4.1 MAYFAIR - Welcome to Westminster.gov.uk · Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance for Entertainment Uses July 2006 153 4.1.6 residential prestige of Mayfair as a whole. Much of

Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance for Entertainment UsesJuly 2006

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4.1 MAYFAIR

SUB-AREA PROFILE

4.1.1 This area covers 105ha (just over a square kilometre), and comprisesthe land bounded by Oxford Street, Park Lane and Piccadilly, on thenorth, west and south respectively. On its east side it extends to withina street block of the lower part of Regent Street (as shown in Figure 1).It thus covers most of Mayfair, a locality which Pevsner described asthe ‘epitome of London wealth’. The area includes the south side ofOxford Street and the north side of Piccadilly, Bond Street andadjoining streets, hotels of international standing, a variety of importantpublic buildings, major diplomatic premises and a significant presenceof headquarters offices of national and international organisations andbusinesses.

4.1.2 The area is located within the Central Activities Zone (CAZ), none of itis identified as a Stress Area, although along its eastern boundary itimmediately adjoins the West End Stress Area.

CHARACTER AND FUNCTION

Townscape4.1.3 Mayfair’s layout is comprised of a jigsaw of predominantly rectangular

street patterns. This jigsaw arises from the various land ownerships inplace when the area was first developed in the eighteenth century andtopographical features such as the Tyburn Brook long since hidden bybuilding works. The three largest pieces of the jigsaw are centred onBerkeley, Grosvenor and Hanover Squares which now form the onlyopen spaces within the area. Where the separate street grids intersectand along the line of the Tyburn brook, slightly haphazard patterns ofstreet junctions and plot shapes have resulted. These contrast with theformality of development surrounding them. The Grosvenor Estate isone of the major landowners in this area.

4.1.4 The principal characteristic of much of Mayfair is the predominance offashionable townhouses and their mews in a variety of styles datingfrom the early eighteenth century through to the early twentiethcentury. Much of this building, up to five storeys in height, was of a highquality, although some of it was redeveloped or substantially altered inVictorian and Edwardian times. Some of the housing has beenconverted to commercial uses or divided into smaller apartments.

4.1.5 In the eastern part of Mayfair, a pattern of commercial building ofvarious sizes has been superimposed on the domestic scale of thelocality. The specialist ‘high order comparison goods’ shopping in muchof Bond Street, Cork Street and Savile Row, and in other streetsnearby, and the appearance of their premises, correspond to the


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4.1.6 residential prestige of Mayfair as a whole. Much of the smaller scale ofthe area has survived, with larger blocks of flats, hotels and officesmostly up to ten storeys in height, generally confined to the streetblocks along Oxford Street, Park Lane and Piccadilly, and aroundBerkeley and Hanover Squares.

4.1.6 Because the area has maintained its position for over three hundredyears as a location for high quality buildings, nearly 600 of these arelisted. Almost the whole sub-area is covered by conservation areadesignations: these include most of the Mayfair Conservation Area andpart of the Regent Street Conservation Area (see Figure 1).

4.1.7 This sub-area contains two sites that have been safeguarded for theCrossrail 1 proposals. Draft Planning briefs were prepared in May 2005for redevelopment in connection with new ticket halls for Bond StreetStation these sites are 65 Davies Street (western ticket hall) and 18-19Hanover Square (eastern ticket hall). Should Crossrail go aheadassociated works are likely to cause considerable disruption aroundthese areas.

Land Use4.1.8 Like much of the rest of the CAZ, Mayfair is an area of diverse land

uses, with many buildings having more than one use. According to thecity council’s 1990 Land Use Survey offices, in a wide range of unitsizes, were the most important land use with 42% of the area’s totalfloorspace; property and finance businesses are well representedamong office occupiers. Residential was the next largest floorspacewith 22% of all floorspace in this area. After housing, the other mainland uses were hotels, which comprised 11% of the floorspace andshops, which took up 9%1.

