Agenda item

Ward

Laleham and Shepperton Green

Proposal

Use of 6 acres of land for backlot in association with Shepperton studios, including the construction of utility buildings, security barriers and guard shelters, with associated enabling works, access, landscaping, surface parking and amened car park access at land north of Shepperton Studios.

Recommendation

The application is recommended for approval subject to conditions set out at Paragraph 8 of the Report.

Description:

Use of 6 acres of land for backlot in association with Shepperton Studios, including the construction of utility buildings, security barriers and guard shelters, with associated enabling works, access, landscaping, surface parking and amended car park access at land north of Shepperton Studios.

Additional Information:

The applicant submitted a letter and plan in support of the application which clarifies  that the area of extension is 4,450m² (0.45 ha), which represents 8% of the full application site and is about the size of half a football pitch. The applicant considers that this is not material and would be imperceptible in assessment of Green Belt openness, landscape or visual impact.

They also state that the impact of the additional land in landscape and biodiversity terms in negligible and is in any event mitigated by new landscape proposals and by the offer of a biodiversity net gain of 5% off site.

The letter concludes that the proposed backlot is a stand-alone planning application but an integral part of the Shepperton expansion project. Very special circumstances exist to clearly outweigh any Green Belt harms and all other aspects of the development are assessed as acceptable.

Laleham Residents Association ahs submitted an objection on the grounds of the connection between this application and 21/01548/RMA for a Multi Storey Car Park on land to the south of the River Ash, which they believe will direct additional traffic onto Shepperton Road and Laleham Road.

Paragraph 7.30 should refer to Queen Mary’s Resevoir.

For clarity it is recommended that Condition 6 be revised to:

No part of the development, including hardstanding and fences, shall be carried out within the landscape buffer zone between the backlot and Studios Estate shown on Plan 3755-FBA-XX-XX-DR-X-0109003 Rev P2, without the prior written consent of the Local Planning Authority.

Conditions 10 and 14 are duplicates and it is recommended that these are deleted that the conditions renumbered accordingly.

Public Speaking:

In accordance with the Council’s procedure for speaking at meetings, Matthew Wright, Senior Development Manager spoke for the proposed development raising the following key points:

-       This application is to relocate a backlot that had previously been permitted

-       The application site already has planning permission for car parking

-       Production companies require two backlots of a minimum of six acres

-       The re-siting of the backlot has provided the opportunity to realign the internal access road away from Studios Estate

-       The biodiversity net gain would be increased to a minimum of 20% beyond that required

-       The Ward Councillors, Residents Associations and the residents of Studios Estate had been consulted on the proposed backlot with the majority agreeing that this was an improvement on the consented scheme

-       Hours of operation to be controlled through conditions

-       Removal of lighting that would have been part of the car park

-       An extension to the landscape bund with established tree planting

-       The entrance to the existing North Car Park would be moved west, removing cars from Studio Road at an earlier point and closer to the existing studio entrance

-       Enhancements to the River Ash Corridor would take place

-       The whole of the Shepperton site is in the Green Belt but the technical policy test of very special circumstances is met

-       Local residents would be provided with a preferable use of neighbouring land compared with the approved car park

Debate:

During the debate the following key issues were raised:

-       To run the studios two backlots are needed

-       No objections have been received from neighbouring houses

-       Shepperton Studios have reacted to concerns from the public

-       The outline planning permission was for parking at the northern end of the site and not the southern end as now proposed

-       Concerns were raised over the encroachment onto Green Belt land but any harm was outweighed by the positives

-       Not happy that this proposal encroaches further into the green belt

-       Work is undertaken regularly on the River Ash

-       Approval will not continue if a Section 106 is not obtained or biodiversity measures are not met

-       Concerns were raised over the affect the lighting would have on wildlife

-       The Council’s Biodiversity Officer would monitor the River Ash and surrounding land to ensure that it is kept litter free

For – 9

Against – 1

Abstain - 2

Decision:

The application was APPROVED.