Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Strategic Director for Place.

The Chair invited Mr Shore-Nye, to speak for five minutes in support of the application, who made the following points:

·        the proposed development was for a flagship facility following a two-year extensive collaboration with Council officers and following a number of design revisions;

·        the proposal would deliver a cross-faculty research and teaching facility to support the Institute of Arab and East Studies, accommodating 80 academics and 400 students, meeting the identified need for large, active and digitally connected learning spaces and collaborative research space;

·        the design process involved extensive collaboration with council officers and two reviews by the Council’s Design Review Panel;

·        in response to feedback, the building had been reduced in height and size by 19%, landscaping enhancements had been increased across the site, and the architecture and materiality had been revisited to better integrate with the surroundings;

·        the plan to use the historic Mews courtyard during construction has been removed at the officers' request;

·        the sensitivities and complexity, of developing within the historic campus setting had been a primary consideration throughout the project and the design balanced the functional needs of a new educational facility with the sensitivities of the historic campus setting;

·        the proposals would inevitably result in some heritage harm through the loss of historic fabric on site, but the significant public benefits of the project, would outweigh the acknowledged heritage harm;

·        economic benefits included supporting the University's £509.4M contribution to Exeter's GDP and 9,070 jobs and would generate an estimated £6.7million in annual postgraduate teaching income and £2million in research income;

·        the construction phase would provide additional fixed-term social and economic benefits, estimated to be between £7.45M to £8M to the local economy over two years;

·        the development would create a new, fully inclusive and accessible path through the Reed Hall buildings, improving campus connectivity;

·        a package of restoration measures would be secured by condition to better reveal the significance of Reed Hall;

·        new garden areas and elevated cafe terraces would also allow for greater appreciation of the historic setting;

·        the building would use low embodied carbon materials, off-site construction, and adopt Passivhaus House standards;

·        biodiversity net gain objectives would be met through on-site and off-site measures and a separate, standalone bat house had already been constructed to mitigate impacts on existing roosts;

·        all issues raised by statutory consultees had been addressed through design revisions or planning conditions; and

·        the proposal would deliver a world-class, sustainable academic building that justified approval based on its long-term public value and requested that the Planning Committee support the officer's recommendation.

Mr Shore-Nye responded to Members’ questions as follows:

·        the location was a key area of activity and would be a logical extension for the successful Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies, which was already there;

·        the new building would boost activity in that part of the campus and encourage people to enjoy it more;

·        the university had moved away from a carbon management approach but there was a recent example of creating a valley to increase biodiversity  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38