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Dalby Street plans need to be stopped
• THE application to close down Dalby Street at Talacre is causing great alarm not only locally but apparently throughout much of Camden.
The letters published in the CNJ about what closure would mean to residents and others have alerted those who might not have been able to assess the details of such a complicated application as to the potential problems that can be expected (Dalby Street plans will cause us chaos, September 28).
The Talacre Sports Centre is a ‘honeypot’ attraction locally and we are extremely concerned about the developer’s proposal to downgrade the access road to the sports centre.
At the moment, Dalby Street has a width of some 11 metres (this includes residents’ parking bays on one side of the road) and there is a footpath on either side.
The usable road itself is some 7m wide.
The developer is proposing to reduce the width of the road to a minimum of 4.8m, eliminate all residents parking bays and both roadside footpaths.
In view of the fact that such a new road would have to serve all the traffic going to the sports centre, it would also have to take into account the new residents at the proposed building scheme (55 flats and two commercial premises), then the new road should be wider, more accessible and safer than the present Dalby Street, not reduced in such a way.
The alternative footpath proposed by the developer leading from Prince of Wales Road to the sports centre is a worrying issue locally.
Since most of our residents would need to use such a footpath after Talacre Gardens closes at dusk, we are concerned that children might have to walk up from Prince of Wales Road and go through what is likely to be an extremely busy internal roundabout.
This is going to be a treacherous and dangerous approach to the sports centre, irritating to car users and worrying for the parents of the children concerned. No one seems to have thought this problem through.
Ordinary people should not be expected to understand all the ramifications of these proposed changes without the benefit of sound professional advice – thus far this seems to have deserted the Town Hall.
BEVERLY GARDNER
Chairwoman of the Athlone Tenants Association
• YOUR readers are understandably angry at the developer of the seven-story, 55-unit building scheme at Talacre (Dalby Street plans will cause us chaos, September 28).
The developer has put forward a dubious proposal for a road closure at Dalby Street. They want to close down and use the current Dalby Street as the favoured site to erect the building, taking along with it a chunk of the park, namely the sports centre parking lot, its forecourt and perhaps even more, if one is to believe some of the drawings submitted.
They even suggest redesigning nearby Prince of Wales road, downgrading it to suit his purpose.
In return for taking away all these public amenities, they are offering a substandard alternative road to access the sports centre.
They also have to surrender a percentage of units for affordable housing. The fact that these affordable flats are the size of a closet has not been picked up yet.
Two years ago, the same developer put in a planning application for a building of the same footprint, volume and height to include some 45 flats, most of which were to be sold as luxury flats.
Last year, they made a new application to add 10 more flats. These are to be squeezed in the same space, making a total of 55 flats. So bingo, he could then qualify to have offered the right percentage of affordable units without sacrificing more space.
Still, I would urge the public not to direct their anger and frustration at the developer.
They do what they must to get the best deal. As a retired developer I should know.
Those responsible for this preposterous situation, are the Town Hall officials who you, the public, employ to oversee these projects and protect your interests.
They have allowed such a scheme to flourish. The members of the executive, under Labour, stamped and approved it.
In this particular case, however, the proposal put forward by the developer is deeply flawed.
In years to come, the general public will realise that they have landed with a lasting traffic problem.
Don’t feel angry at the developer. He is just doing his job. But by all means do shout loud and clear at the officials who facilitated these indecent proposals.
You pay them. They must therefore serve your best interests. It is your right to demand that they do.
DAVID V FELIX
Southampton Road, NW5
• IT should now be obvious to just about anyone who lives in Camden that the proposed closure of Dalby Street must be turned down (Dalby Street plans will cause us chaos, September 28).
There is no Management Service Plan made available to back the ideas put forward by the developers nor are the broad details of their proposals likely to ever work out.
What infuriates me is that we have had to contend with this scheme for several years now when it should have been obvious from the start that it was never going to be able to be implemented. We have to foot the bill for this cock-up.
I would rather pay and shut up, however, than having the scheme go ahead and ruin this vital and important part of Kentish Town.
The Talacre Sports Centre deserves protection. This road closure application, as presented, would definitely threaten its survival.
RICHARD HALL
Chamberlain Street, NW1
• I AM outraged at the audacity of the private developer who has applied for the closure of Dalby Street and substantial changes at the Prince of Wales Road (Dalby Street plans will cause us chaos, September 28).
I am equally outraged at the planning officials, engineers and councillors who have allowed such a nutty scheme to have gone as far as it already has.
When even average members of the public can figure out for themselves what is wrong with this application, why haven’t the professionals in Town Hall done so?
Stop all this nonsense now and either go back to the drawing board or quit once and for all.
MONICA CRAMER
Daleham Gardens, NW3 |
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