4.1.9 In the core commercial areas of Mayfair the main current ground floorpremises are shops (56%), offices (15%) and entertainment (13%).Other uses account for 16% of all ground floor premises and includethe following: professional and financial services, residential, hotels,leisure and storage2 (see Figure 2).

1 WCC 1990 Land Use Survey2 GOAD Retail Survey 2005


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4.1.10 Figure 3 illustrates the current distribution of ground floor land uses inthe more commercial areas. This shows the concentration of shop usesalong the international shopping frontages of Oxford Street, wherenational multiple retailers are well represented and Bond Street, whichincludes a major concentration of national and international luxurygoods retailing, and in the adjoining streets including South MoltonStreet, Bruton Street and Conduit Street. The eastern end of Piccadillyalso contains a number of retail premises, which complement the high-end shopping evident on the south side of this street. Clusters ofconvenience shops serving local residents and businesses are found inMount Street and parts of North and South Audley Street and inShepherd Market. Entertainment uses are generally well distributedthroughout the area with a particular concentration around Dover Streetand Shepherd Market, which is characterised by smaller restaurantsand cafes. Most of the larger hotels are on Grosvenor Square,Piccadilly and Park Lane (or in streets off this). There are other,generally smaller hotels, some converted from houses, elsewhere inthe western half of Mayfair.

Figure 2: Ground floor uses by number of premisesSource: GOAD Retail Survey 2005

Retail56%

Office15%

Entertainment13%

Other16%


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4.1.11 Ground floor office uses are most often found towards the westernedge of the commercial area.

4.1.12 Mayfair has a long established residential community, with housing(flats and single family dwellings) accounting for 22% of the totalfloorspace. There are 2622 people registered to vote3 and a total of4517 residential units4. This constitutes the highest number of units inany of the areas covered by the entertainment guidance. As illustratedin Figure 4, residential accommodation is distributed throughout thearea (it is evident on 956 separate sites). West from Berkeley Square,however, residential uses are present in substantial numbers in almostevery street block. This area contains 40 individual sites with 20 ormore units. In this part of Mayfair houses and flats are, in places,present on the ground floor. There is evidence that an element ofhousing in this area is used as short term lets; and some residents willhave other homes elsewhere. By contrast, the area also contains socialhousing, this is most evident to the immediate south of Oxford Street,in Brown Hart Gardens.

Specialist Clusters4.1.13 Old and New Bond Streets and South Molton Street specialise in

jewellery, clothing and accessories, and other ‘style related’comparison goods. There are bespoke men’s tailors in part of SavileRow and in streets nearby. There is a grouping of art galleries in CorkStreet and adjoining streets, linked to the presence of the RoyalAcademy off Piccadilly. Other streets off Bond Street have shops and

3 Electoral Register 20034 WCC 1990 Land Use Survey and WCC Residential Pipeline Survey 2005


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showrooms providing other specialist goods and services including rarebooks, antiques and household furnishings.

Scale of Entertainment Uses4.1.14 There are 197 entertainment uses currently evident in the core

commercial parts of this sub-area, in a variety of uses includingrestaurants, cafes, traditional public houses, bars, nightclubs, privatemembers clubs and take-away premises. The majority of entertainmentpremises (66%) are in restaurant and café use5. Since 1998 there hasbeen an 18% increase in entertainment premises and a 26% increasein entertainment floorspace at ground floor level6.

4.1.15 In 2002, there were 46 premises in the sub-area that had a music anddance licence, and 3 premises with night café licences. The location ofthese premises is shown in Figure 57. The music and dancing premiseshave a total capacity of 26,416 with an average capacity of 574 and anaverage closing time of 3am. However it should be noted that of thetotal capacity 64% of this (16,847) is accounted for by eight largehotels including The Dorchester and Grosvenor House and Hilton Hotelon Park Lane, The Hotel Intercontinental (Hamilton Place) and MayfairIntercontinental (Stratton Street) off Park Lane, The London Marriottand Millennium Britannia Hotel on Grosvenor Square and the ParkLane Hotel on Piccadilly.

