Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Steve Drury, Andrea Fraser, Chris Mitchell and Stephen King.

Councillor Sarah Nelmes substituted for Councillor Steve Drury, Councillor Lisa Hudson substituted for Councillor Andrea Fraser and Councillor Narinder Sian substituted for Councillor Chris Mitchell.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

Items of other business notified under Council Procedure Rule 30 to be announced, together with the special circumstances that justify their consideration as a matter of urgency. The Chair to rule on the admission of such items.

There were no items of urgent business.

Hybrid application for the creation of a Film Hub to include detailed approval for demolition of a number of existing buildings including children's farm buildings and change of use of Langleybury House and Aisled Barn for filming and the construction of a cafe within the Walled Garden, new car parking area to north of site, alterations to existing access points along Langleybury Lane, change of use of the L Shaped Barn (to multi purpose use including cycle hub, showers and vehicle storage) and change of use of ground floor of the existing Laundry to reception facility, together with outline planning approval (matters reserved: Scale, Layout, Appearance and Landscaping) for change of use of site to a Film Hub to include Craft Workshop buildings, Sound Stages, Support Workshops, Production Offices, Backlots, Film and Television Training Facility Building, Offices, Ancillary Buildings, parking areas and relocation of Langleybury Children's Farm including new farm buildings. Alterations to existing cycle path and pedestrian network within the site, to include provision of a new pedestrian/cycle access within the site to the A41 at Land to the east of Langleybury lane, including Langleybury House Estate, Langleybury Lane.

Recommendation: That planning permission is refused.

The Planning Officer introduced the item and stated that the application was a hybrid application for the creation of a Film Hub to include detailed approval for demolition of a number of existing buildings including children's farm buildings and change of use of Langleybury House and Aisled Barn for filming and the construction of a cafe within the Walled Garden, new car parking area to north of site, alterations to existing access points along Langleybury Lane, change of use of the L Shaped Barn (to multi purpose use including cycle hub, showers and vehicle storage) and change of use of ground floor of the existing Laundry to reception facility, together with outline planning approval (matters reserved: Scale, Layout, Appearance and Landscaping) for change of use of site to a Film Hub to include Craft Workshop buildings, Sound Stages, Support Workshops, Production Offices, Backlots, Film and Television Training Facility Building, Offices, Ancillary Buildings, parking areas and relocation of Langleybury Children's Farm including new farm buildings. Alterations to existing cycle path and pedestrian network within the site, to include provision of a new pedestrian/cycle access within the site to the A41 at Land to the east of Langleybury lane, including Langleybury House Estate, Langleybury Lane.

The Planning Officer provided a correction to paragraph 3.14 of the report: the new commercial office sited to the east of the L shaped barn was part of the detailed scheme and not the outline application.

The Planning Officer also provided clarification in relation to paragraph 3.17, which stated that the support buildings would stand 8m above ground level.   It was clarified that these buildings, whilst standing 8m above ground level, would sit on ground levels which would be reduced to be 1.5m lower than existing.

Parish Councillor Jon Tankard, of Abbots Langley Parish Council, spoke against the application.

Chris Andrews, of Ralph Trustees Ltd, spoke in favour of the application.

The Committee’s discussions included the following:

·        The officer assessment of the harms which would result from the development as balanced against the benefits was not a linear exercise but involved an assessment of the overall harms and benefits arising from the development as a whole.

·        If the Committee were minded to grant approval, conditions could be included to address issues at the back lot such as noise, use of sets at night, lighting and operation of ancillary equipment (e.g. cranes).  These conditions would need to be reasonable.

·        The proposal involved a balance between economic development and preservation of the Green Belt.  Its benefits would include the creation of a substantial number of jobs, boosting the local economy, support for the film industry (which was an industry of great importance to the local area) and educational benefits provided by the children’s farm and new education facility.  The issue for the Committee was whether this would sufficiently outweigh the harms caused to heritage assets and the openness of the Green Belt to justify very special circumstances for development in the Green Belt.

·        A number of consultees, both  ...  view the full minutes text for item PC82/23