Richard Wilson

The Finsbury Park Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) is very likely to be extended up to Ridge Road after 66% of those consulted by the Council asked for resident parking controls.  Earlier this week I attended a meeting with parking officers and residents to hear the results of the consultation, which finished at the start of 2011.  According to the briefing, 16% of residents in the consultation area outside the current CPZ responded, with 218 in favour of the expansion and 114 against.

If the expansion goes ahead as expected the following roads will now be added in to the Finsbury Park CPZ:

• The whole of Addington, Albany, Elyne, Quernmore and Ridge Roads
• The rest of Stapleton Hall Road, Mount View Road and Oakfield Roads (which are currently only half in the CPZ)
• The remaining part of Ferme Park Road (south of Ridge Road) – with the road north of Ridge Road going into the Crouch End CPZ.

Apparently 69% of respondents wanted parking controls for the minimum 2 hours a day.  The Council are suggesting 12 noon to 2pm – but at the meeting this week some residents wanted different hours, so the officers are going to look at this.  The Council will now draw up detailed proposals showing where all the parking bays will be – and there will have to be a short ’statutory consultation’ on the final plans.  With this further work, the Council have said it will take until November for the new extension to be implemented, which means residents will have to suffer several more months of parking difficulties.

The consultation inside the existing CPZ seems to have got more mixed results, with an almost 50/50 split on whether the hours should be reduced or not.  But the Council are proposing to create  a small inner zone near the tube station to try to deal with particular problems in Woodstock, Perth, Ennis and Oxford Roads.  I’ve asked officers for an urgent meeting to look at the detailed results – to make sure they are fairly representing the views expressed.

During 2009 Ed Butcher and I surveyed several hundred people about whether they wanted the CPZ (see picture) and got a very similar result.  Its a shame its taken the Council well over a year to catch up – but this is a big victory for those residents who have been pushing for a CPZ for all these years.

Local residents have only a few more days to have their say on new plans for a 5 bedroom house to be built on garden space behind Elyne, Quernmore and Stapleton Hall Roads in the Stroud Green Conservation Area.   Following an earlier botched consultation by the Council where letters went to the wrong addresses, I’ve got the deadline for resident responses extended until this Monday 21 February.

This new application follows a very similar previous application last summer, which was rejected by the Council following scores of objections from local residents and from me.   The planning officers agreed with us that local gardens should be protected, and that the development was too large and intrusive for such a tiny site, and would damage residents’ enjoyment of their gardens (see previous post).

However, these new plans try to get round these objections by sinking the house into a hole to reduce its relative height.   Today, I’ve sent in an objection to the Council, arguing that the proposal is still unacceptable, because of the loss of garden space and because the proposal is still to large, tall and close to the boundary of people’s gardens.  The Council’s reasons for refusing the first application still stand for this second one and I hope that officers will reject these plans again.

To have your say, please comment on the application on the Council’s website.

Great news for residents of Elyne Road, Quernmore Road and Stapleton Hall Road who don’t want a new development at the end of their back gardens:  The Council’s planning department have refused permission for a 5 bedroom house in a green area between these roads.  As I mentioned in previous posts, I’ve been helping residents to object to the proposal that is completely inappropriate for this quiet green space.

The planning department’s judgement is on the Council’s website and it is clear that the 41 objections and the petition did make an impact.  I’m pleased to see the points from my objection and from the Stroud Green Residents Association were included in the report – it shows that determined local action can make a difference.

As the department’s report says, allowing this development would have set a precedent across the Borough that would have allowed garden areas to be broken up and developed.  So these objectors in one corner of Stroud Green have helped to protect gardens across Haringey – Well done!

Yesterday, I submitted an objection to the new ‘backlands’ development proposed for land in-between Elyne Road, Stapleton Hall Road and Quernmore Road in support of local residents.  The plans, which are on the Council’s website, are for a large 5 bedroom house that will completely change the feel of this garden area .

