Marley Walk Residents' Association appeal for expert help in opposing building of block of flats on Willesden Green Mosque car park

 

The Marley Walk Estate is tucked away beside the Metropolitan and Jubilee railway line  in Willesden Green with only one road at the end of Station Parade, Lennon Road, leading to the estate.

People on the estate are aghast at plans by the Willesden Green (Brent Central) Mosque  to build a four storey block of 21 flats, with a double basement, on the mosque car park next the the Pakistan Community Centre on Lennon Road, which will overlook the estate's Elvis Road. Such is the opposition to the plans  Marley Walk Residents Association are appealing for a expert on planning to come forward to help them prepare their case against the development. They are willing to pay for advice CONTACT.

The developer describes their proposal:

The proposal is for the erection of a new building with access to the building off Lennon Road and provides 2 levels of underground parking and parking on the ground floor for a total of 48 car parking spaces to serve the mosque replacing the existing 48 parking space on site as well as secure parking for 42 cycle spaces.

There is a provision of three floors of residential apartments on the ground floor, first, second and third floor providing 7  one bedroom apartments, 7  two bedroom units and 7 no. three bedroom apartments along with a communal roof garden.

Each flat comprises an open plan lounge/kitchen diner, bedrooms and bathroom as well as private balconies accessed via the open plan living area (excluding caretakers flat). The balconies have been designed to provide shelter and privacy from neighbouring properties.

The proposed development also includes lifts and stair cores which provides access to each floor within the building, including the basement car parks. There is a provision for two lifts – one for residents to access their flats and the roof top amenity space from the car park and the second lift for the users of the car park from the basement levels to ground floor level.

The roof top amenity area comprises of a decked seating area with walking routes interspersed with green areas and a pergola in the centre of the amenity space is also proposed. The amenity space on the roof terrace measures a total of 506m².

The housing, apart from one flat on the ground floor reserved for the Mosque caretaker, is described as 'affordable/social' but details regarding rents are not given. A number of housing associations are listed as possible managers of the property.  The developer, apart from arguing that the housing will be a community benefit, also suggests that the development with a double basement and a ground floor car  park (which includes the caretaker's flat in a corner) addresses long standing car parking problems.

 

 Brent officers covering Policy and Transport have submitted critical Consultee comments:

Policy Comment: In summary, whilst the proposed residential use of the site is supported in increasing the efficient use of land in conjunction with its existing community facility, there are some policy concerns with this application. Most significantly this is around the provision of an amount of car parking on site which has not been sufficiently justified. In addition there are concerns about the design of the scheme, particularly at ground floor whereby vehicle entrances and bin stores create inactive frontage. FULL PAPER

  

 

Transport Comment: This proposal should be resisted, on the grounds that the applicant has failed to demonstrate that the proposed car park for the mosque complies with Brent Council’s parking standards or is required to meet a transport need that cannot be met by other forms of transport, contrary to Policy DMP12 of the adopted Development Management Policies 2016. FULL PAPER

At the time of writing there were 58 submissions on the Brent Council Planning Portal. 33 in support, 24 objections and 1 neutral comment. The objections tended to be very local and the supporters spread further afield. The supporters' comments were shorter than several of the more detailed objections. Below is the one neutral statement  and one each from a supporter and objector:

 

The present car park on the left and mosque on the right

NEUTRAL

A block of flats will make a difference to the area but the real issue is the parking problems generated by the mosque. But although the proposed flats will be car free this still needs to be managed. In particular the residents of Marley Walk are concerned about the access to their estate being blocked by illegally parked vehicles on Lennon Road, which is the only road into the estate and the only access by emergency vehicles.

The refuse plan does not identify an area for bulky item storage or food waste. There are already flytipping hotspots on the Marley Walk estate so how the occupiers of the new flats will get rid of bulky items must be addressed. And clarification on the food waste disposal, individual bins or a communal bin. (Albeit these are not popular)

A loading bay area should be identified on Lennon Road for deliveries to the new block. This is to prevent Lennon Road becoming blocked. Some of the current parking bays could be changed to a loading bay.

The skyline will change if the flats are built. But given the journey of the sun will have result in some reduced sunlight. This will impact on the houses at the entrance of Marley Walk and the rear gardens of Riffel Road in particular. Lennon Road may feel safer as it will be more overlooked by the new flats. Also there are claims of people currently misusing the car park so this will stop..

If residents are not to have access to the car parking areas then access to the flats from the car parking areas must be secure so that non-residential car drivers cannot access the communal areas of the flats.

It is one thing for individual residents to drive in/out of a car park but a mass exodus of cars at the end of an event could be disruptive to residents. There must be adequate sound insulation so that cars in the parking areas cannot be heard from the residential flats when they leave the site. There must also be no light penetration from headlights into residential properties or communal areas or surrounding properties.

