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Crown & Goose is under threat from developers
• THE Delancey Street Residents’ Association would like to draw your readers’ attention to a planning appeal submitted to the Planning Inspectorate of the Department for Communities and Local Government by the developers DE & J Levy to demolish the Crown & Goose public house and the snooker club immediately adjacent.
The developers’ intention is to replace this much-loved pub and sports amenity with a four-storey building compromising 10 flats overhanging a commercial ground floor area for class A3 use – in other words a single, large-scale bar/restaurant. The appeal will be decided on the basis of an exchange of written statements between the people who have made the appeal and the council followed by a site visit.
As many of your readers know, this appeal is the developers’ third attempt in a long-running and determined campaign to demolish the Crown & Goose and snooker club.
Nevertheless, Camden Council has overwhelmingly refused the application on each previous occasion, the most recent being May 2007. Each application was correctly refused not simply as a result of the public outcry and widespread condemnation by hundreds of people and a successful campaign supported by the Camden Town Conservation Area Advisory committee, Frank Dobson, local councillors and CNJ readers but based on local planning laws.
The decision in each case was not only a victory of democracy but common sense.
We believe that the developers’ appeal against the council’s decision to refuse the latest application should be rejected for the following reasons:
First. The Crown & Goose and snooker hall are ‘community’ focal points.
Second. The size and shape of the Crown & Goose is not only in keeping with, but in perfect relation to, the neighbouring buildings.
Third. The distinctive 19th century architectural style of this part of Camden is the very thing that makes it such an attractive, pleasant and desirable place in which to live, work and visit.
Fourth. The Crown & Goose is a small-scale, neighbourhood which brings character to Camden Town and provides an alternative to the big brewery and faceless chain outlets that are beginning to dominate the area.
Fifth. The impact of a huge A3 building with an A3 licence is highly significant and would be detrimental to the amenity and character of the area.
Sixth. There is a very strong feeling not only among local people but in the wider community regarding this application. On one memorable occasion, the council chamber was packed with opponents of the proposals when councillors took the excellent decision to refuse the application.
If any of your readers would like to make any comments about the appeal, would they please send three copies of their letter to the Planning Inspectorate at the following address: Planning Inspectorate, Room 3/10 Eagle Wing, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6PN.
Please make sure that any letters quote the Planning Inspectorate Appeal reference: APP/Z5210/A07/2056174. It is vital that all letters should be sent by November 13 2007.
If the people of Camden Town wish to not only save the The Crown & Goose but other small scale, individual neighbourhood businesses which bring character and atmosphere to our part of London, then it is vital that they respond to this latest challenge.
RUSSELL GRANT
Delancey Street Residents Association, NW1
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