Archive for October, 2010
Bolingbroke planning application: submission
Author: Cyril Richert
Below is the letter I addressed to the planning application department.
Planning Application 2010/4235 – Bolingbroke site
Ref: OBJECTION
29th October 2010
Dear Sir,
We are writing in response to the application 2010/4235 for the alteration, extension and part demolition of the former hospital to provide 50 residential flats and space for some health facilities.
Some comments on the consultation responses
On the Council’s website, 421 objections have been received, compared with 2 people supporting the idea of luxury residential units in the area. Although the number of objections could be related to the successful campaign to make the site a school, those who bothered to show their interest to the council and raise their concern should be actually praised for their participation.
APPLETON is labelled wrongly as support but this is an objection.
Only WILSON and RUSSEL-FISHER are truly supportive messages. However I was surprised (puzzled to say the least) by the argument made by one of the supporters that there is a “blatant attempt to manipulate the planning process in favour of those who would impose their somewhat absurd and ill-conceived proposition on a community that is comprised of far wider population than the self-interested short-sighted group that is promoting the “free-school” concept“.
The facts are that a lot of young parents have to move away from Clapham Junction area and Northcote where their children were attending primary schools for a simple reason: as it was demonstrated by the Neighbourhood School Campaign (NSC), there is a lack of secondary schools. The current situation often leaves the parents with no other choice but to move away.
A wide support for a secondary school, including from St George Trust itself!
As often highlighted in documents published over the past 2 years making the case for a secondary school for the area, 2,000 parents have signed the NSC’s petition supporting the creation of a new school in the Northcote ward, idea supported by the Martin Linton and Jane Ellison (former and current Battersea MPs) and the ward Councillors.
According to David Canzini[1] (a member of that team in charge of processing the application for St George’s Healthcare Trust) “the residential application does not preclude or prejudice other uses for the site, such as a school. The Trust and project team have been proactively engaged with Wandsworth Council (LBW), Partnership for Schools and the Neighbourhood School Campaign over the issue of a secondary school on the site“.
The reason behind the application
The Primary Care Trust (PCT) and SGT claim that although the Trust and project team have been proactively engaged with Wandsworth Council (LBW), Partnership for Schools and the NSC over the issue of a secondary school on the site, unfortunately to date, no financial offer has been made to buy the site within the timescale that is vital to the Trust. As they are looking to raise money to enhance services in St Georges Hospital (Tooting), they need the sale to be completed within the financial year (31 March 2011). Therefore they have put forward a plan to transform the Bolingbroke buildings into high standard residential, in order to maximise the value of the site.
David Canzini said that although Wandsworth Council made a proposal to buy the site, they have not shown any financial commitment and therefore the Trust faces the obligation to provide a plan B, should the funding promised by the Council not be existent/sufficient.
On the other side, the Council denies such claim and distributed a leaflet claiming that information in the consultation document is misleading and asked for this to be corrected.
However, on Tuesday 21st September 2010, the Education and Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee confirmed the argument made by St George Trust: the Council would acquire the site on the basis that the costs of any Priority Purchase would be met in full by the government. Priority purchase would be undertaken on the basis that the Council would acquire the site for educational purposes and the site would continue to be used for the public benefit. Any Priority Purchase by the Council would need to be met from government grant which is currently unconfirmed, as noted by the Director of Finance[2].
In the aim to maximize the price of the site and to establish its market value, St George’s Trust (SGT) and the Wandsworth Primary Care Trust (PCT) have put forward a plan to transform the Bolingbroke buildings into high standard residential flats. Their purpose is to provide the Council with the best value of the site, while maintaining their obligation to provide a plan B should the public authority be unable to provide funding.
Objections to the application
There are a large number of issues that should prevent the planning approval such as the prime necessity to keep the building as a public site (which would be achieved with the school) and the obligation to liaise with the Council to achieve the best public usage of the site.