5 GOAD Retail Survey 20056 GOAD Retail Survey 2005 and 19987 WCC Licensing Department 2002


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Music and dance licensed premises Capacity5 establishments (1055 persons) close at 1am 264164 establishments (980) close at 2am 253612 establishments (3958) close at 2.30am 2438124 establishments (12169) close at 3am 204235 establishments (1574) close at 3.30am 82546 establishments (6400) close at 4am 66802 establishments (280) close at 6am 280

Night café licensed premises4.1.16 There are 3 night café premises with a total capacity of 28, all of which

close at 5am.

4.1.17 It must be noted that these figures only relate to premises with a musicand dance and night café licence rather than all entertainmentpremises and so represents the minimum potential capacity of persons.Pubs and restaurants have not generally had capacity limits.

AMENITY/LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

Anti-social behaviour, crime and noise.4.1.18 In the 12 month period to 31st March 2005, the police were called to

682 disorder incidents. Of these 375 were for disorder in a public place,31 for disturbance in licensed premises and 61 for drunkenness8.

4.1.19 In 2004, the city council dealt with 750 noise complaints within thearea, with the largest number of complaints generated by constructionand road works. The sources of these complaints were distributedwidely throughout the area. Only a small proportion of complaints, 7%,related to noise from entertainment premises9.

4.1.20 Levels of anti-social behaviour were recorded in surveys undertaken inthe summer of 2002 on various streets in central Westminster10. In thisarea the streets surveyed were Oxford Street, Piccadilly (includingAlbemarle and Dover Streets just off Piccadilly) and Bond Street. Inaddition, the consultants carrying out shopping health checks reviewedconditions in South Audley and Mount Streets and at Shepherd Market.

4.1.21 Observers reporting on night time conditions in Oxford Street, Piccadillyand Bond Street, found that levels of anti-social behaviour weregenerally low. Along Oxford Street, many pedestrians appeared to beon their way to somewhere rather than loitering. Most of the hourlyreports however, refer to incidents of some kind, including singing andshouting, minicabs sounding horns to attract attention, and a smallfight. In Piccadilly, observers referred in the hourly reports to incidentsof shouting, begging, busking, and mini cab touting. Observers thought

8 Metropolitan Police Computer Aided Despatch (CAD) data April 2004-March 20059 WCC Noise Complaints 200410 PMRS 2002 Night-time Pedestrian Flowcount


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Albemarle and Dover Streets quiet and later ‘almost deserted’. In BondStreet observers referred to ‘the distinctly calm atmosphere’ in the earlypart of the night, but later reported cars with loud stereos, shouting, aman urinating in a shop doorway and men kicking over a rubbish binand smashing a bottle in the street. In Shepherd Market, which has aconcentration of entertainment uses, the Council’s shopping ‘heathcheck’ consultants thought the area showed ‘some evidence ofdrunkenness, anti-social behaviour and rowdiness’, but made no suchreference in the case of the South Audley/Mount Street area which hasfew entertainment uses.

Traffic4.1.22 Along the Oxford Street and Piccadilly frontages, observers reported

night time levels of traffic volume and noise as high, with vehiclesqueuing at traffic signals, particularly before midnight. Later in the nightthey thought traffic noise levels were lower along Oxford Street, but stillthe main source of noise. The reports on streets within Mayfairgenerally refer to medium or low traffic noise levels, with lower levelsafter midnight. Observers thought traffic volume on Conduit Street, atwo-way street leading into Regent Street did not fall until after 3 am11.

Pedestrian Flows4.1.23 Night time pedestrian counts were undertaken at weekends in July

2002 for certain streets in Westminster. In this area, counts were takenon the south side of Oxford Street and on the north side of Piccadilly.Within Mayfair itself, counts were undertaken in Bond Street, and inAlbemarle and Dover Streets.

