Demonstration against Twyford Abbey (Hanger Lane) development at Ealing Council tomorrow night. Removal of 130 trees and loss of biodiversity. Nearby primary school objects.

The community around the Ealing and Brent borderlands around Twyford Abbey will be protesting from 6.15pm on Wednesday evening outside Ealing Council, the building next to Ealing Town Hall before the planning application to build on the site will be decided. The protesters are calling for the application to be rejected.  249 out of the 256 comments on Ealing Council's Planning Portal object to the application and include people from nearby Brent addresses.

Local resident Kiran Rao writes: 

 

Twyford Abbey ( NW10 7DP) in Hanger Lane has existed much as it has since the 11th century, when it was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. There has been a church and manor house on the site since the 13th century.

It is a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC), and a blanket Tree Preservation Order (TPO) covers the majority of trees onsite, including 7 acres of woodland. The site is also located within an Archaeological Interest Area, in relation to the potential for remains of a mediaeval moated manor house.

A development of 326 flats is proposed in close proximity to an 8 lane motorway, on a flood plain and in an area that is over populated, over developed and consistently exceeds acceptable pollution levels. This will see the removal of over 130 mature trees and loss of biodiversity. This is unacceptable in our climate emergency.

248 objections have been lodged. Ealing Council’s recommendation shows bias (providing selective reference and misinterpretation of policy) and does not reference an objection by a key stakeholder, the large primary school (objection here) who is adjacent to this development. The school objects on safety, health and education grounds, which will negatively impact this generation and future generations to come. We fear it won’t be long before we have another case of Ella Kissi Debrah. There are huge health inequalities in our area and no reference to the Council’s commitment to its Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy or its air quality neutral policy (please refer to comment from 7 Park Close).

This isn’t just another planning application. This goes to the heart of what community is and how we need to strike a balance in urban environments in order to live sustainably in this climate emergency. We would like this historical gem to be in public ownership and used for public good. The council can realise this vision as there is section 106 money from other developments in our area and this would not further degrade this community.

 

The Governing Board of West Twyford Primary School have submitted this objection to the scheme:

 

As the Governing Body of West Twyford Primary School, we wish to register our objections to the proposed development of The Twyford Abbey site. These concerns are about the impact that it will have on the children attending the school both now, and in the future, and the impact on their education, health and quality of school experience.

We are particularly concerned about the increase in traffic that this development will bring and the attendant issues of noise, pollution and danger to children.

The development is considerable and will allow for 100 car parking spaces. This will mean a very significant increase in traffic on Twyford Abbey road. This road is already busy and is the only access road for the school. Even those walking, cycling or scooting need to use this road to enter and leave the school in the morning and evening. This increased traffic will present a much greater danger of an accident. Parents regularly complain about the dangers of traffic on the road and this development will make this situation worse. In particular one of the exits from the site is barely 1 meter from one of the school gates which children use to enter and exit the school. This represents an unacceptable danger of children and families being hit by cars.

The increased car usage will result in greater noise. West Twyford currently has the main road on the southern side but this development will add traffic to the western side too. When the school was rebuilt, it was moved away from the main road to both reduce noise and pollution. This development will put that back. In order to learn their best children require a calm environment. Noise can distract, disturb and negatively impact on stress and mental health. This will put them at risk. Currently 38% of the school is identified as disadvantaged children (they are eligible for the pupil premium grant). These children often live in small, cramped accommodation. Many of them live near the North Circular Road or Hanger Lane Gyratory. West Twyford is an oasis of calm and peace. Our children already have many stresses and strains in their lives which impact their health and life chances: we as the governors do not think these should be added too by this development. 

Pollution is another major concern, as noted the cars will exit right next to our children entering and exiting the school, which will dramatically increase the pollution levels both from exhaust fumes and tyres. There is very clear evidence of the negative effect of air pollution on young children and we are also concerned about the reduction in trees and how this will affect this. The gate next to the entrance is used mainly by young children from years 1,2 and 3. They are still growing and developing, and would be negatively impacted by increased pollution.

We think that 100 parking spaces for 326 dwellings is insufficient. In discussion with the developers, they stated that car use is declining London. In our view this is naïve and anyone living next to such main roads will want a car; some dwellings may well want two or more and we are concerned about the effect of cars being parked in the local area, which would mean a greater number than the allowed for 100 cars. We understand that this already happens in other developments nearby. Once the site is completed there will be nothing that we can do about this potentially very large increase in the number of cars in the area and the increase in traffic. However, it will affect the children of West Twyford for generations to come. We understand that many of our school community are very concerned about this and this is a concern that we share and take very seriously.

We also object to the placing of an electric substation adjacent to the schools grounds. This appears on the plans next to the northern boundary. Substations can be noisy and it is concerning to have one sited so close to where the children will play. 

 

In conclusion we have reviewed the plans carefully and spoken to the developers. In our considered opinion this development will have an unduly negative impact on the school and its children. We foresee an unacceptable increase in noise, pollution and traffic. We consider this development to be overambitious in the number of new dwellings and to have inadequately dealt with the traffic restrictions imposed by the location. For these reasons we object to the proposed development.

 

Ealing Green Party Chair, Neil Reynolds  said:

If the Twyford Abbey development is approved by the planning committee, it will be further evidence that Ealing Council puts the needs of developers before nature and local residents. 

The site has significant ecological value with over 200 trees  that have protection orders on them. The feelings of residents are also quite clear with a huge number of objections. The simple truth is you can't claim that planting new saplings, many of which die, is an adequate replacement for very mature trees that clean Ealing's air and are valuable carbon absorbers in a climate emergency. 

The council promised to regrow and rewild at the last election, if they approve this development it will show how shallow that slogan is. I really hope they see sense.