As highlighted by Northcote ward Councillors, the following specific issues will need to be addressed:
- The protection of the important features that led to the Bolingbroke being designated last year as a Grade 2 listed building; in particular the preservation of the nursery rhyme tiles
- The proposed conversion of the listed building to mainly residential flats will require major intervention and subdivision of the building’s interior
- The loss of significant and long established public facilities if the building is redeveloped for mainly residential flats rather than for other community usage
Beside all this debate, you may consider that the Bolingbroke site was acquired, through public subscription and charitable gifts, by John Erskine Clarke at the end of the 19th century, whose aim was to provide public health service for the residents of Battersea. It would be a shame to see the memory of the great man to be betrayed 120 years later and the site to be sold to private interests on profit consideration only.
In addition, considering that:
- the sole purpose of the current application to provide residential flats is to raise money within the timescale that is vital to the Trust to enhance services in St Georges Hospital (Tooting);
- it is acknowledged by all parties (including St George Trust itself) that the site could be used for a secondary school, providing that the government/the council is meeting the cost to acquire the site;
- the need for a secondary school in the area has been demonstrated;
- the Bolingbroke site is a public facility and considering any other use will be a considerable loss for the community
the application should be refused.
Yours faithfully
Cyril Richert
On behalf of the Clapham Junction Action Group
[1] Email received on Friday 3 September from David B. Canzini
[2] Report by the Director Children’s Services on a proposal by ARK Academies with the Neighbourhood Schools Campaign (NSC) to establish a Free School on the Bolingbroke Hospital site, comment 16 page 4.
The criticism of the current school campaign
Albeit objecting to any attempt to prevent the Bolingbroke site to remain as a public facility and potentially developed as a much needed school in the area of Clapham Junction, we are aware that part of the campaign to choose a secondary school can be criticised.
On Tuesday May 4th, the Evening Standard reported that five education groups have been in contact with the Wandsworth campaign so far. Two are education charities that sponsor state-funded city academies in London, Ark and the Harris Federation. The three others are private and overseas school firms — Sweden’s International English Schools, WCL and Cognita.
We understand that in May 2010, the NSC chose ARK Academies to set up and operate the new school. It would have been interesting to have a public explanation on the choice and the possibility to compare openly the different competitors, but it seems that the decision was taken behind closed doors.
Although there is a record of achievement from ARK to achieve good results in deprived area (mainly focusing on Maths and English), it would be interesting to know the arguments behind the rejection of Harris, Cognita, or any other organisation which responded to the bid for running a Free School.
Last but not least, the Council should share a responsibility in the current situation by misleading the public on the real financial stakes.
Read also:
Battersea vs Clapham in the Evening Standard
Author: Cyril Richert
Thanks to James Cousins’ blog I read the article the Evening Standard (ES) wrote on the small (but exemplar) issue of Asda’s store in SW11 re-branding himself as in Clapham (SW4).
Asda renaming its store in Lavender Hill “Asda Clapham“, while in front of Battersea library, and a few yards away from Battersea Art Centre, was a subject of discussion at the last meeting of the Clapham Junction Town Centre Partnership, as reported at the end of our article.
In an article titled “Name of Asda store rekindles the ‘Clapham or Battersea’ row“, the ES said:
“Now Asda in Lavender Hill has brought the dispute out into the open by naming itself Asda Clapham, leading to accusations of “false branding“.
The store defends the move by pointing out the proximity of Clapham Junction station.
[...]
Asda is considering holding a ballot in the supermarket to settle the issue. A spokeswoman said: “We just want to go with what local people want.“”
Asda’s response puzzles me. If local people answering the ballot want the name to be Asda on the moon, or Asda in wonderland, or even Asda Paris (just to please me, thanks guys!) is it good enough? Well, folks, it might be time for campaigning!
NORTHCOTE WARD E-bulletin – October 2010
Author: Cyril Richert
I received the latest newsletter from the Councillors of Northcote ward with article on the Bolingbroke site. I have selected a list of subjects that we have also published on this website (links provided with cjag.org):
NORTHCOTE WARD Special E-bulletin
Building a new school at Bolingbroke Hospital
September 2010.
Welcome to the latest Northcote e-bulletin with information about the Council’s Spending Reviews; Bolingbroke Hospital planning applications and links to half term activities. Please forward the bulletin to friends and neighbours in the area.
