Lung chinese takeaway, has been empty for two years and was previously a coffee shop. The upper floor will remain as a flat.

Councillor Graham Walker objected due to ‘significant parking concerns in the area’, with Councillor Julie Davenport adding that the road is ‘already jam packed’ and that the street had been ‘taken over’ by takeaways. Nevertheless, councillors unanimously backed the proposals as officers felt it was compliant with planning policy.

DEFERRED: Variation to change from a four-person to a five-person house in multiple occupation (HMO) at 70 Victoria Road.

Councillors Jane Birch and Mary Markham said that the applicant was merely trying to make more money out of the HMO, with councillors highlighting the ‘unsatisfactory’ layout with the extra room effectively forming part of the kitchen.

Rather than oppose the scheme, councillors agreed to defer a decision so that further negotiations could be made with the landlord to try and improve the internal layout.

AGREED: Conversion of single dwelling into two apartments with new window to basement at 64 Charles Street.

Councillor Danielle Stone said: “This is an already overcrowded area with many social problems, including fly tipping, parking pressures, crime and anti-social behaviour. This application will add to the pressures and make it ever more difficult for the existing residents and families to create community.”

The above issues were not planning considerations however, and councillors could think of no planning policy on which to deny the scheme – so it went through by four votes to two.

AGREED: Variation to section 106 agreement to vary the mortgagee exclusion and reinvestment clauses at Parklands Middle School, Devon Way.

Councillors unanimously agreed to allow clauses to be changed in terms of affordable housing. It will not affect numbers in terms of 35 per cent of the 132 homes being affordable at the site, which was granted planning permission last January. But it will allow another housing provider or the council to purchase the affordable housing units within a specified time frame if the provider defaults on loan payments and the mortgagee takes control.

An existing reinvestment clause in the section 106 agreement [developer contributions] means that if a tenant exercises the right to buy or buys 100 per cent of a shared ownership property, the provider must use the proceeds to invest in further affordable housing in Northampton. But the providers argued that this greatly limits the amount of viable reinvestment opportunities. A new deal was agreed that means if no opportunities for reinvestment can be found in Northampton, providers will look in Daventry and South Northamptonshire as a second choice, and after that the rest of the county.

AGREED: Delegated authority for Director of Planning and Sustainability to agree variations to section 106 agreements to amend mortgagee exclusion clauses.

The committee was told that they had had a number of requests along the lines of the Parklands variation reported above. It means that every future request would have to come to the planning committee. Instead, this decision means they can now be taken at a delegated level by officers.

Councillors also approved the following application:

Self-contained annex on footprint of approved double garage at 24 Penfold Drive.

Single storey side extension and new front porch together with internal alterations and vehicular crossover at 42 Aynho Crescent.