Chalkhill Estate infill at Planning Committee next week. 105 garages and car park replaced by 61 social rent homes

 

Metropolitan Housing Trust who run the Chalkhill Estate as Metropolitan Housing Thames Valley have submitted an application for the demolition of 105 garages and re-use of other space to build 61 infill homes on the 'science blocks' site on Chalkhill Road.

The estate was designed with a considerable amount of green space and there are many trees, some of which will be removed. Of the 105 garages 71 are currently unused and the application claims only 18 are used for car parking.

 

The garages are quite close to existing blocks and will be demolished and replaced by housing

 

Existing garages and car park in blue above

The planners point out that Forty Lane has been designated an 'intensification corridor' that allows for building heights of up to 5 storeys. The site is between Forty Lane and Chalkhill Road but with some buildings between the site and Forty Lane itself.

 

Building heights:

 

Terrace A - 3 storeys

Block B -3 storeys

Block C - 4 storeys

Block D - 5 storeys

Block E -3 storeys

 

There are CGIs of some of the buildings in the application papers:

Block C above

 

Plenty of trees are shown in the CGIs. There are currently 69 trees on site with 17 covered by Tree Protection orders and 10 will be removed to make way for the building of the new blocks:

 

 51 new trees will be planted to compensate for the loss but this is not sufficient to make up for the reduction in canopy cover provided by the mature trees on site that predate the estate. The developer will contribute £26,292 for mitigating the loss through new planting in the vicinity of the development.

 

£53,804 will be contributed to the carbon off-set fund. 

 

The provision of 61 new homes at social rent is positive. No intermediate product such as shared ownership is planned. As these are not generally considered affordable to local people, this is a plus. There are a number of larger family homes planned.

 

 

 B=bedrooms P=Persons

 

 There are 8 objections to the plans on the Brent Planning Portal. Behind the conflict is planners' treatment of the application as one in an urban context designated for'intensification' and residents' enjoyment of a site originally designed with plenty of light and green space. 

 

 Einstein House

 

Residents of Einstein House are particularly affected and have put in an objection. Note that a contributionof £30,000 to a CPZ is now included and a daylight assessment completed (covered in detail for each property in the Officers' Report HERE) that concludes the harm to exising residents is outweighed by the benefits of the new housing.

Einstein House Objection

 

I am writing to formally object to the above planning application, specifically the proposal to construct Block E directly behind Einstein House. My objection is based on the following planning concerns:

1. Loss of Light (Daylight and Sunlight Impact)

The proposed Block E will significantly reduce the amount of daylight and sunlight received by residents in Einstein House. The block is approximately three times the height of the current garages and will be located in close proximity to habitable rooms, including bedrooms and living rooms.

During consultation, we were informed that a daylight/sunlight report was conducted. However, no such report assessing the impact on existing homes has been included in the planning documents. The only report presented appears to relate to light within the proposed new blocks. This is a critical omission, as the council must be satisfied that BRE guidelines regarding adequate light to habitable rooms are being met. The height and massing of the proposed development will cast significant shadows over Einstein House, especially during winter months, severely affecting the quality of life for residents.

2. Loss of Privacy and Overlooking

Block E will be positioned approximately 12 metres from Einstein House. This is well below the 18-21 metre standard separation distance typically recommended between directly facing windows of habitable rooms. The proposed design includes balconies and windows that will directly face into the bedrooms and living rooms of existing residents. These rooms are considered habitable spaces and therefore deserve protection from unreasonable overlooking. No mitigation measures (e.g. frosted glass, angled balconies, or screening) appear to have been proposed to reduce this impact.

3. Noise Pollution and Anti-Social Behaviour - New Footpath

The plans propose the removal of the current secure gated area at the rear of Einstein House and its replacement with a public footpath. This significantly impacts residents' privacy, safety, and wellbeing.

Opening this area to public access may encourage anti-social behaviour, especially during evenings, and will create ongoing noise and disturbance. The proposed new lighting for the path while necessary for safety will further affect residents in ground floor flats through light pollution and reduced sleep quality. There is also no detail in the application on how this new public space will be managed or maintained to ensure current resident's safety.

4. Parking Pressure

There are already major parking constraints in the area. The proposed development does not include a robust parking strategy. While a small number of designated spaces appear in the plans, there is no clarity on whether new residents will be restricted from using existing street or estate parking.This will almost certainly exacerbate existing pressures, especially as no Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) or traffic management scheme is proposed. The application also appears to lack a comprehensive Transport Assessment to evaluate local capacity.

5. Poor Site Planning - Disproportionate Impact of Block E

While the wider development includes some open and green space, the positioning of Block E raises serious concerns. Unlike the other proposed blocks, Block E has been placed extremely close to existing homes in Einstein House just 12 metres away and at a height that is significantly taller than the current garages it replaces.

This placement creates an unbalanced development where one group of residents (in Einstein House) bears a disproportionate burden of the scheme's impact, including loss of light, privacy, and increased noise.

The council should require a review of the mass and siting of Block E to reduce its uniquely high impact and ensure a fairer and more sensitive design approach, especially when other blocks in the proposal do not create similar issues.

6. Lack of Transparent Consultation

Residents were not meaningfully consulted on key elements of the proposal. Several important documents such as the daylight/sunlight assessment for existing residents and detailed traffic or security plans were not shared during the consultation period.
This raises serious concerns about the transparency and fairness of the process, especially considering the significant impact this proposal will have on existing residents' lives.

7. Impact on Mental Wellbeing and Quality of Life

The combined effect of reduced daylight, increased noise, loss of privacy, and general overdevelopment will severely affect the mental wellbeing and quality of life of residents in Einstein House. These concerns should be taken seriously in line with Brent Council's Local Plan objectives and commitment to high-quality, healthy living environments.

Objections raised here fall in line with Brent's Local plan policies, London Plan policy and BRE daylight and sunlight guidelines.

For the reasons set out above, I respectfully urge Brent Council to refuse this application in its current form, or at the very least, require significant redesign and another consultation to mitigate its serious impacts on existing residents.

Einstein House Residents

The Planning Committee takes place at 6pm on Wednesday December 10th in the Conference Hall of Brent Civic Centre or can be observed online HERE.

 

Chalkhill Estate Centre (Google Earth)

 

When visiting the site I heard fears expressed that further infill proposals from Metropolitan will be made on the estate if this application is successful. Nearby on King's Drive the freeholder is consulting on infill plans for Kings Court (Kings Estate Improvement Programme) and Carmel Court and there are longer term plans for redevelopment to high rise of the ASDA, Kwik Fit, Torch corner site.