| |
Hold back on basements
• CAMDEN Council approved the second application for a basement development in Woodsome Road, NW5 – it was considered by the full development control committee, while the first bid was simply delegated to and approved by the planning committee without councillors hearing the case or taking a view.
The Woodsome Road West Residents’ Association had objected strenuously to both applications on the grounds that they were not appropriate for a conservation area, were dangerous for the road and would damage the amenity of the residents.
Of the 50 similar-style houses in the road, 42 households signed the petition to block such development. Residents were hugely worried about subsidence problems (a majority of the houses had suffered from this already, and many more showed signs) and believed that basementing, in 120-year-old houses, built on very shallow footings and never designed for this, would destabilise the subsoil and upset the water table, creating tanked-out plugs which would divert the subterranean water flows into neighbouring properties. A further concern was the noise, dirt and disruption that a six-month excavation and construction would cause. Many residents nearby work from home, many others are retired and elderly and cannot escape the din.
Woodsome Road is a narrow road, officially two-way but in fact unable to cope with traffic in both directions simultaneously. Cars have to dodge in and out of spaces to let others squeeze by and the passage of a refuse truck or large delivery vehicle can block the whole street for 10-15 minutes at a time. The siting of boxed-in skips, compressors and other plant in the road (the front gardens are less than 3 feet deep) will cause constant congestion.
The first applications by 10 and 22 Woodsome Road were withdrawn following massive objections, and the planning department recognised that the front light wells in the plan would contravene conservation area regulations by altering the appearance of the “townscape.” The second applications dispensed with these, replacing them with small side light wells said to be inconspicuous from the street. Officers charged with monitoring the applications admitted that these light wells contravened the “30 degree rule,” meant to ensure that basements received adequate lighting, but in the next breath dismissed this hitch by noting that this didn’t matter because the rooms were only ancillary, that is, for music rooms, gyms, playrooms, showers, and wine cellar. There was, they said, perfectly adequate light and ventilation in the rest of the house, above ground.
The development control committee, never having considered the first application, passed the second by four votes to three.
The council complains its hands are tied and argues its regulations on basement developments, as on conservation area building, are adequate.
Householders, residents’ associations and all our local conservation societies have pleaded with the council to hold back on basement developments until the problem has been fully analysed. Rather than their hands being tied, the council’s apparent policy is to sit on them, perhaps hoping the problem will go away. Of course, it won’t; it can only get worse.
BARRY ELLIOTT
Woodsome Road West Residents Association, NW5
|
 |
|
| |
