BRENT CHIEF PLANNER RECOMMENDS REJECTION OF THE WELSH HARP HOUSING APPLICATION

Brent Planning Committee will hear the application to build houses on the Greenhouse Garden Centre site at their meeting on December 16th, starting at 7pm, at Brent Town Hall. The Planning Committee will make a visit to the site at about 11.20am on Friday 11th December. Respondents to the application are invited to attend but will not be able to comment during the visit. At the end of the visit the 'applicant and a representative of the objectors may briefly draw Members attention to any aspect of the site that is relevant, if this is required'.

Respondents who wish to address the Planning Committee on December 16th must ring Mr Joe Kwateng on 020 8937 1354 (office hours) at least one clear day before the meeting. On the day they should arrive at least 15 minutes before the meeting starts.

The Chief Planner's recommendation on the application is 'Refuse Consent'.

The latest figures on public responses to the Barnet side of the Welsh Harp housing development application are 114 responses; which consist of 1 petition, 2 comments, 108 against the application and 1 for. No date has yet been fixed for the Barnet Planning Committee hearing.

COULD THIS LET THE WELSH HARP 'REST IN PEACE'?

The peaceful churchyard at the 900 year old Old St Andrew's Church is only a few minutes away from the proposed housing development at the Welsh Harp.

There is a connection because it emerged this week that the site of the Birchen Grove allotments, the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre and the Greenhouse were areas set aside for a Kingsbury Lawn Cemetery last century. It was initially expected that the cemetery would be used for burials during the Second World War. However there were still arguments about it after the War and although a chapel was built (now an eco-energy centre near the Education Centre) alongside a shelter (still there on the Greenhouse access road) no cemetery was ever constructed.

In a paper delivered to the Nine Colloquiumon on Cemeteries at York University in 2008, entitled 'The Cemetery That Never Was', Brian Parsons said that the grounds had never been de-consecrated despite intentions to do so.

This clearly raises issues about building houses on the site. Additionally the issue of  chancel taxes, imposed by the Diocese of London arises. This is a tax raised by the Diocese for church repairs. Householders in the area close to Old St Andrew's are advised to take out a special insurance in case such a tax is levied. The land in question appears to come under the Archdeaconries of both Northolt and Hampstead.

I am advised that if the land is still consecrated this means that it is subject to 'faculty juridisction'. Any development or proposal that affects land or buildings that are under the faculty jurisdiction requires grant of faculty by the Chancellor of the Diocese following advice from the Diocesan Advisory Committee and the relevant Archdeacon. This would be in addition to any statutory planning approvals by the local authority or the Secretary of State.

This is a picture of the site in the 1930s,with  the 'new' St Andrew's in the background, which shows the extent of the area. A map in the document also indicates the land may have covered both the Brent and Barnet development sites.

GET YOUR WELSH HARP OBJECTIONS IN BY TOMORROW

Although petitioning is going very well, it is important to get as many objections to the proposed Welsh Harp housing development in as possible, both to show the strength of local feeling to councillors on the planning committee, and as back-up in the event of any appeal by the developer. The current deadline for submissions on the proposed housing development on the Greenhouse Garden Centre is Friday November 20th.

You can see plans and respond directly on the planning website HERE

or e-mail: victoria.mcdonagh@brent.gov.uk
or telephone her on 020 8937 5337
The case number is 09/3220
The developer is: Mr Malcolm Scott, Garden & Plant Centre Developments Ltd, Greenhouse Garden Centre, Grove House, 1 Loves Grove, Worcester, WR1 3BU

RSPB OBJECT TO WELSH HARP PLANNING APPLICATION

The RSPB have submitted an objection to the application for outline planning permission for 71 dwellings on the Greenhouse Garden Centre at the Welsh Harp.

The RSPB call for an Environmental Impact Study (EIA) by virtue of the fact that the development is to be carried out in a sensitive area as defined by the Town and Country Planning Regulations 1999.

