Authors: Cyril Richert with Hafer Road residents

A scheme proposing to replace a few 3 storey small residential blocks in the style of former council houses, with a modern 4 storey building has been approved two weeks ago by Wandsworth Council.

The existing building is 8 units – 4 2 storey maisonettes and 4 single storey 1 bedroom apartments with balcony walkway. Each maisonette has a front garden (2m x 3m) and back garden (varying in length, average 9m x 4m).

In the summer of 2012, the existing residents of 4-8 Hafer Road bought the freehold of their building from Wandsworth council for under £40,000 and formed a company which 7 of the resident owners are directors. They approached developers to design a new building with 21st century architecture and facilities, and that would allow them to sell additional units from the new block to clear all remaining debt of the residents and make the developer a +20% profit.

The architects hired to design the new building are well known for utilising maximum space to achieve maximum living space with no regard for green space or local character. The design submitted to Wandsworth Planning Committee is the following:

1. Demolition of the existing building
2. Construction of 16 units including 2 x 4 bedrooms, 4 x 3 bedroom and 8 x 2 bedrooms

Strong objection from the neighbourhood and amenity groups

The Clapham Junction Action Group objected to the development saying:

“The total footprint of the construction will be more than 3 times as much as the current dwellings. As a consequence it will be very imposing and with a quite different style to the Victorian terrace houses that characterize the rest of the area.”

They also strongly supported the objection of the Battersea Society which said that “the design of the frontage remains out of keeping with its neighbours with obtrusive balconies in particular introducing a jarring note“.

The Clapham Junction Action Group and the Battersea Society were supported by about 40 households in the direct vicinity who also objected to the new design.

Local residents pointed out that there was no reference to the lack of an independent parking survey from the Applicant. There will be a massive impact on parking from the extra households/residents on such a small street exacerbated by the rack of Boris Bikes planned on an adjacent road.

Another issue was the lack of independent Light Assessment (one resident at 10 Hafer road claimed that the assessment submitted on behalf of the Applicants sanctions a 40% loss of light in their kitchen!).

The neighbours said:

“The Company of Architects used are based in Kings Cross and their plans are for a high density build far more suitable to an inner urban area where space is less valued or available.“

Almost 40 local households wrote objections to the design on the Council’s Planning Application website. There were 30 comments in support, with many of them from Clapham South.

Local neighbourhood disappointed over the Council’s planning process

The Council’s communication of the process of the application, how to object, make comments, and the process of decision making has been pathetic, with many residents being left in the dark about the situation and even when the planning committee meeting was or how to get local council to support their concerns.

The Monday before the planning committee meeting on Thursday, some of the local residents discovered, by accident, that the meeting was in 4 days time. The local residents formed an action group and door knocked local residents asking them to partition their ward councillors to attend the meeting on their behalf and express their concerns.

An article in the Wandsworth Guardian described the huge disappointment of the neighbours:

“Neighbours said they were left disappointed after their ward councillors declined to speak on their behalf during the committee meeting.

Requests were sent to Councillor Peter Dawson, Councillor Jenny Browne and Councillor Martin Johnson for help but the councillors said all they would do is pass on their emails to the committee members.

The councillors defended their actions pointing out ward members can only give short statements at meetings, are unable to participate in discussions and cannot vote.“

During the meeting, four councillors asked questions and agreed that the development was oversized. Cllr Belton (Labour) thought that the ‘castellated’ design might break up the acknowledged mass density of the build. They did not consider how a flat, squared (rather than pitched ) roof at increased height would further add to the mass imposition of the structure.

At the end, only Cllr Heaster (Conservatives) voted against the proposal.

There were 3 council officers who were supporting their report but they couldn’t provide any photos or models; they didn’t even have the correct number to hand on how much bigger the development is.

Eight of the residents were holding banners against the proposal at the meeting, which attracted laugh from some committee members. After the meeting, the residents of Hafer Road mocked those residents who objected to the building.

Post meeting, those residents who are opposed to the design are pursuing other angles of action including obtaining legal advice.

Filed under: Clapham Junction

Author: Jacqui Bowers

I find it quite shocking that Blacks have just undergone a major refit and ignoring any access for wheelchair users and people with buggies.

