Bid to change use of Mahatma Gandhi House to accommodation as giant high rise development goes to planning committee

Prior approval is being sought to change the use of Mahatma Gandhi  House, which used to house the offices of Brent Council Housing Service, to  accommodation. LINK

It would comprise 37 studios, 48 one bedroom flats and 4 two bedroom flats. The initial drawings appear to show high density accommodation.  The building is 8 storeys high.

Ground floor

Meanwhile the much large Yellow Car Park Scheme behind Quality Inn and Dexion House  (now demolished) and beside the Civic Centre,  comes before the Planning Committee on February 11th.

This is part of an enormous development including retail, professional, food and drink units; business accommodation, housing units, community use space and student accommodation has been covered before on this blog.

The amount of affordable housing for this site remains small (18 out of 370):

The planners express concern about a short-fall in three bedroom accommodation...

However, this could easily be addressed through internal alterations to the building, amending the size of flats within the element of the building adjacent to the park. This would involve changing a number of groups of two flats which currently comprise two 2-bedroom 4-person flats into one 1-bedroom flat and one 3-bedroom flat. The total number of units would not change. However, the proportion of 3-bedroom flats would increase to meet the minimum level specified within the Development Specification. It is recommended that a condition is attached requiring details of these changes. This is considered to be sound as the proposal would primarily require internal changes and any external changes would be non-material

The site outlined in red

The nearby Fountain Studios (top centre) sent in an objection concerned that the building works (which also include an access road and a park) would disrupt its activities in terms of noise, reverberations and building vehicle traffic. The Council make it a condition that there is engagement to limit the amount of noise and disturbance.

The planners also suggest that the proposed aluminium cladding  with white framing should be softer with greater contrast between the materials.

There are no 'poor doors' (separate entry for affordable and market accommodation)

The officers recommend approval.

Summary

The three applications that are being considered concurrently look to deliver 370 homes together with some key elements of social and physical infrastructure including the 0.4 Ha park and the 300 square metre community hall. The homes meet or exceed London Plan unit size standards and almost all units benefit from good sized balconies. All units within this building benefit from immediate access to the park. The incorporation of a large lobby serving all units helps to demonstrate an inclusive approach to all residents, including those who reside within the Affordable units. Conditions are recommended to address some shortfalls or alterations that are necessary, such as the number of 3-bedroom units, the potential efficiency improvements to the layout of Affordable units and the layout of the community hall. A condition is also recommended to ensure that noise and disturbance from construction is minimised.

As Quintain rapidly fill in the various plots it is hard to keep track of the various planning applications and the stages they have reached, I think it would be useful for the public to have a document and images updating information.

It is hard to get an overall impression of what the area will eventually look like, the amount of retail, food and office space and the different types of housing, including student accommodation.  The amount and type of open space is also an important consideration. However, most important for local people is the lack of affordable housing. The planners argue that using the floor space measure =10% but in terms of the number of units it is just 5%.

More tall blocks for Wembley Park in Quintain Development Application

The Plan

The Artist's Impression

Despite earlier assurances from Brent Council and Quintain  Developments about the planning of the area around Wembley Stadium, open spaces and preservation of views, it appears to be rapidly becoming a haphazard high density development with the stadium gradually disappearing beind tower blocks.

The above is submitted as part of a planning application for the area behind the Quality Hotel  and Dexion House LINK. The latter is also due to be redeveloped although so far only a hole in the ground has been dug in front of the building and partial demolition started. . Although there is a signboard about Gateway Free School on the front of Dexion House it is not the school site - just where its closed down information office used to be. It is not clear what has happened to the plans for Dexion House which included student accommodation and a swimming pool open to the public.

Some of the blocks will be 20 storeys high. The Civic Centre and Quality Hotel  are nine storeys for comparison.

This new proposal is for land  (NW06) which will be behind the Civic Centre:

This is another mixed proposal (application spelling retained)

Proposed erection of 1- to 20-storey building comprising 370 residential units, 693 sqm of non-residential floorspace (use class A1 (retail), A2 (financial and professional), A3 (cafe/restaurtant), D1 (community) or D2 (assembley and leisure)) and associated residential parking spaces, private communal landscaped garden, ancillary spaces, and associated plant, landscaping, cycle storage and refuse provision.

As readers know many new development have very little parking space in order to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. Proximity to public transport is often cited as a reason for not providing parking. This site is close to Wembley Park station and several bus routes but has 115 parking places.

Only 10% of the residential units will be affordable, all in one block - and it is not clear what definition of 'affordable' is being used. All blocks will have access to the open space.

Council sells off more land for Bridge Park development - but no new secondary school

Stonebridge bus garage before conversion

Bridge Park Leisure Centre with Unisys House in background

Indicative scheme for the site

Tomorrow's Executive is to consider another council land sale financed development along similar lines to that at Willesden Green Library which provoked so much controversy. DETAILS

The Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre would be rebuilt as part of the scheme with some of its council owned land sold to the developer. A compulsory Purchase Order would be served on the car breakers that occupy part of the site. Bridge Park includes a number of business units and the separate Technology House office block is used by a children's nursery and a church.

