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It is not too late to stop this planning time bomb
• I was pleased to learn that the Dalby Street developer has given his undertaking to withdraw his recent plan to drive a construction road through Talacre Gardens.
The Haverstock Labour Party strongly opposed this proposal. We leafleted residents on the issue and drew up a petition to safeguard the gardens.
The developer has made similar promises in the past and yet attempts to place trucks on our lawns reoccur. People are very unhappy about many aspects of the proposed scheme, in particular they fear for the future safety of children using the excellent Talacre Sports Centre.
Dermot Greene
Haverstock Labour Party Chair
Herbert Street, NW5
• RE: ‘Dalby Street Road closure will cause traffic chaos’ (Feb 1).
Bearing in mind that it is always a good idea to turn to independent advisors when a particular problem seems to be too close and the stakes for our community are high, I asked a group of planning experts who deal with highway aspects of development control elsewhere in London to analyse the road closure in Dalby Street. Here were thee points they made:
• They were fairly appalled by the layout. There is an inadequate space for vehicle manoeuvres, turning circles, etc;
• Conflict with pedestrians on Dalby Street, no pedestrian footpath, blind corners;
• Building doors are shown to open directly onto the carriageway. Vehicles will probably reverse onto Prince of Wales Road;
• Poor safety design is good ground far an objecting to a highway ‘stopping up’.
Incidentally according to the Camden Unitary Development Plan, there is in fact an obligation to provide footpaths on both sides of the access road such as this proposed New Dalby Street. For some unexplained and unknown reason, our Town Hall officials seem to have chosen to ignore this requirement.
The proposal for the Dalby Street closure and the improvement plan for Prince of Wales Road are not really practically feasible, are certainly dangerous and should both have been abandoned by Camden itself long ago. The former has been approved while the latter should not be approved now that it is up for consideration.
It does not take a crystal ball to predict that if the proposed Dalby Street development occurs, contrary to commonsense, planning guidelines and normal planning principles, the consequence for this scheme that is functionally deficient is a subsequent need to seek to encroach on the park for additional space.
The certain repercussions of encroachment on Talacre gardens would be borough-wide condemnation and a significant political backlash damaging to all who have acquiesced to this Dalby Street episode. It is not too late to stop this planning time bomb now.
PETER CUMING
Talacre Road, NW5
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RE: Highway improvement plans at Prince of Wales Road.
Blind corner at the crossing of the proposed New Dalby Street, no footpaths on the new access road to protect pedestrians, dangerous proposals for cyclists, treacherous plans to relocate the ‘white line’ of the main road on ‘off-centre’ beneath the symmetrical railway arch – the litany goes on. I am outraged at the obvious deceit by the Town Hall touting these changes at Prince of Wales Road as ‘improvements’.
Nowadays, some Town hall officials (paid for by our council taxes) appear to work exclusively for the developers – their objectivity has gone.
Were they to be ditched, the resources saved could be better used funding third party appeals and free legal and technical advice. This way, local residents who feel cheated by poor planning decisions or bogus improvement plans, such as POW’s, might have a fair chance to fight their corner against these wretched, unconcerned and self-serving officials and/or developers.
We are increasingly fed up with being taken for a ride by all involved. Have politicians abandoned the public interest?
Alberto N Rizzano
Gaisford Street
Kentish Town, NW5 |
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