Objection to planning application for Unit 4 Hyde Estate Road London NW9 6JX
Objection to planning application for Unit 4 Hyde Estate Road London NW9 6JX, Ref: 19/4661/FUL
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to object to the above application in my capacity as London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden. And I REQUEST TO SPEAK AT COMMITTEE. I would like to object of the following grounds:
The density appears to go beyond all limits with 899 habitable rooms per hectare. For some comparison: Hendon Waterside is 460 hr/ha, The Telephone Exchange is 560 hr/ha and the Rushgroves 698 hr/ha.
There is a risk of flooding from the Silk Stream as highlighted by the Environment Agency in the pre-application advice. Their recommendation is that residential units should be in flood zone 1 and 2 and retail in 3 and yet the application shows a large part of the residential blocks are in flood zone 3. Finished floor levels (FFLs) remain lower than 300 mm in several blocks – against the advice of the Environment Agency – and have only been achieved in block 12. In the event of a flood, the proposed evacuation routes for blocks 9, 10 and 11 are convoluted for residents and certainly not advisable for the elderly, disabled or children.
The loss of light to a considerable number of nearby residents and consequent loss of light to habitable rooms; complete overshadowing throughout the year of the Silk Stream, and ironically the almost complete overshadowing of the much praised ‘Silk Garden Park’ due to the towers is surely unacceptable.
The entire site is heavily contaminated from its previous history as a coach manufacture that produced military items during WWII, and from its current use as a petrol station. The report states: ‘Elevated concentrations of heavy metals, PAH’s, VOC’s and SVOC’s have been identified within the groundwater on site’. These are both carcinogenic and mutagenic. The report goes on to say that there has been no investigation of the extent of contamination around the petrol site yet from samples taken elsewhere there is a suggestion that there is leakage. In summary it states further investigation is required for the whole site.
While remediation can address some of the pollutants, the fact that there is a risk of contaminating controlled waters and the Silk Stream makes it even more essential that these investigations are carried out before the planning committee even consider the scheme.
With the above in mind, I therefore urge officers to reject this current scheme for the site.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Dismore AM
London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden
City Hall
The Queen’s Walk
London
SE1 2AA
