141-143 High Street, Barnet planning objection
04/10/2016
Dear Sir or Madam,
Re: Objection to application 16/5848/FUL, Land rear of 141-143 High Street Barnet, EN5 5UZ
I am writing to object to the above application in my capacity as Member of the Greater London Assembly, representing Barnet and Camden.
Historic Planning applications, granted on the basis of parking being allocated
There are currently 16 parking spaces, 15 of which are already allocated. The Applicants have pledged to provide five parking spaces for the proposed flats. I cannot see how they are able to fulfil this.
Furthermore the Applicants have used the same parking spaces in historic planning application to secure planning permission for:
1) B/02657/13 – the change of use from office space to 8 flats at 141A High Street [eight spaces allocated to the flats];
2) B/01962/14 – application to build 2 flats on top of 141A High Street [two spaces allocated to the flats]; and
3) 14/08114/FUL – application to build a three story office block at the rear of 141- 143 High Street [three spaces allocated to the offices].
Condition 3 of Barnet Council decision in relation to application number B/02657/13 dated 19 August 2013 states that:
“The applicant must ensure that the proposed 8 parking spaces shown on drawing 4385-02 will be assigned for the proposed new 8 flats and retained thereafter. These spaces should not be allocated to other existing units or other development in future proposals. This clearly shows that these flats must retain the allocated parking.
Condition 9 of Barnet Council decision in relation to application number B/01962/14 dated 3 June 2014 states that:
“before the development hereby permitted is occupied the parking spaces/garages shown on Plan daring no 4441 20 shall be provided and shall not be used for any purpose other than the parking of vehicles in connection the approved development.
The third planning application number 14/08114/FUL the Applicants have stated that they will provide 17 parking spaces. The Applicants planning statement at 6.19 stated that “the proposed scheme will provide up to 17 parking spaces, with at least 3 being allocated to the created office suite.”
Finally the Planning Inspectorate granted planning permission for the office block on appeal on the following condition:
“10. In terms of the proposed car park, 17 spaces would be provided. Thus overall there would be an increase of 6 parking spaces….
- the 17 spaces would be shared between the residential units in the frontage building and users of the office development…”
The Appeal has been allowed based on a misunderstanding of the number of parking spaces currently available and the number to be created. There are currently 16 spaces, the application stated there would be 17 available spaces. This is an increase of one not six!
The Planning Inspectorate Appeal decision dated 18 January 2016 goes on to state “I have amended the Council’s final condition to reflect the fact that the car parking would be shared with existing residents…” Planning permission for the three storey office block was granted on the basis that the existing residential and commercial tenants of 141 to 143 High Street would retain their parking entitlement.
Current application
The Council’s parking standards for residential development are outlined in Policy DM17. The maximum standard for 2 or 3 bedroom flats is 1.5 to 1 spaces per unit and for 1 bedroom flats the requirement is 1 to less than 1 per unit. The current application allocates five spaces to the proposed flats.
The current car park contains 16 spaces. Ten of which are allocated to the flats at 141A High Street, a further five are allocated to the commercial premises with three being allocated to one-to-one flooring, one to Hamilton Chase estate agents and one to Hobbs the hairdresser.
Previous planning permission applications were granted on condition that the flats at 141A would be allocated parking spaces. Fifteen of the existing spaces have already been allocated to existing residential and commercial tenants. How does the Applicants propose to allocate five spaces to the new flats?
The Applicants cannot take away parking spaces allocated in a legally binding contract to the existing flats and commercial tenants. As such, they are not in a position to provide five new parking spaces with the proposed new flats.
Space and Logistics
The proposed flats will be on stilts, this means that there will be even less space in the car park. The Applicants in their planning statement for application 4/08114/FUL at 6.18 state that the “existing area allocated for parking comprised 16 car parking spaces. That said, five of these do not comply with the minimum size requirements by measuring less than 2.4m in width. Accordingly, only 11 standard spaces are currently provided.” How can the Applicants provide 16 parking spaces complying with the minimum size when there will be less space in the car park by the addition of the proposed building?
How many times can the Applicants use the same car parking spaces to secure planning permission?
In addition the current application states it would provide a bin storage area and a bicycle storage for six bicycles. There are currently no such provisions, as the buildings main bins are situated at the end of Bruce Road. The addition of the bin storage and bicycle park, along with the proposed building would reduce the amount of space available in the car park. There are currently 16 spaces in the car park. How does the Applicant intend to find space for 16 spaces, five of which will be bigger than the current space provided? Interestingly the planning inspectorate provided planning permission for the three storey office block on the basis that the bicycle park would have 12 spaces, not six.
My objections above remain my primary concern, but I have further concerns relating to congestion, loss of light, loss of privacy, the impact of drilling, access to the site, strain on resources and the impact on the trees, which should also be considered grounds for refusal.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Dismore
Labour London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden
City Hall
The Queen’s Walk
London
SE1 2AA
