Author: Cyril Richert
I received the latest newsletter from the Councillors of Northcote ward:
NORTHCOTE WARD E-bulletin May 2009
Special edition – Clapham Junction planning application WITHDRAWN by the Developers.
Welcome to our latest bulletin with a report on the withdrawal of the Clapham Junction planning application together with information about half term activities; the Wandsworth Heritage Festival; the Northcote Road carnival & the Lavender Hill festival and the move of Battersea’s Citizens Advice Bureau to Northcote Ward. Please forward the bulletin to friends and neighbours.
Philip Beddows, Peter Dawson and Martin Johnson
Councillors, Northcote Ward, Battersea,
Wandsworth Borough Council.
Email: Heretohelp@wandsworthconservatives.com
Among all the topics, the main one was commenting the Clapham Junction redevelopment proposal (I included links to articles on this website).
Clapham Junction Planning Application – WITHDRAWN
We learnt late on Monday afternoon (May 18th) that the developer, Metro Shopping Fund, had withdrawn its Clapham Junction planning application.
This welcome news was announced some 48 hours before Wandsworth’s Planning Committee met on Wednesday evening (May 20th) to consider the application. The report by the Borough Planning Officer was recommending that the application be refused becausea. there was insufficient benefit to public transport infrastructure in the town centre
b. affordable housing was omitted from the scheme.
A spokesman for the developer is reported as saying “We are deeply disappointed therefore that the report to the committee was not able to give the proposal its backing”.
As ward councillors we have taken an active role in connection with this application by urging local residents and businesses to make their views known to the Planning Department as well as speaking about the application at the Ward report back meeting last November and at the public meeting in January this year.
Martin Johnson, who is a member of the Planning Committee, was intending to propose additional reasons at Wednesday’s meeting for refusing the application including the scale, design and massing of the proposals and the sheer inadequacy of the proposed improvements to the station access.
At the Wandsworth Council meeting on May 13th Philip Beddows presented the online petition, organised by the Clapham Junction Action Group, opposing the proposals.
Peter Dawson made a written submission to the Planning Department on May 5th opposing the proposals much of which was quoted in the Planning Officer’s report to committee. The main points in his letter relate to the scale, height, design and density of the proposed 42 storey tower blocks being inappropriate at this location and out of character; the lack of new prime office accommodation and the loss of current office space and jobs from the town centre; the inadequate proposals relating to the bus / rail interchange and the partial nature of the station proposals.
The full text of the letter is available at the Planning website.
Overall we had come to the conclusion that though improvements are desperately required at Clapham Junction station, not least because of passenger safety concerns, this application only partially addressed the problems at the station while the impact of the overall scale and type of development on the surrounding residential and local shopping areas was unacceptable.
Jane Ellison opposed this application
Battersea’s Conservative Parliamentary spokesperson, Jane Ellison, wrote to the Council’s Planning Department on May 5th setting out her objections to these proposals.
Full text of her letter is at www.janeellison.net
In our next e-bulletin we will include a commentary on the planning process and what might happen next.
Read our article on the withdrawal:
