| |
‘We’ll be left in the dark’
Pensioners fear high-rise offices will cut off natural light to rooms
COVENT Garden pensioners are mobilising against a development they fear will leave their rooms cloaked in darkness.
Elderly residents at Davey Court learned by letter of plans to build a high-rise office development next to their homes. They say the new build would turn their 43-flat block into a “prison”, blocking natural light to kitchens and a courtyard they use during warmer months.
Campaign leaders Pearl Lumley and Shaun Irwin met planning officials this week to object.
Mr Irwin, who faces having a brick wall four feet away from his third-floor kitchen window, said: “It’s just so bald-faced and greedy to want to take away someone’s light like that. Maybe they thought my kitchen was a stairwell – but I don’t think so. I like to watch the sunrise when I make my breakfast. It comes shining through and I really enjoy the mornings.”
Ms Lumley, who has lived in the Peabody block for eight years, said: “This really is a headache. What worries me about the development is the plans for a basement. The sound of digging is horrendous and there can be a problem with rats. The lorries will block the road too.”
Mayfair family-owned property investment firm, GMS Estates, which is applying for development, commissioned a daylight report from GL Hearn.
It states: “Only five per cent of the windows in Davey’s Court would fail to meet the criteria. Our analysis demonstrates that the proposed development would have minimum effect on daylight and sunlight to Davey’s Court.”
Residents say Mr Irwin and six others will have their kitchen windows blocked by a wall.
The report states that the affected rooms “appear to have frosted glass, suggesting the windows serve bathrooms or toilets”. Under planning guidelines, bathrooms or toilets need not be analysed, it says.
Mr Irwin said this was clearly wrong and he would inform Westminster Council of the error.
A decision is expected in the first week of March. |
 |
|
| |
| |
