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Council seeks extra powers
Bid to tighten planning in Hampstead
RIPPING up flower beds and concreting over front gardens to create car parks has ruined the look of many of Hampstead’s finest homes, according to the Heath and Hampstead Society, but it could now lead to a crackdown on alterations to properties.
The Town Hall’s planning department wants to introduce Article Four guidance in Hampstead and Belsize Park, effectively meaning that home owners will need planning permission even for minor alterations to properties.
Article Four is a clause in planning law which can be implemented in conservation areas to ensure work receives greater scrutiny.
The Heath and Hampstead Society and the Belsize Residents Association (BRA) have been campaigning for the extra power to be invoked.
The Society’s Town Committee chairman Gordon McLean said: “Most of us who live in one of Camden’s many conservation areas are aware of their beautiful, distinctive character; each has its own special identity. Many are, however, worried that much of this character is being eroded by badly conceived and designed alterations to buildings and their settings.
“Some of this erosion has arisen because of a loophole in the planning system, whereby householders have the privilege of doing such work without permission.”
The Society and the BRA hope that the loophole will now be closed, as the Town Hall introduce Article Four.
Mr Mclean added: “These make it necessary for householders to get permission for their work. Work, for instance, like filling their front gardens with car parking. The proposals do not, as some misinformed people have believed, prevent them from doing this work per se.”
But the imposition of Article Four has not been universally popular. Residents on the Holly Lodge estate, Highgate, turned down the chance to have their homes included.
Camden’s Conservative environment chief Councillor Chris Knight said: “If you get one house replacing their windows with plastic frames, another may do it and it will not be long before there is mix-match of properties which ruins the overall feel of the area.”
There are two public meetings to discuss Article Four directions. They are at the Hampstead Town Hall, Haverstock Hill, Belsize Park, on Monday, October 19 and on Monday, November 9. |
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