They consider that the applicant's document, 'Assessment of Implications on Welsh Harp/Brent Reservoir SSSI and SMINC' has failed to consider the potential impacts on  interest features of the SSSI. They say the document presents no evidence quantifying existing levels of recreational pressure or whether there is capacity at the site for additional recreational activity. They say the document gives no detail on the type, scale and timing of mitigation and that therefore the efficacy of mitigation cannot be assessed.

The RSPB conclude they would like to see all their concerns addressed through an EIA and 'pending the outcome of further assessment work and the review of potential mitigation, the RSPB objects to this planning application'.

The full  RSPB response is available HERE

WELSH HARP - BATTLE SHIFTS TO BARNET

The developer who wishes to build houses on the Greenhouse Garden Centre site  in Brent, next to the Welsh Harp Open Space, also wants to build 90 dwellings on the nearby Woodfield Nursery site, Cool Oak Lane, NW9 7NB which he also owns. These are defined as 'large scale dwellings'.

Although the developer has said he wants to build only on one of the sites, redeveloping a garden centre on the other, there is the possibility that both could be built on.The total number of housing units on both sites would be 161.   The Welsh Harp Joint Consultative Committee, which has councillors sitting on it from both Brent and Barnet, last week decided to oppose both developments.

The Barnet planning application can be found HERE the earliest decision date is November 30th but the target date for decision is January 28th 2010.  You can comment on the application on the above link. So far 10 objections have been received.

Follow THIS LINK for a map of  the area showing the Woodfield site (Red Circle). The glass roofs, plant area and car park of the Greenhouse site can clearly be seen to the left of the Woodfield site. The impact of the development of both sites on the Welsh Harp Open Space and the 'buffer zones' around it would be immense.

WELSH HARP DEVELOPMENT DEAD IN THE WATER?

Housing on the Hendon side of the Welsh Harp - not wanted in Brent

Following on the opposition of Brent Green Party, Welsh Harp Labour Action Team and the Welsh Harp Joint Consultative Committee to the proposed development of the Greenhouse Garden Centre for housing, Sarah Teather MP,  the Brent Council Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Democratic Conservative groups have all declared their opposition to the scheme.

Sarah Teather has circulated a newsletter in the ward opposing the development and echoing many of the comments made in this blog. The Welsh Harp ward is in the new Brent Central constituency that she will be contesting at the General Election.

The newsletter also contains a petition against the proposed scheme. This adds another petition to those already being circulated by residents and the Labour Party.  The Liberal Democrat group on the council have joined Sarah Teather in opposing the application.

Bob Blackwell, Leader of the Conservative Group told Wembley Matters: "The Conservative Group are totally opposed to any form of housing development on the two sites, both in Brent and in Barnet. The Conservative Group has always supported retaining this open space and campaigned against proposals to develop this area some 10 years ago."  Robert Dunwell, leader of the Democratic Conservative group said that in his considered professional opinion the application should be opposed in principle.

This will all help the campaign against the development ahead of the Planning Committee hearing which is likely to be held on December 16th.  However it is important to remember that as the Committee is a statutory one it is not whipped in the same way as other Council committees. It makes an independent decision, taking into account officers' reports and representations by all parties concerned. Residents should continue to make representations via the Brent Planning Website here.

WELSH HARP JCC OPPOSE GREENHOUSE DEVELOPMENT

The Welsh Harp JCC took the significant step of expressing its opposition to the Greenhouse application to build housing on its site at its meeting tonight. The development has been opposed by local councillors, residents and other organisations.

The application now goes to the Brent Planning Committee and representations can be made up to November 20th.  It is likely to be heard on December 16th.

PLEA TO BRENT COUNCILLORS ON WELSH HARP JCC

I wrote the following letter to Brent councillors who sit on the Welsh Harp Joint Consultative Committee  ahead of the meeting on November 11th. I wrote in my capacity as the organiser of  Brent School Without Walls which runs environmental education sessions for primary school pupils in Fryent Country Park. I also forwarded the letter to Natural England and the London Wildlife Trust who sit on the JCC.