4.1.24 The counts indicated relatively low levels of activity compared withother parts of the CAZ. The busiest streets were those along theboundaries of the area. Counts on the south side of Oxford Streetgave returns of between 1,000 and 2,000 at the western end with thosetowards Oxford Circus higher at over 4,000 over the six-hour periodfrom 10pm to 4am. Observers on the north side of Piccadilly towardsits eastern end reported just under 4,000 over the same six-hourperiod. In Bond Street, almost all the counts undertaken gave returnsof between 500 and 700 over six hours. Counts at the southern ends ofDover and Albemarle Streets gave figures of 450 and 680 respectivelyover six hours.

11 PMRS 2002 Night-time Pedestrian Flowcount


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SUMMARY

Character and Function4.1.25 In common with much of the rest of central Westminster, Mayfair has a

diverse pattern of land uses. Oxford Street and Piccadilly are majorthoroughfares and are used by large numbers of pedestrians andvehicles. Within Mayfair’s boundaries, Bond Street and several streetsnearby represent a major concentration of national and internationalluxury goods retailing, with buildings and ancillary uses correspondingto that function. The north–east corner of the area, towards OxfordStreet is very largely commercial in nature where buildings often haveshops and services and other commercial uses on the ground floor withmainly office use on the upper floors. The areas immediatelysurrounding Berkeley Square and Hanover Square now have asimilarly largely commercial character. Apart from the Park Lanefrontage, most of Mayfair west from Berkeley Square is mainlyresidential in character, with housing in a wide variety of forms, muchof it providing high quality accommodation. The land use mix of theShepherd Market area includes residential uses in close proximity to itsshopping and various entertainment uses.

Amenity/Local Environmental Quality4.1.26 There are 4517 residential premises in this area. At night, many of the

streets in this area are quieter than during the day. There are 197entertainment uses, some 60% in restaurant and café use. Althoughthere is some evidence of anti-social behaviour this appears to belocalised (for example in Shepherd Market) and in general, this sub-


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area given its size has relatively low levels of police call outs regardingdisturbances in a public place. The introduction of new entertainmentuses into areas where there are at present few such uses would belikely to change the character of some streets and have adverse effectson the amenity of people living nearby and the local enivornmentalquality. Entertainment in Mayfair has increased by some 18% in thepast seven years and there are parts of the area, where entertainmentuses have become concentrated, particularly in and around ShepherdMarket and in Dover Street, in these areas it is considered that theimpact any additional entertainment uses here would have acumulative detrimental impact on residential amenity and localenvironmental quality.

Policy Guidance4.1.27 In most instances, new entertainment uses in Mayfair are likely to have

an adverse effect on the character and function of the area and, insome cases, on residential amenity, and will not therefore be permitted.Similarly proposals which intensify an entertainment use, such aschanging the use of a restaurant to a bar, will adversely affectcharacter and function and residential amenity, and will not thereforebe permitted.

4.1.28 However, there are some limited circumstances where character andfunction and residential amenity may not be harmed. The city councilmay therefore be prepared to approve proposals for small and mediumsized restaurant and café uses at second floor and above on Piccadilly,and at lower levels in streets leading off Oxford Street in the northeastern part of Mayfair (north of Brook Street), where it is satisfied thatthe provisions of TACE 8 –10 and all other RUDP policy requirementsare met.

4.1.29 Where small or medium sized restaurants are considered to beacceptable using the above criteria the city council will impose planningconditions that no customers will be allowed on the premises after12.30am the following morning on Mondays to Thursdays and after1am on the following morning on Fridays and Saturdays and midnighton Sundays (except Sundays immediately preceding Bank Holidayswhen customers will be allowed to remain on the premises until 1am onthe following morning). An earlier closing time may be sought wherethere are residential premises in the immediate proximity.

4.1.30 In relation to existing lawful entertainment uses, if planning applicationsare submitted for a change in the nature of the use, alterations orextensions to the premises or for variation to existing conditions,permissions will only be granted where the council is satisfied that it willresult in a significant overall reduction in the impact of the use onresidential amenity, the environmental quality and character andfunction of the locality – for example though the imposition of new orvaried conditions to control the nature or operation of the activity.


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4.2 ST. JAMES’S

SUB-AREA PROFILE

4.2.1 The St. James’s sub-area is defined as the area bounded by Piccadilly,Green Park, the Mall, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus (seeFigure 1). This area includes the traditional historic core of St. James’s.