The Centre was built on the site of the old Stonebridge bus station (I seem to remember trolley buses) and was partially a response to fears of disorder on the Stonebridge Estate in the wake of the 1985 riots.

Before land sale and compulsory purchase order

After land sale and CPO

The Unisys site is owned by General Mediterranean Holdings and they plan to build 512 dwellings and a hotel on their part of the site. The proposal differs from that for Willesden Green in that this involves a direct land sale rather than an agreement with a third party. Brent Council would procure its own architects and builders to build the new sports centre rather than developer such as Galliford Try.

The report states:

The Sale Agreement passes the risk of residential and commercial sales to the developer. So for example the council considered GMH carrying out the whole development on behalf of the council including building the sports centre. While this would remove the sports centre build cost risk to the council it would raise other issues. If the council for example set out its requirements for the sports centre and imposed an obligation to deliver the new sports centre in accordance with that specification then it would have tocomply with the European OJEU procurement rules and undertake a fully compliant and separate procurement process. This is despite the fact the landowner (GMH) has no intention of selling to a third party. A land sale avoids this protracted procurement process. The council would have to procure its own architects and build contractors but can do this effectively by using existing pre-OJEU procured frameworks.

It appears that the council has learned some lessons from the Willesden Green Library Centre development. However as with most schemes sold as 'gift horses' it is worth a closer look, particularly, as in the case of Willesden Green, the repercussions of occupying a smaller site as the result of the land sale.

The report says there is not need to specify the housing at this stage but somewhat ominously states:

  A minimum of 5% of all dwellings will be affordable but will be limited in order to fund the sports centre.

 In the Willesden Green development Galliford Try successfully persuaded the Council  that they would  not be able to build the Cultural Centre at zero cost to Brent Council if they had to build affordable housing.

Among the potential losers are the 37 business units in the Bridge Park complex. The Council  suggests they could be relocated in the commercial floor space proposed by GMH, relocate to other council owned space such as Harlesden Design Works or to 'other industrial spaces' in Park Royal. The current conference rooms in the Centre would not be replaced although the large function space would be, although a swimming pool could be installed instead as an option. It is noted that the latter would be a significant cost but would help secure the financial viability of the Centre.  The report notes that the proposed swimming pool on the site of Dexion House in Wembley 'shows no sign of being developed'.  In line with some of the schemes for school expansion a possible domed 5-a-side football pitch on the roof of the new sports centre is suggested.

There are no plans to replace the children's nursery although there is an option for a children's play area. The report merely says that it will 'look at further options to replace the nursery during the consultation process'. Remember the Willesden Bookshop...

Perhaps most importantly, in terms of the predicted shortage of secondary school places in Brent and the dearth of secondary schools south of the North Circular Road, a possible redevelopment involving an 8 form entry secondary school AND a shared sports centre on the site is rejected. This is because:

...there are currently no allocated funds to build a new school (c£18m), a new sports centre (c£9m) and additional flood storage (part of the site is in a identified flood zone) (c£1-2m)

512 new dwellings will of course add to the pressure on school places. It will be interesting to see how these proposals develop and are received by current users of the site. Certainly the Unisys site, empty and decaying for so long, needs to be utilised for something useful.

How will students change the face of Wembley?

Victoria Hall opposite Wembley Park station, opening September 2011

Wembley Park will soon have more than 2,500 units of private student accommodation.  Some of the accommodation replaces plans for  family housing that has become less viable in the current recession.

Under Construction:
Victoria Hall (Wembley Park) - opening September 2011 436 beds
Quintain iQ (Planning area W05) - under construction, opening 2012 660 beds
Planning granted:
Dexion House, Empire Way - 661 beds
Yet to be finally approved:
Quintain NW Lands- up to 880 beds

Total beds:  2,636

The accommodation, run by private companies, will be aimed at students attending the University of Westminster's Harrow Campus and the central London universities such as Imperial College, Kings, SOAS and the LSE.  The Council argues that it will still be able to meet its housing targets.

The Dexion House scheme also  involves the construction of a community swimming pool on the site - a welcome addition to Wembley amenities.

The Council suggests that the presence of students will boost the local economy and put a figure of £4m on annual living costs and spending of Dexion House students.   Much will depend on whether the students use the accommodation as dormitories and socialise around their college or whether they do that around Wembley. If the latter  there could be considerable changes in terms of restaurants, cafes, pubs and bookshops. The council also argues that the students will contribute by volunteering in the community and will enhance the image of the area as a safe investment.

Politically they could make a considerable difference. Tokygnton ward in which all the accommodation so far will be situated only has a population of 11,800.