Cllr Jenny Browne, Cllr Peter Dawson, Cllr Martin Johnson
Northcote Ward, Battersea
Email: Heretohelp@wandsworthconservatives.com
Bolingbroke Hospital Planning Application by St George’s NHS Trust
St George’s NHS Trust as the owner of the Bolingbroke Hospital site, and having declared it surplus to requirement last year, has now submitted 2 planning applications for the redevelopment of the building to provide mainly residential flats together with some health facilities.
Full details of both of these applications are available on the Council’s Planning Website by entering the application reference (see below) at http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/gis/search/Search.aspx.
Application ref 2010/4235 is for the alteration; extension and part demolition of the former hospital to provide 50 residential flats and space for some health facilities.
Application ref 2010/4237 is for the partial demolition of the Grade 2 listed building; alterations & extensions to the building and the relocation of the nursery rhyme tiles.
It appears that St George’s Trust has submitted these applications as part of its attempt to gain maximum value for the site. However we can assure you that Wandsworth Council, as a priority purchaser, is negotiating with St George’s so that the site can be acquired for the new secondary school being proposed by the Neighbourhood School Campaign group (NSC) and their chosen education provider (ARK). In time this will lead to further planning applications being submitted and consulted on relating to the conversion of the building to a school and possibly health facilities. There is considerable uncertainty though about the provision of GP health facilities as since 2009 the Primary Care Trust (NHS Wandsworth) has said it does not have the capital funds to invest in such new facilities.
It is very important that you send your comments about these planning applications to the Planning Department as soon as possible.
Email planningapplications@wandsworth.gov.uk or write to The Borough Planner, The Town Hall, Wandsworth High Street, London SW18 2PU.
Please include your name and address and the application reference numbers (see above) and the site name – The Bolingbroke Hospital.
We will continue to argue that the Bolingbroke should be maintained in community use and not redeveloped for flats or houses – see below for the submission we made last month in response to the Trust’s pre-application consultation exercise.
In addition the following specific issues will need to be addressed:
- The protection of the important features that led to the Bolingbroke being designated last year as a Grade 2 listed building; in particular the preservation of the nursery rhyme tiles
- The proposed conversion of the listed building to mainly residential flats will require major intervention and subdivision of the building’s interior
- The loss of significant and long established public facilities if the building is redeveloped for mainly residential flats rather than for other community usage
Submission by Northcote Ward councillors to the St George’s NHS Trust’s “pre-application consultation” – September 2010.
As the Northcote Ward councillors we are writing in response to the invitation issued by St George’s NHS Trust to comment on its pre-application exhibition held at Chatham Hall last week and the proposals outlined in the leaflet circulated locally. In so doing we would draw your attention to the statement issued by Wandsworth Council asking St George’s to correct the misleading information in the consultation document.
In autumn 2009 Northcote Ward councillors and Jane Ellison, now Battersea’s MP undertook a survey of views in the local area about the future use of the Bolingbroke Hospital site. Over 1000 people responded and the overwhelming view was that the Bolingbroke should continue in community use, particularly health services and / or education, and not be redeveloped as residential flats / houses or offices.
We organised the survey so that we could gauge the views of residents as St George’s drew up plans to sell the site. Since the survey last autumn the Neighbourhood School campaign has received massive local support for the proposal to establish a secondary school on the site, further reinforcing the results of our survey.
Therefore we do not think that the proposals currently being put forward by St George’s meet the hopes and aspirations of the local community and therefore they should be withdrawn.
>>Read on CJAG: Free secondary school proposal revealed, but money still unconfirmed by government
Wandsworth Council – Spending Reviews
The council could have to find savings of around £55m over the next four years as the Coalition Government gets to grips with the national budget deficit. Though the size of the task will begin to come clearer after last week’s comprehensive spending review the details of local authority grants will not be known until December. See Council’s savings challenge. A report by Council Leader, Edward Lister, to the Finance & Resources committee can be accessed at http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/osc/finance – see agenda papers for 29th September meeting. Also Cllr Lister has written to council staff about changes to staff terms and conditions.
>>Read on CJAG: Spending review 2010
Clapham Junction – Exemplar scheme starts
Work has started on a major project to improve Clapham Junction’s road network and enhance the look and feel of the town centre.
