Stuart House":1zxxu01r said:
Graham,
Can the hyrbrid application be split, e.g can they give permission to the grandstand and associated developments and refuse the Western Gate outline application?
The hotel looks pretty substantial (search photos in the 100 documents which gives some decent visuals). I would guess this is what residents and friends of central park will be most apposed to.
Hybrid planning applications are quite rare and I am not aware of any such application determined by a Local Planning Authority where part has been approved and part refused, although there is a precedent for the Secretary of State doing exactly that on appeal.
Should there be opposition to part of the application such that the Council are minded not to support that element of the scheme then that element can either be withdrawn from the overall proposal or the Council can impose conditions for further detail to be submitted to overcome that specific issue.
Clearly the Grandstand element could have been submitted as a separate application but having looked through the documentation there have been evident cost savings to the Club in submitting combined documentation. A separate Grandstand application would have the same determination time period of 13 weeks as the overall scheme.
Where delays may occur is the discharge of what are called pre-commencement conditions, after planning permission has been granted - i.e. conditions that require certain details to be approved before the development can commence and any element of the approved scheme can be started. The Club would not want commencement on work on the Grandstand to be held up by, say a requirement to submit further detail on highways, drainage or the Ice Rink. I know James Brent is very aware of the need to avoid such delays. Case law has determined that a planning permission is not valid or legal if pre-commencement conditions have not been fully discharged.
The cost of delays should be of concern to supporters. The Club are already committed to paying back around £250,000 per year (for 30 years) on the Halletts' £4.1m loan (£130,000 capital and interest at around 2.7%) that is funding most of the Grandstand . In addition, the construction world is facing some recent rampant material cost inflation that threatens viability and the ability to deliver (as demonstrated by the delays and reconfiguration of the Bretonside scheme). Each month's delay will eat into what £6m can eventually deliver which could impact on the quality and extent of facilities in the Grandstand if cost savings have to be made. Hence, the importance of making a timely commencement with the funds in place.
