Welsh Harp JCC on why Mayor should reject West Hendon development

The letter below was sent to Boris Johnson today:

West Hendon Estate, Barnet (planning reference: H/01054/13)

I write as chair, and on behalf of, the Welsh Harp Joint Consultative Committee, which includes elected councillors from both Brent and Barnet and is a cross party body. Our charter is to consider and co-ordinate all the interests of recreation, leisure, maintenance and nature conservation together with the statutory requirements of the British Waterways Board and the Environment Agency at the Welsh Harp (Brent Reservoir) Our resulting objective is to protect the Welsh Harp Reservoir and surrounding open land as a unique environment for both recreation and wildlife conservation.

At our last meeting on the 24^th July 2013, the committee noted with considerable disappointment and concern that the London Borough of Barnet Planning and Environment Committee had granted planning permission to the redevelopment of the West Hendon Estate. It was agreed that we would write to you to express our objections to the scheme as it is currently proposed.

Our grounds for objection are based on the environmental impact of the scheme and are therefore in line with our remit.

SSSI endangerment

The Welsh Harp – also known as the Brent Reservoir – is a nature reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). As one of only approximately thirty-six SSSIs across London, the area is of considerable value not only locally but also London wide and nationally.  Both the London and Barnet Plans contain directives regarding the protection of SSSIs. This scheme clearly breaches those directives.

The proposed development will cause considerable disruption and therefore harm to the wildlife of the SSSI. This disruption will be caused by the process of construction, the size and scale of the development, the resulting increase in population density, together with light and noise pollution.

We have grave concerns that allowing such a scheme will create a precedent and endanger similar areas in the capital and beyond.

Risk to flora and fauna

We wish to  highlight that one of the proposed pedestrian bridges would span the wetland breeding grounds on the SSSI and it would be impossible for this to not negatively impact the birds nesting in the area, both during construction and afterwards when in use. Migratory birds using the area include Gadwalls and Widgeon and it is known that there is a colony of Daubenton Bats roosting in the area.

Some of the buildings will be 29 storeys in height. This will impact on the bird population, especially as they are a mere 20 metres from the water’s edge.  A particular issue is the effect this will have on wind currents which could cause birds to fly into buildings or become confused and be displaced. There has been no mention of this issue in the application for the scheme.

Inadequate assessments and safeguards

We consider that the wildlife assessments which have  been undertaken are  lacking, and are deeply concerned that the proposals for the scheme make no specific mention of the reservoir or of flora and fauna.

 The committee also noted the views of Natural England which were reported as advising that construction should not go ahead either in summer or winter due to the disruption that would be caused to birds. We are aware that Natural England has also supported the appointment of an SSSI Warden to monitor the impact of the scheme on the SSSI.  However, very little detail has been provided regarding the powers of this post and the funding provided is considered insufficient by the committee.

In summary, therefore, we believe that the scheme as currently designed presents a grave risk to the status and environment of one of the very few wild spaces left in London. As a city, we cannot afford to risk endangering and damaging this priceless and very special place.

We urge you to direct the Local Planning Authority to refuse the application or failing that to act as the Local Planning Authority yourself so that the application can be considered fully in the light of all the appropriate development plan policies.

Yours sincerely,

Councillor Alison Hopkins

Chair Welsh Harp Joint Consultative Committee

Liberal Democrat councillor for Dollis Hill (Brent)

Barnet approve West Hendon Welsh Harp development against angry opposition

Outside Hendon Town Hall this evening

 Barnet Planning Committee tonight passed the planning application for the West Hendon Development on the banks of the Welsh Harp by 5 votes to 4 after a sometimes rancorous debate.

The presentation by a planning officer of his report on the development provoked protests from Andrew Dismore AM for Barnet and Camden who said that he had never heard such a biased officers' report in 30 years involvement in politics. He said the officer was acting as a advocate for the developers rather than as someone presenting a balanced view on which the Planning Committee could make a decision.

Dismore asked why there had not been a ballot of residents of the West Hendon Estate and presented his own findings (see posting below). He said the luxury tower blocks would be for Russian oligarchs rather than local people.

Cllr Roxanne Mashari (Labour -Welsh Harp)  told the chair of the Committee that she would be writing to Barnet Council to record her concerns about the officer's presentation which amounted to a 'hard sell'. The length and veracity of the presentation had not been used for any other application.

Cllr Mashari said that when she visited the developers they had not even be aware of Brent Council's objections. She spoke about growing up near the Welsh Harp and what a much loved and  valued resource it was.  The 29 storey buildings would be an imposing and inappropriate presence looming over the reservoir.

Navin Shah AM for Brent and Harrow told the committee that the Welsh Harp was an exceptional site of tremendous value. The enormous scale of the development and its density was unsustainable.  The amount of affordable housing should have been at the target of 40% rather than the 25% in the application.

Cllr Javaid Ashraf (Liberal Democrat - Dollis Hill) told the committee that he was a former chair of the Welsh Harp JCC), He had three main concerns: density, damage to the SSSI and traffic congestion. He said he was not against redevelopment. He was supportive of 'a' scheme but not 'this' scheme.

The public loudly supported this last point. The officer's presentation had implied that the scheme should be supported because it was better than a previous scheme that had been agreed by the Planning Committee and that no other scheme was viable as it would not provide enough of a return to the developer to enable the social housing to be redeveloped.

Objectors will continue their campaign at the London Mayoral level.

Brent Planners; additional observations on West Hendon development

The following letter has been submitted to Barnet Planning by Brent Planning

 

Dear Mr Wyld,

West Hendon Estate, West Hendon, London,

Thank you for your letter in relation to the re-consultation on amended and additional information for the hybrid planning application at the above site. This also responds to the letter sent to us from Quod on 1O June 2013, in which they provide a response on the points raised in our observation letter to Barnet.

Please find further observations on behalf of the London Borough of Brent below:

(a)        Tall Buildings

Section 10.6 of Barnet’s Core Strategy discusses tall buildings and Barnet’s skyline. It is noted that a Tall Building Study was commissioned by Barnet Council, which identified locations for tall buildings within Barnet. One of these locations is at West Hendon (page 67 of the Core Strategy) which makes reference to tall buildings ranging from 8 to 20 storeys being appropriate in this location. This application still includes proposals for buildings up to 29 storeys in height, which is contrary to Barnet’s Core Strategy, and still raises significant concerns.

(b)        Nature Conservation

The points raised in our observation letter dated 29 April 2013 still remain. We do however note that a number of statutory consultees have been consulted including Natural England, Canal River Trust and the Environment Agency.

(c)        Transport

Bus Priority Lanes

Brent Council’s initial observations advised that Brent would not support the removal of the short sections bus lanes, as this goes against current policy for the AS.   The addendum to the Transport Assessment has not taken into account the concern around removal of the bus lanes.  In a couple of places in the document, they make the following statement:

”The results show that the removal of bus lanes, coupled with implementation of the improvement measures, along AS West Hendon Broadway will have benefit to overall journey time for either buses or cars whilst providing significant environmental benefits to residential streets and introducing significantly improved pedestrian facilities.”

If the bus lanes are not retained, then it is hard to see how the removal of bus lanes will have a benefit to overall journey time for buses.

Parking Levels

The addendum to the Transport Assessment is still recommending an overall number of spaces of 1600, which Brent Council considered as part of initial observations was rather high. Brent advised that it would be useful to understand if any of the Travel Plan measures could reduce the overall requirement for parking spaces. The addendum to the Transport Assessment does recommend that this amount of parking be reduced, but it does not say by how much. The comments raised within the initial observation letter still remain.

Brent Council's objection to Welsh Harp over-development

Brent Council Planning Department has submitted an objection to the West Hendon development. The full document is available below:

West Hendon development background information

The information below provides background to our opposition to the West Hendon development and may be useful for those making objections to Barnet Planning Committee:

• There already is an approved Planning Application dating from 2008 for a development of ~2000 homes on the site. The recent development on Cool Oak Lane is part of that. This had lower towers and they were placed back from the water much further. I believe the tallest tower was almost on the West Hendon Broadway. It also included outline approval for two footbridges. This approval for the balance of the development and the two bridges is still extant.
• Barratts claim that this was not financially viable and have come up with the current proposal.
• The potentially damaging Northern Footbridge is shown on the plans by a wide swathe through the West Woodland of the SSSI. In the already approved plan it is shown immediately behind Halfords which is on the Edgware Road. To mitigate the effect of this bridge we need the following.

           To build it as close to Halfords as the new envelope allows

 To make it a throughway only with no access possible to the wet woodland

To have minimal lighting to preserve the site as a dark site

It should be locked overnight

It should be constructed to prevent fly-tipping into the river and the SSSI

• The Cool Oak Lane Bridge needs to be sited as close as possible to the road bridge. The road bridge is grade II listed and must be preserved.
• The reduction of the tree screen to allow views down from West Hendon Broadway is also damaging as this is exactly where the largest winter flocks are frequently found.

This all focuses the mind on the things to argue about. The height and location of the Towers. The layout of the whole Estate, The siting and construction of the bridges. The provision of adequate screening. The estate is too large and too dense in its new form.