Richard Wilson

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.

I’ve been contacted by a number of residents concerned about plans for a 2.2m wall to go most of the way round the large house at the Ferme Park Road end of Lancaster Road.  I am told that this imposing house was built by the man who developed the whole of Lancaster Road, to be his own family home – which is why it is grander and larger than the rest of the houses on the street.

This is one of the most distinctive houses in the Stroud Green Conservation Area, and I agree that hiding it behind a high wall would not be right.  So I put in an objection to the Council’s Planning Department – supporting the concerns that have been raised about the wall.

UPDATE:  I’ve now been told that the application has been completely withdrawn and the wall will not be built.   The owners have told me they understand and sympathise with the concerns about the wall and it won’t be included in any new application which they submit.

At the end of December I was alerted to the fact that there had just been a public exhibition about a huge proposed new development on the Stroud Green Road.  As the image on the left shows the John Jones arts centre plan to put a large 6 storey development on their site.  They are at an informal consultation stage – the formal planning application has not yet been submitted.

The development is on the Islington side of the road, and Haringey don’t seem to have made much effort to get involved in the process.  Councillors such as myself weren’t alerted to the event - which meant I couldn’t advertise it on this website.  So I immeadiately put an email into Haringey Council asking how they were going to ensure that residents on the north side of Stroud Green Road were able to have a say.  This week (5 weeks later) I got a response just directing me to Islington Council’s website and saying no Haringey panning officers had even attended the December consultation event.

Clearly this development would have a major impact on Stroud Green.  Its great to see people wanting to invest in Stroud Green Road, but this proposed building does seem quite tall, given the height of the Victorian terraces surrounding it.  I think everyone should have their say on this development – regardless of which side of the borough boundary they live, and  I will press for wide-scale consultation when the planning application is submitted.

Stroud Green has finally caught up with other parts of Haringey and is now forming a Conservation Area Advisory Committee (CAAC) to try to prevent inappropriate development in the area (see picture).  A CAAC  is formed and run by local residents, with Council support, and would have a formal role in advising the Council on planning issues in the conservation area.  There is information on the Council website – link here.

The Stroud Green Conservation Area stretches from Mount View Road in the north to Stroud Green Road in the south.  A map of the conservation areas on the Haringey website can be found here.

Local residents are trying to organise a first meeting with planning officers to discuss how the committee would work in mid December.  If you care about your local area and would like to take part in this excellent initiative then please get in touch and I’ll pass on your details.

Haringey Council have received a planning application to convert and extend the building on the corner of Quernmore and Stapleton Hall Roads opposite the Library (see picture).  The owners propose to convert the shop and residence above into 5 flats.  The building (38 Quermore Road) would be extended out sideways into the paved vacant area in the picture.

The site is a complete eyesore at present, so its brilliant that someone wants to invest some money in improving the building.   However, at the recent Stroud Green Residents Association (SGRA) meeting people were keen to ensure the development fits in with the nearby Victorian buildings (this is a conservation area).  And concerns were also expressed about the possibility of 5 new flats generating 5 new cars in an area with an extreme shortage of parking space.

The application can be viewed on the Council’s website (link here).  The official deadline for sending in comments was earlier this month, however not many people seemed aware of the application, so after the SGRA meeting I contacted the planning officers and they have assured me they will continue to consider any comments they receive before the decision is made.  Apparently, the deadline for the Council to decide the application is the 2nd December – so if you want comment, support or object to the proposal please do so ASAP.

As everyone who commutes on the Victoria Line knows, it is horrendously overcrowded -running at absolute full capacity at peak times. Routinely it is physically impossible for Haringey residents to squeeze on trains at Finsbury Park in the morning.  I would have hoped that the Council would have been fighting to relieve these cattle truck conditions, and would be warning property developers against big new housing developments at Seven Sisters and Tottenham Hale that risk worsening an already dire situation.
 
However, papers that went to a recent Planning Committee showed that the Council was doing the opposite, and instead giving developers the green light by telling them that there is ample free capacity on our tube trains for new commuters. 
 
Unbelievably, planning officers have since told me that the transport study they are relying on shows that-

‘the Victoria tube line would have residual capacity of some 52 and 69 per cent in the morning and evening peak hours’.

I’ve asked officers to clarify what exactly that this jargon means (no response so far), but it seems to me they are saying that there is over 50% spare capacity in the peak morning period!  What fantasyland is the Council living in if they think the Victoria Line is half empty at rush hour?
 
I’ve also asked a whole load of extra questions to find out what the Council is playing at – and have asked to see this strange transport study.  I think it deserves scrutiny, as I dread to think what the Victoria Line would be like if Haringey Council had its way and doubled passenger numbers!