>>Read on CJAG: Clapham Junction Town centre improvement work begins
76-78 Chatham Road SW11 (HiQ Garage)
The planning application to redevelop the garage site with 4 residential units has been approved subject to conditions. Details are available on the Council’s Planning Website ref 2010/2333. The Planning Inspector has supported the Council’s rejection of an earlier scheme for a larger number of smaller houses / flats.
>>Read on CJAG: The latest news on the HiQ Garage 76 – 80 Chatham Road, SW11
CABE and English Heritage under threat by the spending cut
Author: Cyril Richert
Following the government’s spending review on Wednesday 20th October (see our article here and find more analysis on the BBC website), the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt) made a statement explaining his strategy, in view of the 25% cut in his budget.
Listing a series of measures, he said:
“Finally with great regret I have also taken the decision to withdraw funding from the Commission for Architecture and Built Environment (CABE).“
Later in a paragraph named “Safeguarding our heritage” he said:
“We are, however, demanding significant efficiencies and as with other major bodies we are insisting that English Heritage reduces its administration budgets by 50 per cent over the Spending Review period and cuts back on non-essential services.
We want English Heritage to prioritise core activities such as planning advice, grants for heritage at risk and the conservation and maintenance of sites in its care. We also want them to strengthen their fundraising capacity and increase self-generated income.“
The news for CABE will come as no surprise if you remember our article last July where we announced that CABE was asked by the Treasury to justify all its functions and examine whether the cost of these to the public purse can be reduced or eliminated.
Clearly they did not manage to persuade the government and became another victim of the budget cut. They might be looking for other funding, including the possibility of being funded by local authorities or even charging developers for design review. However, this has raised doubts over whether the review could remain objective and whether developers might decide to opt out of entirely.
Bolingbroke Hospital application: the school campaign urges you to write to the Council
Author: Cyril Richert
The St George’s trust organised an exhibition in September for their pre-consultation on proposals for new flats and health facilities on the Bolingbroke site (read our previous article HERE and the report on the event THERE).
On the planning idea itself, members of the NSC raised a number of issues that could prevent the planning approval, such as the prime necessity to keep the building as a public site (which would be achieved with the school) and the obligation to liaise with the Council to achieve the best public usage of the site.
Now this has reached the planning application level with application 2010/4235 (click on the link to see the different document on the Council’s website). Wandsworth council is inviting YOUR comments before 28th October.
We received the following message from Neighbourhood School Campaign:
Dear NSC supporter
We need YOUR help today at a critical time in the school campaign. Everyone is ‘time poor’ but if you do one thing only to help the campaign then NOW is the time to do so – it will take you less than 2 minutes and involve sending a single email to Wandsworth council. Please read on.
Thank you,
The NSC Team
PS. This is YOUR campaign. Without YOUR ongoing support and help the school campaign would not have succeeded to date. Please spare us a few more mintues at this important phase of the campaign. Together – as a community – we are winning.
THE PROBLEM
The local NHS Trust – owners of the Bolingbroke hospital – has recently submitted a ‘residential planning application’ to Wandsworth council. They want the old hospital to be converted to luxury flats. The NSC opposes this on the basis that it fails to address the needs of the local community. A new state funded secondary school, available to local children of all backgrounds and abilities, is urgently needed.
Wandsworth council is inviting YOUR comments before 28th October on the NHS plans to convert the former Bolingbroke hospital to flats. It’s vital that YOU now oppose this planning application and make clear YOUR support for the new secondary school.
Failure to act now and allow the residential application to succeed would potentially add a significant sum of money to the eventual sale price the council will have to pay to acquire the Bolingbroke site from the NHS. Remember – the council has ‘preferred bidder’ status to acquire the site. Without a ‘change of use’ to residential, the market value of the site will be less. The lower the total capital cost of the school, the more likely it is to succeed.
Want to help? Great! Here’s how…
WHAT TO DO
It’s as easy as 1-2-3:
1. Email the Wandsworth council planners at planningapplications@wandsworth.gov.uk
2. Quote planning application ref 2010/4235 in the header;
3. Confirm in your email that you favour the site to be used for our much needed secondary school and object to the NHS planning application. If you wish you can mention that you favour the school on the basis of the councils UDP policy clauses CS3 and CS4, in addition to current government policy supporting Free Schools.
