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.