Tuesday 5 May 2020

BREAKING: Ujima House planning application withdrawn on eve of Planning Committee

The Planning Application  for  Ujima House has been withdrawn and Committee members will tomorrow defer the application to a future meeting.

The application was one of several subtantial issues due to be decided at tomorrow's virtual Planning Committee meeting.

A Supplementary Report on the Agenda states:
A letter has been received that was sent on behalf of the owners of the adjoining building (Lanmor House, 370 High Road) objecting to the proposal.
This application has been deferred to allow the consideration of the matters raised within their letter.
The meeting has attracted controversy because of concerns over the difficulty of the public making representations and the failure to arrange site visits.

See LINK


3 comments:

Philip Grant said...

Ujima House is (I think) one of Brent Council's own planning applications. It would be interesting to know why they have withdrawn it!

Another Brent planning application which SHOULD be withdrawn is 1 Morland Gardens, 20/0345.

On top of the recent disclosure that the Council's own Principal Heritage Officer considers the Victorian villa to be 'an important local heritage asset of high significance' (when the agent submitting the Council's application claimed it was of 'minimal significance'!), there is now further evidence from another architectural expert.

A Professor of the History of Architecture has sent Brent's planners a letter, which 'strongly objects to the proposed destruction of this fine Victorian House'. The text of the letter has not been disclosed on the Council's planning website, but (with its author's permission) I have now included key extracts from it in support of a new comment of my own.

As my comment was made through the Council's own online planning system, it is now publicly available. If you are interested, you can read it at:
https://pa.brent.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=neighbourComments&keyVal=DCAPR_148761

The letter from the Professor concludes:
'In short, 1 Morland Place is not just any nineteenth-century villa, but a characteristic work by an architect of genuine and lasting significance. Its destruction would be a terrible loss, not only to the local environment, but also to the architectural heritage of Victorian Britain.

I strongly urge you to reject this proposal.'

Brent Council should withdraw its proposal to demolish this building. Will they?

Martin Francis said...

Yes it is one of Brent's own applications but I think they were forced to withdraw.

Philip Grant said...

Now that I have been able to see the Supplementary Report to Planning Committee, it does give the reason why the Ujima House application will be deferred:-

'A letter has been received that was sent on behalf of the owners of the adjoining building (Lanmor House, 370 High Road) objecting to the proposal. This application has been deferred to allow the consideration of the matters raised within their letter.'

Strange that when neighbours who actually live next to the proposed development raise objections, they are given the "brush off" in the Report that goes to Planning Committee recommending approval of the application.

When the owner of an adjoining building raises an objection, the case is deferred so that it can be properly considered.