That’s it. Simple. Act NOW! Only concerted action will succeed. Please do not assume someone else will take the time to email so you don’t have to. Please do it now while you can. Thank you.
Best,
The NSC Team
PS. Two minutes now to email the council will make a big difference to your child’s education. Take action together and the politicians take notice. To quote Shelley “Rise like lions. Ye are many, they are few”.
Read also:
Spending review 2010
Author: Cyril Richert
I won’t comment on the full government’s spending review as a lot of people will do better than me.
In a nutshell key points are:
- About 490,000 public sector jobs likely to be lost
- Average 19% four-year cut in departmental budgets
- Structural deficit to be eliminated by 2015
- £7bn in additional welfare budget cuts
- Police funding cut by 4% a year
- Retirement age to rise from 65 to 66 by 2020
- English schools budget protected; £2bn extra for social care
- NHS budget in England to rise every year until 2015
- Regulated rail fares to rise 3% above inflation
- Bank levy to be made permanent
You will find more analysis on the BBC website (with Q&A). And you can even read the full Spending Review 2010 document HERE.
I will highlight two points that are particularly important for Clapham Junction.
Schools
The Treasury has said the schools budget will go up by 0.1% in real terms each year. This is a rise of £3.6bn in cash terms, but means less than £200m on top of inflation by 2015. Part of the savings from the welfare budget will help fund the increase, but schools will still be expected to make £1bn of “procurement and back office” savings, and teachers will face a pay freeze.
What does that mean specifically for Clapham Junction area
We reported in past articles about the proposal by ARK Academies with the Neighbourhood Schools Campaign (NSC) to establish a Free School on the Bolingbroke Hospital site. There is currently uncertainty about the availability of the site as St George’s Trust has put forward a plan to transform the Bolingbroke buildings into high standard residential, in order to maximise the value of the site. This act as a Plan B as they need the sale to be completed within the financial year (31 March 2011) to raise money to enhance services in St Georges Hospital (Tooting). Although they acknowledge discussions with Wandsworth Council, Partnership for Schools and the NSC over the issue of a secondary school on the site, they claim that no financial offer has been confirmed to buy the site.
This statement was indeed confirmed by the Director of Finance before the Education Committee in September 2010 as he said that any Priority Purchase by the Council would need to be met from government grant which is currently unconfirmed.
Therefore the government’s spending review on the 20th October was cautiously expected.
On page 43 of the Spending Review document (Reform – 2.7) it says:
“Parents, teachers and community groups will be supported to establish Free Schools outside of local authority control to improve standards for all children, regardless of their background. In addition, teachers will be given greater freedom from bureaucratic burdens to use their professional judgement to meet the needs of their pupils. Head teachers will have increased flexibility over their budgets, including through simpler, fairer and more transparent funding streams.”
The Free School measure being a key part of the government policy (in June 2010 the government announced that a capital fund of £50m has been earmarked to assist in opening some new free schools for September 2011) it is difficult to envisage that they could deny the support needed for one of the most advanced free school dossier in the country (Michael Gove met twice with the campaign group prior to the election and at least once since becoming Secretary of State for Education).
With the commitment to support this invitation to parent and teacher groups to establish new schools stressed in the Spending Review report it seems likely that further elements (including funding for Wandsworth) could be unveiled before the end of the year.
Transport
The Government said to be prioritising economic infrastructure that supports growth such as investment in transport. Indeed spending on transport appears to have been protected, with £30bn set to be invested in new transport projects over the next four years (although many rail passengers will see a rise in ticket prices).
On page 22 of the Spending Review document it says:
“In 2014-15, transport capital investment will be higher in real terms than 2005-06 levels. [...] Over £14 billion will be provided for Network Rail, supporting maintenance and investment to continue to enhance the capacity and speed of services across the country.“
Of course money will be allocated in priority to project already started and under-construction (Thameslink, Crossrail, Birmingham New Street, Farrington station…).