CHARACTER AND FUNCTION

4.2.2 This section provides a description of the character and function of StJames’s. A more detailed description of the built form and public realmmay be found in the Conservation Area Audit for St. James’s publishedby the city council in 2002. Evidence of the uniqueness of the characterand function of the area is also presented in a study by the St James’sConservation Society ‘Conserving Historic St. James’s’ (1999).

Townscape4.2.3 St. James’s boasts one of the highest concentrations of listed buildings

and street furniture in the country. The streets have remained in theoriginal 17th century grid iron street pattern. St James’s was originallythe home of royalty and aristocrats. The townscape is ornate, with themajority of buildings being of classical design, with a heavy use ofwhite stucco, columns and elaborate cornices.

4.2.4 The area comprises a network of commercial frontages, residentialstreets and mews and alleys. Within this framework are numerousprivate and public gardens, squares and other open spaces. Overallthere is a consistency of height within the area, with properties of 5 to 6storeys providing the prevailing height throughout the area.

4.2.5 The area consists of a varied age of development and an eclecticpalette of styles: historic palaces and grand town houses; residentialterraces; mews, yards and alleys; commercial schemes; arcades; andmodern infill. The area has one of the highest concentrations of listedbuildings and structures, 26 of which are Grade I, 91 Grade II* and 44Grade II. Many original 18th and 19th century shopfronts of interestsurvive. There are also good examples of arcade development. Thearea includes the Conservation Areas of St. James’s, Regent Street(part) and Trafalgar Square (part).

Land use4.2.6 The area comprises a mixture of commercial and residential uses.

West of St. James’s Square are a number of art galleries and auctionhouses. Jermyn Street is well known for its high quality bespoke tailorswhilst Pall Mall is known for its private members’ clubs. Piccadilly is


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lined by large commercial buildings, many of which are occupied byinternationally famous retailers, and the Ritz Hotel.

4.2.7 The area is predominantly commercial. According to the 1990 LandUse Survey, in terms of floorspace, the main land use is officescomprising over 600,000 sq m, representing 56% of total land use. Thesecond largest land use in floorspace terms is for public buildings thatcomprise 20% of the total land use in the area, and includes membersclubs for which the area is renowned. Other ‘public building’ useslocated within the sub area include embassies, art galleries, and usesconnected with St James’s Palace1.

4.2.8 In the core commercial area of St James’s, the main ground floorpremises are shops (48%), offices (25%) and entertainment uses(14%) 2.

4.2.9 Figure 3 illustrates ground floor uses in the main commercial area of StJames where nearly all the entertainment uses are located. The mainground floor uses are shops and offices. Almost 70% of the retailingprovided comparison shopping, including a number of specialistretailers. 3% of shops are in use as sandwich bars and cafes.

1 WCC 1990 Land Use Survey2 GOAD Retail Survey 2005

Figure 2: Ground floor use by number of premisesSource: GOAD Retail Survey 2005

Retail48%

Off ice25%

Entertainment14%

Other13%


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4.2.10 Before the introduction of planning controls, many residential propertiesin the area have been converted to commercial uses. The 1990 Landuse survey recorded 9% of land was in residential use, recording 628residential properties. Since then, implementation of planningpermissions has resulted in an additional 104 residential units, bringingthe total to 732 units3. There are also nearly 300 persons on theelectoral register within St James’s4.

4.2.11 Figure 4 illustrates the distribution of residential properties in the areaby showing the number of residential properties by street block5.Residential uses are dispersed throughout the area, predominantlylocated in the smaller side streets. The highest concentration ofresidential is found in the properties which back onto Queen’s Walk, byGreen Park. Figure 4 also shows the location of restaurants, bars andother entertainment uses in the sub-area, and their proximity toresidential properties.