Dear Brent Councillors,

I am writing to you ahead of this evening's JCC meeting to request that you do all you can to persuade the JCC to adopt a position of opposition to the proposed development of housing on the Greenhouse site. I know that the JCC does not make the final decision but I believe a strong stand on the issue, conveyed to the Planning Committee before their December 16th meeting, could be very influential.



Since the proposal was announced there has been a strong groundswell of local opinion against the plans. Two petitions opposing the development are currently circulating in the area and the 'Comments Book' at the exhibition at the Greenhouse itself contains many heart-felt, passionate pleas for the Welsh Harp to be defended. As local councillors I hope you will rise to that challenge.


As you know the proposed site is adjacent to the SSSI and MSINC and close to the Environmental Education Centre. The environmental report for the developer argues that a buffer zone of trees will be enough to mitigate the impact on the open space. I would strongly claim that this is not the case. The SSSI and MSINC need a much larger buffer zone to protect them. At present the limited opening hours of the garden centre and its large outside selling area, replete with plants, trees and shrubs, provide a buffer. This transition zone between housing and the open space will disappear and noise, traffic and light pollution; and loss of habitat, will have a direct impact on the wild life of the area. In addition the extension of Birchen Grove, across the open space, to provide access to the new estate will be a further loss of green field space. All these developments could have a detrimental impact on the diversity of the grounds of the Environmental Education Centre. Once housing has been developed on the Greenhouse site there will be inevitable pressure on the area between the development and Runbury Circle. This contains the Birchen Grove allotments, where I am an allotment holder, and the Environmental Centre whose work I strongly support.


Brent already has less green space than many other London boroughs and we must defend every inch of it. My mother played around the Welsh Harp as a child in the 1930s, and my brothers and sisters and I did the same in the 1950s when we visited our grandmother in Church Drive. I believe my life long interest in the environment stemmed from that experience and a similar one on Barn Hill. These are two gems of semi-wild areas that we have left in Brent and it is vital that we protect them and they are available to the next generation. London Heritage last year lamented the fact that Brent, unlike other London boroughs, had no official 'heritage champion' and suggested this explained the deterioration in Brent's conservation areas. In the absence of such a champion, councillors and residents should join together to be community heritage champions for the borough.

Martin Francis

WELSH HARP NATURE UNDER THREAT

Fresh from their 'trumph' in getting permission to build the Wembley City Academy on playing fields and adjacent to a SLINC (Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation), Brent Council are now poised to grant permission to build housing close to the the Welsh Harp Reservoir (an SSIS - Site of Special Scientific Interest)  and the Welsh Harp area (an SMINC - Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation).

What is important is that an area of peace, beauty and natural diversity will be threatened by the impact of housing, a new road, increased lighting and noise, and the loss of habitats.

The application has been made by the Greenhouse Garden Centre and is for 71 dwellings and hard-standing and access road on the Greenhouse site and the adjacent disused Woodfield Garden Centre site. The latter site had been ear-marked for possible Greenhouse expansion. 

A display about the proposed development is tucked away unadvertised at the back of the Greenhouse, rather than at the front, but nontheless has attracted many entries in the Comments Book - most of them extremely critical. Among them are heartfelt appeals to save this unique corner of Brent and vows to fight the development as fiercely as previous attempts to build on the land and close down the Education Centre have been fought.

The development will be close to the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre and its extensive grounds, and the Birchen Grove allotments.  In the manner of these things if the planning application is granted it may not be long before both these sites are under threat as the 'gaps' between blocks of housing are filled in. As the sites are owned by Brent Council,  I have a hunch that it may not be long before they will want to cash in on these assets.

This will of course give them an interest in supporting the application.

See the plans and comment on them HERE
Planning Application No. 09/3220 Planning Officer: victoria.mcdonagh@brent.gov.uk  0208937 5337
To be decided no earlier than 12th November 2009