When we met with Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) last year we were focusing on the next budget periods for Network Rail, especially CP5 (2014-19). Although the funding for the period after 2014 has still to be decided, the new planning process for the government has already started:
- 2010: the industry should come with options (definition of projects and allocations).
- 2011: the government will examine a draft proposal.
- July 2012: the government will provide new specifications.
- 2013: ORR will review, analyse and check the funding for 2014-2019 (CP5).
- 2014: project implementation for CP5.
Therefore even for a project with an implementation starting in 8 years, discussions have to start NOW. As you keep in mind the amount of budget cut announced by the government, you will also remember their objective : the chancellor is aiming to cut the structural deficit to zero by 2015-16. And planning ahead being also a government task, they have the duty to develop plans for the future of Clapham Junction station, from now on.
The Clapham Junction Action Group is committed to work with residents, political parties, businesses and all stakeholders to provide ideas for the redevelopment of the station. You can participate here (click).
wandsworth.gov.uk: up and down
Author: Cyril Richert
“The website of the Wandsworth Council went to being one of the best and more advanced local government website in Britain, and maybe in the world, to a constant reason of worries and frustrations” was more or less what Tony McDonald, Borough Planner, said at our last meeting at the Town Hall (I cannot promise a Verbatim as I am quoting from memory, but it was that meaning anyway).
The website of Wandsworth Borough Council (WBC) has been a recurring subject of complaints for months from local residents, visitors, but also by civil servants working for the Council. It was such a major item that it was raised to a full topic at the end of the last Planning Forum meeting in September.
Reporting on the meeting I wrote:
“You might have noticed that the planning section of the website had recurrent problems. Actually it was unavailable most of the weekend in July and August, often when people have time to consult the information and give their views. For the record, a major upgrade was planned (unfortunately without clear notification) during the bank holiday weekend at the end of August where power regulation was set, but it did not fix the issue. The council officers are well aware of the problem and as frustrated as anyone else trying to use the service.”
First weekend of October: down (as planned)
A very important upgrade was due to happen on the planning section of the website and the “View related documents” function was suspended on the 29th and 30th September and 1st October 2010. It was meant to improve the performance and reliability of the existing planning searches.
Second weekend of October: down
However on the following weekend, again (and as usual) the website experienced problems, displaying (October,10th):
As I liaised directly with the person in charge of the service, I was told that wandsworth.gov.uk was now experiencing problems with its ISP (Internet Service Provider). In order to address the issue they said they were about to start migration to a new managed hosting solution (eventually) with the company Rackspace [1] in the upcoming weeks.
Third weekend of October: down
And this weekend, guess what? A familiar display when searching the planning application database:
It is so frustrating that Putney residents wrote to them:
“We had all hoped that the planning web site would be fixed by now ( I thought 8 Oct had been the deadline quoted at the Planning Forum) but unfortunately I now find that the list of weekly applications for 14 October now includes old applications that have already been dealt with and no current ones .
On the other hand I am still unable to open “related documents” on live applications.
Could you advise when we are likely to get a reliable and uninterrupted access to the planning database?“
As I said during the planning forum meeting in September, there are also issues on other pages (moderngov pages – where you can find Councillors, meetings, agendas, minutes and related documents – were also inaccessible at a time where I needed to comment supporting documents prior to a Council meeting). The whole website is therefore currently unreliable [2].
We deserve a fair consultation with all electronic documents available at all time
From the 29th of October will start a consultation on Development Management Policies Document and Site Specific Allocations Document. It says that the documents will be viewable though the consultation portal during consultation and can be downloaded below.
For those who have use the consultation portal in the past, they already know about the difficulty to find anything on the portal. The Putney Society sent a formal letter of complaint to WBC saying:
“Because individuals’ comments are broken up under “consultation points” in the system used by the Council for their planning strategy consultation, it is almost impossible to see how many contributions have been received and the overall context of a submission. In addition the portal had technical failures which meant that access was denied to parts of the system until pointed out by a constituent and Putney Society member.”
You can read the full letter of the Putney Society HERE.
I sincerely hope that the Council will fix all issues by the end of the month as the multiple barriers currently raised on any fair consultation can only prevent local residents to participate to future debates, and go against the sincere wish of a vibrant local democracy.
