Goodbye Homebase, hello Camden?

The application by Avanton has been refused by LBRUT and is now with the Mayor of London's office.

Here are a few thoughts...

Yes in principle: the redevelopment of this commercial land is overall welcome, yet will cause job and business rates losses. 

Shops will vanish: the proposal proposessss some retail units. Safeguards should be in place to avoid the developers leaving them empty for 18 months and subsequently converting them into dwelling -as it has been done on a nearby development (Parison Close). In passing the layout of those ground floor flats facing a busy street made for poor quality accomodations and is an anti-social behaviour magnet.  

Poor environmental standards: in 2020, all new developments should be built on the best possible environmental standards. The current proposal is nowhere near this, in particular insulation is minimal where it should lean towards passive house quality and ideally should be a zero energy development with planted roofs and solar panels. The green space is frankly insulting for a development of this size.

Inappropriate size: the overall mass of this development will by itself move this neighbourhood from suburban to urban, something your planning document skirt around in a frankly dishonest manner. 

This scheme is one of many in North Sheen and Mortlake. And yet, according to the GLA it would contribute to over 122% housing targets. This also glosses over the fact around no less than 355 flats have been build behind Richmond Fire Station, about 300 metres away and another 18 units on 1-9 Sandycombe Road, right across Manor Circus. In addition, about up to 1250 flats are being proposed on the Mortlake Stag Brewery site, about 2km away. 

In total, with Barnes Hospital, over 2,358 dwellings will be added in the neighbourhood -that's almost 6,700 new residents.

The local area simply can’t take this proposed change of its fabric. Local schools are all, bar none, oversubscribed and so are all other public services, including health services and transportation. This development should at minima include a GP surgery and a dentist practice. 

Transportation is in itself a reason to refuse this planning application. Trains are already running at capacity (Network Rail gave a negative advise to the aforementioned Brewery development for this reason) and North Sheen station is simply inadequate. This site also serves as a bus depot, which would be lost. The train station should be brought to acceptable standards and relocated on this site, which could also accommodate a tube/overground station.

Cycling should be promoted. I note a contribution to the long-overdue improvements to Manor Circus but cycling shelters are grossly insufficient.

Finally, local roads are saturated and whilst the developers propose to make this car-free, residents will still have cars and park them on the already saturated Manor Grove. On this point, the parking survey is nothing short of a fabrication and should be redone. In addition, e-commerce deliveries and minicab traffic has not been accounted for.

Finally, the existing height is overbearing and will cause loss of light to residents.

In conclusion, this scheme is detrimental to the community and only profits the developer. The London GLA should consider this application together with the Mortlake Brewery scheme, review ways to suppress levels crossings that bisect the neighbourhood, relocate North Sheen station to this Homebase site and seriously invest in cycling provision, including at Manor Circus and Chalkers corner plus include healthcare provision on this site as well as more green space and be more sympathetic in size to the suburban nature of the neighbourhood.

This might not be compatible with the proposed mix of affordable housing and it's OK. North Sheen has already contributed many times more than other wards in Richmond and we are asking to turn our neighbourhood into an urban setting.