The Affordable Housing Statement and Statement of Community Involvement states "....the proposed car park will provide much needed private parking for the community when visiting the Mosque. As a result, the proposed stresses that the current uncontrolled parking has on the surrounding streets will be removed." I disagree. The mosque has a capacity of 1k plus. The parking pressures are experienced by residents on many of the surround streets in CPZ zone MW and GB as well as the Marley Walk estate. Residents just grit their teeth on Friday and put up with cars parked on double yellow lines, across drives and on drives. And access to Marley Walk has been blocked by cars parked on the Lennon Road pavement / double yellow line making access by emergency vehicles impossible. Access/egress by residents of Marley Walk and delivery vehicles is also problematic due o the parking issues.

The Car Park Management Plan states at 2.2 "During the site visit it was observed that illegal and irresponsible parking occurs on the surrounding highway network due to the high numbers of people attending BCM." There are photos illustrating this on Lennon Road and Station Parade but any street corner with a double yellow could have been used. Illegal parking on street corners extends to Melrose Avenue.

A councillor from another ward arranged for bollards to be installed on the Lennon Road pavement outside the mosque. However this has merely narrowed the pavement and not resolved the parking issues.


The mosque car park is open to anyone to use and is frequently used by visitors to the Pakistan Community Centre. They have events running into the late evening. Some people use the car park when they travel from Willesden Green station. Use of the car park by the PCC must be incorporated into the car park management plan else it will lead to on-street parking issues.

The open access to the car parking spaces should cease and access should be managed at all times. 24/7, 365 days.

The parking bays in Lennon Road are invisible to passing motorists so are only used by drivers who know they are there. Often the bays are empty. To keep the road clear for access to Marley Walk the bays should be removed or converted to disabled parking bays, a loading bay for the new flats or bike storage.

The membership of the mosque now has older members and this has to be acknowledged. Many are disabled and cannot walk long distances. Many will be unable to walk from the car park. But often they do not drive to the mosque themselves. There should be better utilisation of taxi firms by mosque users. And drop off points outside the mosque marked out, albeit this may mean the removal of the parking bays on Lennon Rod.

To stop drivers unable to enter the car park in the new development driving into the Marley Walk estate or doing 3-point turns there should be a turning circle at the end of Lennon Road where it meets Elvis Road. At mosque times traffic marshalls should be on duty at the junction of Lennon Road / Station Parade to prevent cars entering Lennon Road unless they have a parking space booked or have a legitimate reason for accessing Marley Walk.

The parking provision in the new development will not resolve the parking problems generated by the mosque A new audit of where the mosque users who drive there come from should be undertaken. The submitted survey was done in 2020 which is not a typical year given the pandemic. A full traffic survey and transport management plan must be done, agreed and implemented before the building can be occupied.

The Travel Audit document in the planning submission is inadequate. 2020 was not a typical year for mosque usage. People who arrive early get a space in the car park. Those who arrive late park on double yellow lines etc. Evidently announcements are made requesting people not to park on double yellow lines or across drives but this clearly bas no impact.

The people who arrive early are likely to be the people who pre-book a space in the new car park. Action must be taken against those who arrive late and park on the street. Parking enforcement is non-existent as it would likely require police presence. I have been verbally challenged whilst taking photos of the parking and it is obvious I am not a parking attendant. A new Travel Plan must be undertaken to establish where the latecomers drive from.

Often the car park is used by the Pakistan Community Centre. If access is agreed by the building owners the use of the parking in the new block by the PCC must be incorporated in the transport management plan.

A parking plan is required for the construction period, both for mosque users and for builders lorries.

Whilst construction is underway there will be no car park. There must be a planning condition for a plan for where the cars that currently use the car park will park And lessons learnt from this period of time should be incorporated into a new travel plan.

 

SUPPORT

For several months past, I have worked at the mosque vaccination centre queues and admin within the vaccine centre. Never have I ever had an issue with any of this. Whilst managing the queues allowed me to observe this site and all traffic movements, including those during Friday prayers.

The site at present consists of an open space offering, somewhat disorganised, car parking ancillary to the mosque, together with surrounding rough grass and scrub, together with a 6-track railway line at rear. It is a most unprepossessing spectacle.

Having inspected the deposited plans and elevations, I have no doubt that the proposed residential block will hugely improve the visual aspects of this location, without adversely impacting on the appearance or light of adjoining premises

I understand that some local residents are concerned at the car parking situation in Station Parade and Lennon Road but my, extended, direct observation does not bear out those concerns.

