Fitzroy Farm campaign
We need your support urgently, sign today
Camden Council has approved the development of a massive new house on the site of the existing Fitzroy Farm House. This property is opposite the ladies swimming ponds, and accessed from the leafy lane, which runs from Millfield lane to the ladies ponds and beyond. The proposal is for a house that is nearly 3 times as large as the existing building. It includes a double storey basement, and construction is currently planned to take at least 123 weeks or two and a half years.
The planners rightly demanded as a condition of planning that the builders present a construction management plan to show how they proposed to manage construction. They were directed to address residential amenity but were not limited to residential amenity. The builders have now presented this document, which completely fails to deal with residential amenity and a number of other significant matters. Despite this the planners propose to approve the plan.
We need your support to object to its approval.
Please click here to send us an e-mail with the your name/s and address.
Details of the plans deficiencies are:
1. There are two possible access routes. Fitzroy Park, and the top of Millfield Lane. Millfield Lane is Metropolitan open land, and part of the Heath. Fitzroy Park is a private road and also a public footpath. Both routes are heavily used by heath users, to walk to Kenwood, the ladies pond, and other parts of the heath.
Neither route has separate pedestrian pavements so pedestrians are at risk from any wide or large vehicles. Neither route has a width that allows large vehicles to easily pass along the route. Neither route has been paved to take heavy construction traffic. The builder is proposing that simply to move the excavation materials there will be 1600 vehicle movements of between to 22 and 24 tonnes each. It is proposed that these will be walked to the junction of Merton Lane and Millfield Lane or to the top of the bowling club lane and released onto Fitzroy Park. We calculate that this means one very heavy vehicle every 7 minutes or worse.
This does not include the 25 to 50 vehicles estimated to be on site each day to transport workers to the site. It is proposed that these will be parked on the existing car park and will all arrive between 7.30 am and 8.30 am and will leave between 4 pm and 5.30 pm. this adds another 100 movements per day taking place in 180 minutes. One vehicle every two minutes. Meaning a tailback every day.
It also does not include any concrete deliveries to the site or indeed any other materials.
This level of traffic is completely unacceptable and will make these routes impassable for residents and heath users alike for at least the next 2 and a half years.
2. Public safety. Other than training the vehicle drivers, and walking the vehicles to a public road, the plan does not make any reference to public safety or what will occur in the event of an accident. Given the very high volume of large vehicles, and the limited width, and high volume of pedestrians, there is a very real risk of an accident. Given the tragic events in Golders Hill Park this apparent lack of planning is negligent.
3. The plan is to excavate a double storey basement, 10 metres deep, 30 metres long, and 20 metres wide. This will be a significant dam in all of the underground rivers, which drain from the village into the ponds. The plan assumes that there will be no significant groundwater impact. The lower allotments in the Fitzroy park allotment site are all waterlogged. the North London Bowling Club green had to be constructed on a specially designed stone base to allow proper drainage. Residents surrounding the site have all had significant underground water issues when digging normal foundations, or indeed in two cases installing swimming pools. The scale of this basement must be cause for concern. It raises several questions:
a. If pumping is required during construction where will the water be pumped to?
b. How can we be certain that pumping will not result in pollution of the ponds?
c. Once the basement is in place will there be a back up of the streams causing more water logging at the allotments, or damage to the bowling club green?
4. Noise. The plan makes no specific references to the level of noise, or indeed any measures designed to reduce noise. Given its proximity to the swimming ponds, pedestrian walks, the bowling club and other residences, we would expect specific noise reduction strategies to be in place.
5. Parking and traffic: The plan requires that the heavy traffic for the site is held waiting on Millfield Lane and Merton Lane. This was not published as part of the public consultation and was part of a late submission. By implication this will reduce available parking alongside the heath, and reduce the ability of vehicles to pass along Merton Lane and Millfield Lane. This will further reduce the access of the public and in particular dog walkers who park in this area to the heath. This cannot be simply waved through without due public consultation.
If you agree with any of this please sign the petition by e-mailing us
giving us your name address, and the words I object to to the Fitzroy Farm plan
Camden DCC Unanimously rejects the Construction Management Plan. We will let you know when they resubmit.
Appeal Hearing to take place 10.00 am 30th April Connaught Hall Tavistock Square
The developer is seeking to overturn the councils rejection of their plan - be there!!