Afte meeting with local residents and visiting the site, I’ve urged the Council to reject the application for a number of reasons:

1. Poor access:  Access to the site is extremely poor with the path down the side of 2 Elyne less than 1 metre wide in places.  This will make construction very difficult and building materials cannot be delivered to the site without causing a great deal of disruption – as they will have to be unloaded onto the street and then carried up the path.
2. Loss of green space and natural habitat:  The gardens between Stapleton Hall Road, Quernmore Road and Elyne Road – with this site at its centre – are an important green space for local residents and for birds and animals.  Building in the middle of the site will badly degrade this green space and destroy the habitat of the animals and birds that residents regularly see in their gardens.
3. This is a greenfield not a brownfield site so building housing here will not help the Council meet its targets for building new homes.
4. Bulk and density:  The proposed dwelling is too large and bulky for the site – taking up a very large proportion of the plot and goes up very close to the borders of neighbouring gardens.  It is therefore an unacceptable increase in the housing density in the area.
5. Loss of amenity for residents:  There must be well over a hundred residents living in homes that back on to the site, who would all have their view from their back windows and gardens affected by this development.  Many of these gardens will also duffer from overlooking from the new dwelling.  There would therefore be an unacceptable loss of amenity from residents who will lose some of the enjoyment of their gardens.

The decision on the application won’t be taken till early September and there are already over 40 objections submitted on the Council’s website.

Yesterday, I investigated the site of a proposed ‘backlands’ development off Elyne Road, which residents who back onto the area are up in arms about. The proposal is to put a large five bedroom house onto the small site just a few meters from the edge of residents’ gardens.  What I hadn’t realised fully until I visited, was just how narrow the access to the site is – less than one metre wide in places, and not enough space for even a wheelbarrow. Residents are concerned this would mean chaos when building materials are delivered to the site.

Last week I attended a Stroud Green Residents Association meeting, where it was clear residents wanted to try to stop the development.  The official deadline for objections is next week, but I’m concerned that the summer holidays mean many people wont get a say.   The site is bound by Elyne, Quernmore and Stapleton Hall Roads, but many people on Quernmore and Stapleton Hall have said they never received any notification from the Council about the planning application.

I’ve written to the Council conveying residents concerns and demanding an extension to the consultation to make sure everyone can have their say.  I’ve also provided them with a list of 13 properties that did not receive any notification from the planning department about the plans.

I can understand why people are so keen to object to this proposal.  I don’t think the site is really suitable for development – and certainly not for a house of this size.  I hope that the consultation period is extended so that all residents can make their views known to the Council.

Stalls, games, displays, an ecology tour and a chance to quiz  Katherine, Ed and me ahead of the Election – all form part of the third annual Neighbourhood Day which takes place in Stroud Green this Saturday (April 24) from 2-4.30pm.
 
The idea behind the day is for people to get out and about in their local streets, meet their neighbours, have some fun and find out what is happening locally.
 
Neighbourhood Day is organised by the Stroud Green Residents Association (SGRA) and covers Mountview Road, Stapleton Hall Road, Granville Road and all the roads inbetween (Quernmore Road, Albany Road, Elyne Road, Addington Road and part of Oakfield Road).
 
This year, the events and activities include:

• Residents’ stalls and games around the area offering  secondhand and new books, plants, cakes, pottery, household items, children’s clothes and toys, bric-a-brac and lots more!
• Meet your local politicians (Oakfield Road) and ask their views on local and national issues
• Visit the Safer Neighbourhoods Police Team (at the library) – with fingerprinting for children
• A fascinating history and ecology tour of Granville Road Spinney.
• Fairtrade stall at Holy Trinity Church and ‘The Story of Fairtrade Cotton’ display at St Aidan’s School
• A chance to see inside Holy Trinity Church
• Craft Fair in the library
• Talk and Q&A by local photographer and librarian Don Holtum
• ‘Map your Neighbourhood’ activity with the Greenwood Elfins – the local Woodcraft Group
• A ‘Dr Bike’ session to help repair bikes and offer cycling advice

Helen Riley from SGRA said: ‘This is the third year we have held the event and it promises to be the best yet. People enjoy the chance to chat to their friends and neighbours and let their children play in the local streets. Everyone is welcome to come along and see what it is on offer.’