The proposed development (image from developers and only shows one tower) and protesters
From No To Tesco Towers Campaign
More than 2,000 Harrow residents have signed a petition opposing the development of multiple tower blocks on the Tesco site on Station Road in central Harrow.
The current Tesco store from Hindes Road (Credit: Google Streetview)
Greenmead Place would see 559 new flats across ten blocks up to 15-storeys high, 155 residential parking spaces, a 20% smaller Tesco store and a third less customer parking,
The tallest block is 15 storeys, one at 14 storeys, one at 13 storeys, one at twelve storeys, one at 11 storeys, two at seven storeys, one at six storeys and two at five storeys.
Local residents and residents associations have joined forces to protest the plans, launching a petition and website, nototescotowers.com. To date, more than 1,800 residents have signed online with hundreds more signing the paper petition.
Concerns include the scale of the
development, a lack of truly affordable housing and the impact on local
infrastructure, such as roads, public transport, schools and health services.
While housing association Notting
Hill Genesis claims 32% will
be “affordable housing”, two thirds will be shared ownership - increasingly
criticised for its unaffordability - and
only 55 flats (9.8%) will be social housing. The vast majority - 380 flats -
will be sold at market prices. [Q&A on Shared Ownership]
At a recent Harrow Council meeting, the developers admitted that reducing the height of the towers would reduce the amount of affordable housing, including social housing.
Cllr Marilyn Ashton, responsible for Planning and Development, referred to residents’ anger over the proposal and urged the developers to take on board the meeting’s feedback.
One local resident posted on Facebook:
I live near the Kodak site. The original plans included a primary school and community centre. The reality is that those vital facilities do not exist on the developed site and the surrounding roads cannot cope with the increased weight of traffic.
The roads around the Tesco site were not built for such heavy usage so traffic chaos will be inevitable. There is no justification for this site other than profit for developers. We need affordable social housing. Not luxury flats only a few can afford. The system is very broken.
Pamela Fitzpatrick, Director of Harrow Law Centre, a charity providing free legal support, and a former Harrow councillor said:
Housing is one of the biggest problems we see in Harrow. There’s enough housing in Harrow for everyone but it’s all largely unaffordable.
Housing associations no longer do what they were set up to do - provide low-cost, secure rented properties - so many people can’t even afford to live in housing association homes. The proposed Tesco site development appears to simply add to the problems and will do little to alleviate the housing crisis.
Tesco and Notting Hill Genesis are expected to submit a formal planning application to Harrow Council in early 2023.
THE PETITION WORDING (SIGN HERE)
Residents Say No to Tesco Towers and Notting Hill Genesis Development in Harrow
This petition is to object to the proposal by Notting Hill Genesis and Tesco to turn the store on Station Road Harrow into a high-rise development called Greenmead Place– Notting Hill Genesis ‘Tesco Towers’ including a 15 storey building.
We ask Harrow Council to consider why the community objects:
- The proposed development is overbearing and will dominate the surrounding homes of mainly two-storey houses and low-rise flats.
- The development design totally ignores the surrounding community.
- There are no infrastructure improvements, no additional GP surgeries, capacity at Northwick Park Hospital, improvement to public transport links, roads, water supply or sewage disposal.
- The increased congestion and pollution from high density housing on one of the busiest roads in Harrow, adds 155 cars to a road where two schools are within a few metres
- 20% reduction in the Tesco store size and 33% less parking spaces for Tesco customers yet further increasing congestion on the roads and less jobs for residents in a smaller store.
- NHG says ‘35%’ of the new accommodation will be ‘affordable’ but this includes shared ownership which is anything but affordable with prices in Harrow.
This development does not benefit the community and would be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the area.
We ask Harrow Council to not approve the application of this development.
