Author: Cyril Richert

Application 2013/5712 (70-74 St John’s Hill) was granted in April 2015 at the Planning Application Committee for erection of four-storey plus basement building to provide Class A1 shops at ground floor with 8 flats above including a first floor roof garden.

There was a new application 2017/0488 asking for condition 12 regarding sustainable development certificate to be removed as developers claim that “The government had scrapped the requirement for the code of Sustainable Homes in March 2015 and our planning approval is dated 22 April 2015“. Other requests to modify conditions were submitted and granted: 2017/0919, 2017/5179 and the latest 2018/1526 regarding cycle storage (approved 9 October 2018).

Scheme delayed by 3 years

Noting that a condition attached to the decision for p.a. 2013/5712 states that the development shall be begun within 3 years from the date of this permission, we wonder if the scheme was not delayed by officers in order to suit the developers?!

Not only it went to committee more than 1 year after registration (number 2013 means registered in 2013 – the Council website is displaying a wrong date and should show 14 Nov 2013) the official decision was only notified last year 02/03/2016!

In any case we should see construction starting before the end of the month, but so far not much has happened.