[1]Apparently they received very positive references about their service. This is also my experience and I am happy to confirm that the managed service provided by Rackspace is very high quality and should hopefully help to tackle the current record of problems. Using a managed server means that the company will monitor the server and address immediately any hardware issue. Also their dedicated support team available 24/7 should be able to help fixing any problem related to accessibility and availability.
[2] This is the reason why I often – when possible – download the documents from wandsworth.gov.uk and upload them on cjag.org as a simple link might no longer work whenever someone wants to refer to it.
UPDATE 18 Octobre 2010: We have received the following response from Martin Howell, Group Planner, Policy and Information:
The problems experienced over the second weekend in October affected the whole Council website, and I have been informed were unrelated to the problems experienced over the weekend, which only related to the planning pages.
I have accessed the website externally this morning. I did get an error when I did a search which should have returned a few hundred planning records, but was able to run a search for a smaller number of applications.
I was also able to view documents on live applications.
The weekly list labelled 14 October 2010, is incorrectly labelled and is a list from January.
I have asked a member of staff to investigate the problems and will get back to you when I have further information.
[...]
I have been informed that there as a disk failure on the computer that host the planning search facilities over the week-end, which resulted in the service being unavailable. A temporary work around has been put in place until a new disk can be installed.
I will arrange for the weekly list currently indicated as 14 October to be removed. A new list to be uploaded on Wednesday, following a colleague’s return from leave.
ES: London planners must embrace civilised living
Author: Cyril Richert
Interesting article published by Simon Jenkins in the Evening Standard (28 Sept 10) on the danger of current planning policies.
London design has become the Cinderella of metropolitan politics. The policy pursued for a decade by the city’s elected leaders, Ken Livingstone and Boris
Johnson, is to let rip. The civic beauty that was once guarded by the old London County Council is more at the mercy of the market economy than in any other city in Europe.
Indeed, the only policy is so-called soft corruption: a developer can do what he likes if he gives the Government money or a favour. Thus the gigantic 48-storey Doon Street tower of luxury flats shortly to rise behind the National Theatre was allowed only after its developer promised that its swimming pool would be open to “local people” — though not the millions of Londoners who will endure its presence for the rest of their lives.
I can just remember the streets of Walworth before they were demolished to make way for Aylesbury. They had become run-down but they were not mean. In Notting Hill, terrace houses would fetch half a million pounds each. In a cruel irony, those that survived the Southwark blitz have now been designated not as unfit for human habitation but as conservation areas.
Old Walworth obeyed the maxim that half of a building is composed of the street outside. Its pavements, front steps, doorways, windows and passing residents represent its “defensible space” around a home, as observed by the shrewd American urbanist, Jane Jacobs. Modern architects have always rejected Jacobs because she denied them the role allotted to them by Le Corbusier, of using their craft to engineer a new society.
Aylesbury manifested that role, shoe-horning London citizens out of their past and into a social programme dictated by others. Above all they must not be allowed to keep their streets.
The failure of this engineering has become a cliché, yet it refuses to die. Next to Aylesbury behind Elephant and Castle has just risen Southwark’s answer to the question, what next? It is not a return to Walworth’s former street pattern but continues the Aylesbury tradition of “iconic” gigantism. The 43-storey Strata building of mostly private flats — with windmills built into its roof — justifies its crushing presence by claiming to “add to the vibrancy of the community”. It does this not by restoring a communal townscape. It is yet another of the gated high-rises that have become the curse of London. The developers have salved their consciences, medieval style, by “giving to the arts”.
We are not correcting but replicating the mistakes of London’s post-war renewal. We are ignoring the message of the streets. The issue is not density or modernity: there is plenty of space into which to cram London’s booming population without imitating Hong Kong. The densest areas are the streets of Victorian west London. The issue is how to find a pattern of civilised living that does not encourage degeneration either into locked fortresses such as the Barbican or the criminal battlefields around the towers.
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The most distinctive feature of the militant Left’s rule of Liverpool in the Eighties was its impact on urban renewal. Responding to the local public, the council smashed most of the hated towers to the ground and left neighbourhood groups to plan their replacements. The result was no more decks, stairwells and broken lifts set in windy parks, as dictated by professional architects. Instead people decided to revert to terrace houses, like those taken from them in the Sixties. It was an object lesson in democracy.
New plans for hotel in Putney, Richmond Road
Author: Cyril Richert
Skyscrapernews.com published an article on September 27th revealing that David Miller Architects has new plans to replace an old five-storey office building by a hotel made by 3 elements up to 10 storeys (140 bedrooms) in Upper Richmond Road/Woodlands Way.
“The schemes massing features three main volumes including an elliptical 10-storey tower element that curves to respond to the corner position it overlooks, an 8 floor middle section, and a low-rise 3-storey section at the back of the building.
These are then broken down by the architect further with a variety of cladding materials including clear glazing on the ground floor retail element, aluminium cladding on the tower section that’s been chosen for it’s metallic look to contrast with the solid, less reflective brick employed elsewhere. Adding a further counterpoint will be the black framed vertical window sections adding a certain soar to the project despite its modest height.
Although it will be taller than neighbours, the scale of the scheme crucially fits broadly within the heights of other nearby buildings, most specifically the SWISH development that has a similar number of floors and even features a curving section too. Ultimately it’s this height, or lack of it, that indicates the project will have rather more success than taller buildings proposed along Upper Richmond Road. “
114 more student flats for Winstanley development
Author: Cyril Richert
As reported in one of our previous article, the location of the old Children’s home site (50 Winstanley road) has been sold by Wandsworth Borough Council to Berkeley First.
Wandsworth Council’s press release said:
“The council’s planning application committee has approved plans for 114 studio flats for students attending Imperial College. The accommodation will be built on the site of a disused and derelict building in Winstanley Road.
Each flat will contain a study cum sleeping area, as well as a kitchen and bathroom. The six storey building will also contain a secure bike storage area for 74 bicycles. There will be a handful of off-street parking spaces and the students will not be permitted to buy parking permits for the area’s existing controlled parking zone. “
The previous permission raised questions about the density and size of the buildings (with the provision of 452 studio flats). The new building extension would reinforce the same arguments.
UPDATE 13/10/2010: PLANNING APPLICATIONS COMMITTEE – 16TH SEPTEMBER 2010
Planning application #2010/2853 was before the committee in September (fast-track!). The proposal was indeed the demolition of building and construction of six storey building to provide 114 self-contained studio rooms for use as student accommodation, with associated car and cycle parking (as evocated above).
The building would be positioned approx between 5m and 13m from Livingstone Road and between 4m –22m from Winstanley Road, and would be approx 17m in height stepping up from five-storeys to the north to six storeys to the south.
The council received 3 objections which highlighted the same concerns has for the previous application (mainly density and size): the proposal is not providing sufficient parking for the proposed 114 occupants of the studio rooms; with the sites joining together there will be 566 residents many of which will have cars, which will lead to congestion and pollution problems in the area; the development is too large and will deprive residents of their right to light; the urban area desperately needs to keep all the existing trees; further granting of these buildings will encourage more large scale developments into this area with loss of its character; preferred a low rise development for another minority group to keep balance in our community.
Indeed there is not additional provision for car parking. The proposal would share the existing parking provision of Phase 1 and provide a further 2 parking spaces (increasing car club provision from 2 to 3 spaces and disabled parking provision from 4 to 5) between the two developments. Therefore for 566 post graduate students, they don’t expect more than a couple of cars at all time! (I let you decide whether you think this is realistic, optimistic and just fantasy).
To encourage the students to cycle, a total of 292 secure cycle parking spaces between both developments would be provided (the report said it would exceed TFLs ratio requirement of 1 space per 2 students: 566 students/2 = 283 – only just right!). However, the report presented to the council denied any significant adverse impact on existing traffic or indeed car parking demand on the adjoining roads and said that the development should be excluded from obtaining car parking permit under any future extension of the Controlled Parking Zone (current CPZ does not include the location). However the planning department admits that there is a need for traffic calming measures on Grant Road: as we were told during our meeting with the developers, a construction raised table/crossing point with Winstanley Junction is planned (under section 106).
The recommendation to grant planning permission was adopted by 6 votes to 2 (Labour).
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