516
Councillor Liddy (by reason of his directorship of the Colchester Borough Homes) declared a non-pecuniary interest in the following item pursuant to the provisions of Meetings General Procedure Rule 7(5).
The Committee considered an application for the demolition of Mercury House and Food @ the Mercury Restaurant, felling of selected trees, construction of a 2-3 storey production block, construction of a two-storey extension on the northeast corner, infill of the porte-cochere to provide internal ground floor accommodation, archaeological investigation, landscaping works, installation of temporary site cabins and storage areas for the duration of the construction process at the Colchester Mercury Theatre, Balkerne Passage, Colchester. The application had been referred to the Committee for complete transparency and probity because the Mercury Theatre site was land owned by Colchester Borough Council and Colchester Borough Council were heavily involved, as the project lead, in the “Mercury Rising” Project to extend the Mercury Theatre. The Committee had before it a report and an amendment sheet in which all information was set out. The Committee made a site visit in order to assess the impact of the proposals upon the locality and the suitability of the proposals for the site.
Andrew Tyrrell, Planning Manager, presented the report and assisted the Committee in its deliberations. He explained that the amendment sheet gave details of an additional condition to protect ecology.
Members of the Committee welcomed the proposal as a major enhancement to the area and congratulated all those involved in bringing the designs to fruition with no objections being received. Clarification was sought in relation to the provision of a travel plan for staff members, the possibility of allowing the removal of two trees to the rear of the site, the location of the in-filled former reservoir, the archaeological significance of the site and the access arrangements to be put in place during the construction phase and its potential impact on access and egress via Balkerne Passage connecting to North Hill. Reference was also made to the need for the new open space area to be accessible for cyclists as well as pedestrians.
The Planning Manager confirmed that it would be reasonable to include an additional condition to provide for the agreement of a satisfactory travel plan arrangement. He acknowledged the need for construction traffic to be suitably and sensitively managed bearing in mind the nearby location of elderly residents but considered the access arrangements during the construction phase needed to be left open for discussion with the Highway Authority as he was aware of requirements of residents of Balkerne Gardens to use Balkerne Passage for both access and agress and alternative traffic management options may be identified. He confirmed that a very comprehensive Archaeological report accompanied the application documents, that the site was of considerable archaeological interest and that a full archaeological excavation would be undertaken. The former reservoir was located near the existing entrance to the Mercury Theatre, there was some limited potential that the unknown in-fill material may be contaminated and work to clarify this would be undertaken at the same time as the archaeological investigations as a precautionary approach.
RESOLVED (UNANIMOUSLY) that the application be approved subject to the conditions set out in the report and the amendment sheet as well as an additional condition to provide for the agreement of a satisfactory travel plan arrangement.