3 WCC 1990 Land Use Survey and Residential Pipeline Survey 20054 Electoral Register 20035 WCC 1990 Land Use Survey and Residential Pipeline Survey 2005


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Specialist clusters4.2.12 There are a number of historic Members Clubs focused around St

James’s Street and Pall Mall including the Athenaeum, Reform andTravellers Club, Boodles, Whites, Brook’s, the Carlton and the RAC.Other clubs are distributed throughout the conservation area andinclude St James’s Club and the Royal Overseas League in ParkPlace. In addition to Members Clubs there are several hotels, the mostnotable being the Ritz on Piccadilly.

4.2.13 Retail activities are concentrated in the north of the area. There areretailers of international renown concentrated along Piccadilly, withmainly specialist retailers such as shirt makers, tailors, food outlets andperfumeries in Jermyn Street, and wine merchants, hatters andbootmakers in St James’s Street. The auction houses and art galleriesare concentrated to the west of St James’s Square around Duke Streetand King Street. These all add to the specialist, high quality characterof the area.

Scale of Entertainment Uses4.2.14 Over 70 entertainment uses6 account for approximately 14% of all

ground floor uses within the sub-area, a proportion of which includesMembers Clubs. Restaurants comprise the largest proportion ofentertainment uses (40%). Other notable entertainment uses includesa number of historic pubs – many of which have been part of the builtfabric of St James’s for hundreds of years. However, despite thecontribution that some entertainment uses make to St James’s, thesub-area has experienced a rapid increase in the number ofentertainment uses, rising by 20% since 19987.

4.2.15 Figure 5 below illustrates the location of premises with a music anddance licence8. There are 14 premises in this sub-area holding musicand dance licences, including the Ritz Hotel on Piccadilly, the Instituteof Contemporary Arts on the Mall and two theatres; the remaining tenpremises comprise seven restaurants and bars and three nightclubs.There were no premises in this area with night café licenses.

6 GOAD Retail Survey 20057 GOAD Retail Survey 2005 and 19988 WCC Licensing Department 2002


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4.2.16 These 14 premises have a total capacity for over 4500 persons from11pm, though this falls significantly after 3am to below 1105 persons9.

Music and dance licensed premises Capacity2 establishments (320 persons) close at 11.00pm 45171 establishment (1262) closes at 12.00pm 41971 establishment (180) closes at 12.30pm 29351 establishment (350) closes at 01.00am 27551 establishment (110) closes at 02.00am 24055 establishments (1190) close at 03.00am 22951 establishment (235) closes at 03.30am 11051 establishment (300) closes at 05.00am 8701 establishment (570) closes at 06.00am 570

4.2.17 It must be noted that these figures only relate to premises with a musicand dance licence, rather than all entertainment licences, and sorepresent the minimum potential capacity of persons. For example,premises with a casino licence will also have later hours, in the StJames’s sub-area this includes the Ritz Hotel and 50 St James’s, 50 StJames’s Street. Pubs and restaurants have not generally had capacitylimits.

4.2.18 In addition, a study commissioned by the St James’s ConservationTrust ‘St James’s A3-Food and Drink Study’ (2004) highlighted thepressures in the area for new food and drink uses in the area.

9 WCC Licensing Department 2002


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AMENITY

Anti-social behaviour, crime and noise4.2.19 Levels of anti-social behaviour were recorded in 200210. The level of

anti-social behaviour observed was generally low. Some observationpoints recorded medium levels of anti-social behaviour at some periodsduring the night. This was mainly due to vagrants begging in the area,and several people shouting and fighting. During the financial year2004-05 the police were called out to 207 disorder incidents, including122 disturbances in a public place, and 8 disturbances in licensedpremises11.

4.2.20 In 2004 the city council dealt with 118 noise complaints within the sub-area. Over 60% of these were complaints about noise fromconstruction, roadworks and burglar alarms. 7% related to noise fromentertainment premises12.

Traffic4.2.21 Night-time activity surveys carried out in 2002 assessed traffic volume

and noise in the sub-area13. Traffic volume and traffic noise levelsvaried significantly in the area, ranging from high in the Piccadilly areato lower in Jermyn Street. Traffic volume on Regent Street is highthroughout the night.