It is true that, on each occasion I was present, an undue concentration of worshippers' vehicles existed during some 90 to 120 minutes around Fridays' midday prayers. At other times - my shifts included Monday and Thursday evenings as well as Friday and Saturday daytimes - there was no traffic congestion, with even the existing car park no more than half full.

Having read details of the car parking provision, and limitation, intended, together with the submitted Travel Plan, and noting the proposal for a parking superintendent to be supplied by the mosque, I have no doubt but that the present traffic problems and any associated with the proposed development can be resolved and that the current development also is within the Tall buildings act of Brent (sic) as it is only 4 floors high.

I have absolute no problem with this development as it will be an excellent development for the area to clean up the local area for both the local residents and the religious visitors in a time when religion is often frowned upon and ignored.

OBJECT

We oppose the proposed plans on four main objections outlined in detail below.

Objection 1: inadequate parking management

The car parking management plan (CPMP) prepared in support of the planning application acknowledges that congested on-street parking due to insufficient spaces in the current car park (currently 50 spaces) is a chronic issue due to usage by Brent Central Mosque (BCM) attendees, particularly for Friday prayers as well as other religious events. This is particularly the case for Riffel Road, which is reduced to single file usage, despite being used as a through-road for the surrounding area. Resultingly there is considerable disruption (both traffic, noise, and air pollution) caused by the overspill.

Firstly, the newly proposed car park of 48 spaces remains highly likely to be insufficient for current demand given that this is a decrease from existing capacity of the car park (50 spaces). Given the insufficient nature of current parking capacity and illegal/ irresponsible parking as noted in the CPMP, it is also highly probable that current demand may be an underestimate.

The Travel Plan projects a maximum of 600 visitors to BCM and given current car usage this relates to over 300 individuals including single use journeys and car sharing. Car sharing is unlikely to be feasible nor popular in current/future circumstances given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (which is likely to remain endemic in the population). Even if car sharing is taken up by the majority of car users, the proposed car park will do nothing to abate the parking issue it is trying to address, as the proposals indicate a decrease in the number of parking spaces. Furthermore we note that the estimated numbers (max 600 visitors) is a considerable decrease from the 1000 to 1500 estimated attendance for Friday prayer and other peak times as noted previously and clarification of realistic attendance is needed.

Secondly, the 21 residential flats are going to be sold 'car free'. Residents of new purpose-built developments are more likely to own a car than London residents as a whole (TfL report, 2012). In absence of allocated parking within the basement car park, residents will have to resort to using on-street parking therefore exacerbating the overcrowding and parking issues noted in the CPMP for Riffel Road and the surrounding area. There is also no indication of how this car free policy would be enforced among residents.

Thirdly, the proposed plans will not relieve the heavy congestion and traffic in the surrounding residential area including Riffel Road as BCM users arrive and leave the area. Therefore the congestion, noise pollution, and air pollution for the surrounding residential area including Riffel Road will remain the same, or will get worse.

Finally and relatedly, the proposal includes ten fast charging electric vehicle charging points. The provision of these points could draw more traffic towards the area including Riffel road given that they will represent the largest cluster of fast charging points for electric car users in the local area (for current electric charging points see: https://www.zap-map.com/live/).

Objection 2: loss of privacy and overlooking

The proposed four-storey building presents a serious loss of privacy and high risk of overlooking for residents in multiple properties living along Riffel Road. This is based on the following:

The height of the proposed development is four-storeys, which is substantially higher than the surrounding area (mostly two-storey buildings).

The large ceiling to floor windows on the north side of the proposed development will mean that gardens and rear windows of multiple Riffel Road properties will be clearly visible. This affects multiple households given that several Riffel Road buildings are converted flats.
The proposed rooftop garden will further risk loss of privacy in the gardens and households of the Riffel Road properties given the elevation.

Objection 3: overshadowing and loss of light

The proposed four-storey building will create a significant risk of looming and overshadowing. There are no nearby buildings of such a height, with the vast majority of properties in the area being two-storeys high. Moreover, the nearby three-storey properties on Lennon Road have their impact further reduced by the fact they stand at a lower position relative to sea level than the current car park. In summary, the proposed four-storey development will be considerably out of the pattern of developments and relative heights of the surrounding buildings; this significantly risks overshadowing.

Objection 4: community space usage

The proposed rooftop community space has been described as a big benefit to the current residents and future residents of the proposed development. It is unclear whether the rooftop garden will be made publicly accessible as indicated in the community consultation documents and reflected in the statement of community involvement. If it is a publicly accessible space, there is no indication of how this space will be maintained and monitored (for anti-social or illegal activities).

 

 If you are sympathetic to the Marley Walk Residents' Association case and would like to respond to their request for legal advice contact the Secretary HERE

 APPLICATION ON PLANNING PORTAL