Camden New Journal - News: Footprint ruling hits house plan

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Camden New Journal - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 15 November 2007

Footprint ruling hits house plan

REFUSING permission to place an air conditioning unit on the side of a listed home in Hampstead marks a significant milestone in the fight against global warming, according to a Belsize Park councillor.
Liberal Democrat Alexis Rowell, who heads a Town Hall eco-task force, dubbed a planning committee decision to block a home owner’s bid to install air conditioning a “victory for Mother Earth”. It was refused on the grounds of its contribution to a carbon footprint – the first time this reason has been given to deny a household planning application.
Businessman Paul Cowan has suffered a series of setbacks in his bid to convert the Grade-II listed Victorian Klippan House in Well Walk into his dream home. He had permission denied earlier this year to convert a run-down garage into a separate home, and was also told to rethink plans regarding an underground swimming pool. He had chosen to restore the red brick corner building with many original arts and crafts features – which has been flats for many years – back into a family house, but the work has been held up for months by Town Hall rulings.
Cllr Rowell said the decision was justified by the borough’s planning guidelines which allowed the committee to dismiss applications they believed wasted energy.
Committee vice-chairman, Belsize Park Lib Dem councillor David Abrahams said: “It’s been a lovely Victorian house without air conditioning for more than 100 years so why do they need it now when concerns about energy use and climate change are so strong?”
Architect Shahriar Nasser, who has worked on the project for Mr Cowan, said they were frustrated by the decision.
He said: “The planners say this is the first time ever that this has happened. It does make us wonder what exactly is going on. We are going to appeal.”

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