Impacts of plans

Less light, hard landscapes, loss of existing trees  are some of the impacts on Somers Town of the CIP planning application – and what you might comment on.

Planning Application Ref:    2015/2704/P

Comment to the Council’s planning Dept here –  pick things from the list and describe how they affect you. Put in the references shown. *

• Overdevelopment. How do building heights, mass and bulk affect you and local amenities that you use. Will this affect your daylight? Privacy? Access? Somers Town more suited to ‘smaller scale and more incremental change’ as stated on P.18 1.18 and Policy CS4.*

• The development does not protect designated open spaces. Polygon Rd and Purchese St parks are on the Local Asset List as well as being Designated Public Open Spaces. The CIP will change the type of space as well as reduce green space. Camden policies CS15* (see 15.6) and DP 31 protect designated public open spaces.

• Removal of trees. Removal of mature trees will impact on air quality and health.

• Vehicular access across Purchese Street and Polygon Road open spaces for refuse collection, emergency vehicles, home deliveries and drop off and collect will affect character and safety. How does this affect you, children’s play, safety etc?

• Place-making (open space and tall buildings). The character and usability of open spaces is not the same (Planning Statement para 5.5). Explain why e.g. Green neighbourhood parks are being turned in to largely hard landscaped corridors. How does this affect you?

• Some residents will lose nearly all their daylight in some rooms, more will lose over at least 50%. Does this affect you? How? e.g. health, energy consumption etc.

• Place making (housing and gentrification). High level of market housing will result in social polarisation contrary to Camden’s policy to ‘minimise social polarisation’ (Policy CS6*).

• Affordable housing. There is a huge need for genuinely affordable housing. The development does not reach Camden’s 50% target (DP2-DP9*).

• Building density. Population increase will make what remains of green space so heavily used that there should in fact be more green space  – the Planning Statement (P.36 para 5.30*) recognises that the  space is insufficient in relation to the pressure that will be put on it by new development.

• The Planning Statement describes Polygon Road and Purchese St open spaces as ‘vacant’ and ‘under-used’.  Say why you like the space and how you use it. How would the new development stop you doing this? Why is the quantity and quality of the proposed new space worse than what you have now?

• Special Planning Guidance being applied and claims that Brill Place tall building site lies in the Central Activities Zone (CAZ). This is not the case. The scheme has been developed on a false premise.
• More built areas – current ‘footprint’ – 2076 Sq m
  proposed = 4819 sq m

  ..

* References relate to where the application does not appear to follow Camden’s own planning policies (Local Development Framework Core Strategy and Development Policies) and claims in the Planning Statement part of the application.