Agenda item

This report describes oversight of construction work by the Construction Management Team across the borough, the current operation of the construction bond scheme and related documentation.

Following the Chair’s invitation, the Lead Member for Planning and Public Realm, Cllr. Cem Kemahli, introduced the report and raised the following points:

1.  The regulations were focused on delivering construction in a resident focused way.

2.  There were a huge number of developments that involved significant construction in very small areas across the borough.

3.  This started a number of years ago with a pilot system in Chelsea and changes to the regulations around basement digs and has since been embedded for several years.

4.  The Council was one of the first councils to implement a construction bond scheme. They hoped to be able to demand gold standard vehicles in due course, rather than silver standard currently requested.

5.  A good site that complied with the regulations should not have to pay the Council much.

The Committee were invited by the Chair to ask questions of the Lead Member, Adrew Burton, Director of Transport and Regulatory Services, and Julian Trill, Construction Team Manager, and the Committee:

1.  Queried how the Council ensured that residents’ amenity were protected in areas of concurrent construction and how were the regulations enforced. Officers explained that dust was mitigated as far as possible. Regarding noise, construction work was banned at all times at weekends, and this was the only council in the UK to have this ban in place. The Council served Section 60 notices almost immediately if working hours were breached. Traffic issues were best controlled through schemes and visits, for example, 120 visits were made to sites in January (2024) so far. If the site was not acting within the regulations, they would carry out a further visit and downgrade the score, this would result in more frequent visits. The average frequency of visits was every 3 months. Poorly compliant sites could receive fixed penalty notices (FPNs), temporary stop notices, and breach of condition notices. It was important to achieve a balance between allowing developers to work and reducing disruption to residents.

2.  Noted that that Adair Tower in North Kensington had been under development for over four years and residents had been impacted by dust and noise, and there was poor communication from the Council regarding the construction which was resulting in increasing tension. The officers agreed that the most overlooked area of the process was communication but there should be a communications team in place for a Council development, with an on-site communications officer to respond to residents’ queries and concerns. The officer would provide a more detailed written response on this development.

Action by: Construction Team Manager

3.  Suggested that some developers may include a budget line for FPNs rather than comply with the regulations and asked whether officers and the Lead Member were confident that the Council was using the existing legislation as best as possible and if there was any way of blacklisting construction companies from the borough. The Lead Member responded that resourcing was required for better enforcement of the legislation. They were looking into ‘super areas’ or ‘super bonds’ and employing a permanent staff member. The Executive Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods added that the Council would prosecute if it was the same breach repeatedly.

4.  Asked about arrangements regarding suspension of bays for construction lorries. Officers explained that there were quite a lot of exceptions to parking regulations for construction lorries, unless a site was governed by a construction traffic management plan (CTMP). If concerns were raised, then officers would liaise with the parking team to increasing monitoring of the area. There was further work to be done in terms of liaison with the parking team in terms of IT systems. The Lead Member suggested bringing in shorter notice suspension, as it currently takes 14 days to process.

5.  Sought further information on what else could be done within the legislation for developers consistently and deliberately flouting the rules. Officers would provide a written response on this.

Action by: Director of Transport and Regulatory Services

6.  Questioned whether building sites had a timeframe to complete within. The officers informed the Committee that the only timeframe was that construction needed to start within three years of planning permission being granted. However, the construction bond scheme did incentivise the developer to finish the work as quickly as possible. The CTMP would include how long to work was expected to take so that officers know how many visits to conduct. The cost of parking suspensions was significantly higher than what could be charged through the bond scheme.

7.  Asked whether the bond scheme covered costs for things that could be damaged in the process, such as the highway. The officers explained that if a licensed structure was put on the highway, a highway engineer would inspect it and return to check it. There was a deposit scheme for structures that needed a highways licence.

8.  Enquired whether there was a way to take a holistic approach, for example, creating break years in areas with constant development. Officers explained that there was not currently a way and there would be a lot of challenges to introducing time limits. Primary legislation or a bylaw would be needed. They could try to work with other sites to coordinate CTMPs.

9.  Asked about the current view of using evidence from residents who had witnessed a clear breach. Officers confirmed that if the individual was credible and was willing to provide and sign a statement and potentially give evidence in court, then the Council could progress the breach in the form of an FPN. They would need to check with legal colleagues regarding prosecution.

Actions to be completed, with any information requested by the Committee to be sent to the Governance Officer for circulation:

1.  The Director of Transport and Regulatory Services and the Construction Team Manager to provide a written report with further information on blacklisting firms, plans regarding the bond scheme, plans regarding gold standard vehicles, and using residents’ evidence to issue FPNs and to prosecute.

2.  The Construction Team Manager to provide a written response regarding the construction works at Adair Tower.