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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 2 May 2008

Objectors at Monday’s meeting

Neighbours stage walkout over go-ahead for controversial flats

Scaled-down block approved despite fears of homes being overshadowed

ANGRY objectors stormed out of a meeting this week after plans to “shoehorn” more housing into a high-density area of Archway were approved.
Up to 40 residents packed Islington Council’s north area planning committee meeting on Monday night to object to proposals for a block of flats they claim will overlook their homes and block out daylight.
But architects for housing association Mosaic Homes told the committee the plans had been drastically scaled down from 15 flats to seven and from five storeys to a two-storey block in Hazellville Road at the junction with Pilgrims Way.
The development has been revised three times in as many years. The first application was rejected by the committee in 2006. A government planning inspector who heard an appeal against the decision agreed with residents that it would restrict their outlook.
The scheme approved this week will mean the demolition of five lock-up garages and the removal of 12 car spaces.
It is estimated that up to 40 trees will be axed although the developer maintains many of these will be replaced. The two-storey block will contain seven affordable flats, including two for disabled people. It will also have an amenity space, eight bicycle spaces and six car parking bays in Pilgrims Way.
Teacher Pandora Kay-Kiezman, 45, whose home in Hazellville Road will be overlooked by the block, was disappointed by the decision.
The mother-of-two said: “It means I will be completely boxed in by this development. What the developers have done is get rid of one block but made the remaining block longer and closer to my garden wall.
“I’m going to be hemmed in and overshadowed. The impact on my home will be even greater than in previous applications.”
Naomi Selig, a psychologist from Cheverton Road, claimed the meeting was undemocratic as only two objectors were allowed to speak. She added: “There were so many residents from all the streets around but they were not allowed to voice their opinions, whereas Mosaic were given plenty of time to speak.
“I feel it was all a foregone conclusion. All we ever wanted was a smaller development sensitively designed that would blend and enhance the area rather than stick out.”
Mosaic officials argued that they had reduced the scheme to a minimum number of affordable homes, which will enhance the area. A spokesman said a number of daylight and sunlight surveys had shown residents would not suffer as a result of the development.

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