Pedestrian flows4.2.22 Night-time pedestrian counts in 2002 indicated relatively low levels of

activity compared with other parts of the CAZ (see Figure 6: Night timepedestrian flow counts14). In Jermyn Street the hourly night-timeaverage was 340 pedestrians, several count points had an hourlyaverage as low as 80 pedestrians. The hourly night-time average inPiccadilly was 616 pedestrians, but varied significantly along the lengthof Piccadilly, and was generally higher at the east end towardsPiccadilly Circus, particularly that part of Piccadilly within the West EndStress Area.

10 PMRS 2002 Night-time Pedestrian Flowcount11 Metropolitan Police Computer Aided Despatch (CAD) data April 04-March 0512 WCC Noise Complaints 200413 PMRS 2002 Night-time Pedestrian Flowcount14 PMRS 2002 Night-time Pedestrian Flowcount


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Summary

4.2.23 When dealing with planning applications in the St James sub-area thefollowing issues will be considered:

Character and Function4.2.24 St James’s has a unique historic character reflected in its townscape

and its land use functions. This should be protected. It has one of thehighest concentrations of listed buildings, and a street layout datingfrom the 17th century. The area has a long history of specialist usesincluding members clubs and specialist retailing. The growth ofentertainment uses is considered to be at odds with the particularcharacter and function of this sub-area.

4.2.25 St James’s is a mixed-use commercial area. Retailing remains a corefunction, approximately half of ground floor uses in the maincommercial area being in shop use, and a quarter in office use. In themain commercial area entertainment uses are not considered todominate, accounting for 14% of ground floor uses (including MembersClubs). In order to protect the special historic character of the area, it isconsidered important that this balance of uses does not alter. New orextended entertainment uses, therefore, are not consideredappropriate, as the cumulative growth of such uses would have anadverse affect on the area’s historic character, and potentially onneighbouring areas.

Amenity/Local Environmental Quality4.2.26 The area has relatively low levels of anti-social behaviour and crime,

noise complaints and low pedestrian flows. The sub-area is well servedby public transport, and traffic noise is low in the core area, but high onPiccadilly and Regent Street. New and extended entertainment usesmay impact on the night time residential amenity where in proximity toresidential uses and to the overall cumulative impact in neighbouringareas.

Policy Guidance4.2.27 In most instances, new entertainment uses in St James’s are likely to

have an adverse effect on the character and function of the sub-areaand, in some cases, on residential amenity, and will not therefore bepermitted. Similarly proposals which intensify an entertainment use,such as changing the use of a restaurant to a bar, will adversely affectcharacter and function and residential amenity, and will not thereforebe permitted.

4.2.28 However, there are some limited circumstances where character andfunction and residential amenity may not be harmed. The city councilmay therefore be prepared to approve proposals for small and mediumsized restaurant and café uses at second floor and above on Piccadilly,where it is satisfied that the provisions of TACE 8 –10 and all otherRUDP policy requirements are met.


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4.2.29 Where small or medium sized restaurants are considered to beacceptable using the above criteria the city council will impose planningconditions that no customers will be allowed on the premises after12.30am the following morning on Mondays to Thursdays and after1am on the following morning on Fridays and Saturdays and midnighton Sundays (except Sundays immediately preceding Bank Holidayswhen customers will be allowed to remain on the premises until 1am onthe following morning). An earlier closing time may be sought wherethere are residential premises in the immediate proximity.

4.2.30 In relation to existing lawful entertainment uses, if planning applicationsare submitted for a change in the nature of the use, alterations orextensions to the premises or for variation to existing conditions,permissions will only be granted where the council is satisfied that it willresult in a significant overall reduction in the impact of the use onresidential amenity, the environmental quality and character andfunction of the locality – for example though the imposition of new orvaried conditions to control the nature or operation of the activity.


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Documents

4.1 MAYFAIR - Welcome to Westminster.gov.uk · Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance for Entertainment Uses July 2006 153 4.1.6 residential prestige of Mayfair as a whole. Much of