Outdoor Clothes Blacks’ entrance in St John’s Rd

For Clapham Junction station, it is brilliant to have lift access to all platforms and this has transformed wheelchair users in accessing rail transport. It is equally illogical that there is no information for wheelchair users or people with buggies or heavy luggage to go to Brighton Yard for step-free access.

Photo looking west. No sign of any information for wheelchair users. February 2014.

Photo looking east. No sign of any information for wheelchair users. February 2014.

The only downside of using Brighton Yard entrance is to go up St John’s Hill over a cobbled-stone pathway. Cobble-stones present another problem for wheelchair users.

UPDATE 23/02/14: We have received the following tweet from Blacks:

@c_j_a_g @SW_Trains Hello, a ramp is available upon request, but it is something we are including into new shop fits going forward.

— Blacks.co.uk (@blacks_online) February 14, 2014

Filed under: Clapham Junction

Author: Jacqui Bowers

After 6 months of disruption to local businesses and residents, St John’s Road now has new pavement, which, thanks to the heavy rain is looking much better than back in September 2013.

Photo taken outside TKMaxx in September 2013

However, now chewing gum litters the pavement…

Photos taken outside NatWest Bank in February 2014

Read our previous articles:

• Clapham Junction paving: update on the exemplar scheme
• The state of new paving on St Johns Road (see end of the article)

The pedestrian crossing has gone and been replaced by two ‘raised/paved’ areas.

There is a safety issue regarding crossing the road with young children as the traditional curb has been replaced by ribbed paving stones.

20 Mph speed limit sign. Photo taken outside F Hinds February 2014

This perhaps is not such an issue with the 20 mph speed limit, but at present, the traffic is travelling at speeds greater than 20mph.

Photo taken outside NatWest Bank, showing that many vehicles are using St John’s Road and ignoring the traffic restrictions. February 2014

Filed under: Clapham Junction

Author: Julia Matcham

Campaigners outside The Wheatsheaf – Wandsworth Guardian 20/08/2013

In our area alone, The Galleon, 2 Lavender Road; the Pine Tavern, 69 Plough Road; the Queen Victoria, 82 Falcon Road and the Somers Arms, 2a Rochelle Close are four examples of pubs near Clapham Junction that have been demolished and replaced by housing developments over the last 15 years.

The Duke of Wellington, 105 Meyrick Road has been converted to flats as has the Haberdashers Arms, 47 Calvert Road. Permission has just been granted by Wandsworth Council for demolition of the Battersea Bar (originally the Chopper) at 58 York Road and a stone’s throw from Sambrook’s Brewery and its replacement by a residential block with commercial use on the ground floor.

Chatham Road, a road that had 5 pubs 100 years ago, now has only one since the ‘Gardeners Arms’ has been recently replaced by an expensive block of flats + commercial use.

An application for development in place of the Prince of Wales 186 Battersea Bridge Road has just been refused. No doubt they will be back so sign the petition!

The very popular ‘The Castle’, with its large enjoyable garden, in Battersea High Street lost its fight despite 700 people fighting for it for 12 months. It will be demolished and turned into a 4 storey block. According to English Heritage, there has been a pub on The Castle’s site since the 17th Century.

Asset of Community Value gives local community the right to (try to) purchase

The Wheatsheaf in Tooting is fighting for its life. After a fierce campaign by local people the Council has agreed to give The Wheatsheaf an AVC (Asset of Community Value) which gives members of the community time to bid to buy the site (a beautiful building too) should it come up for sale.

‘The Localism Act 2011 gives communities with a local connection a right to identify properties which, if they came up for sale, they would want to try and purchase. The legislation does not give a right to buy the property in question – but it does give potential bidders the time to put a proposal together.

The AVC is a tiny concession that buys time but is not what the Localism Bill was sold to us as by the Government. The Localism Bill gives so much power to the Council to place almost impossibly high jumps at every stage of using it, that it is all but useless. And even if the community can raise the money, the owner has no obligation to sell it to them…indeed, an incentive not to, given that the community has just cost the owner time, trouble and profit. I imagine some developer has folded his paws and is cleaning his whiskers while he waits for local people not to be able to afford to buy The Wheatsheaf.

We need our Council to actively defend our interests, to take notice of the results of so-called ‘consultations’ instead of treating local opinion as a bed of nails for the Council must walk over on the way to its own preferred option.

There are 109 fewer pubs in London now than there were six months ago

The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) said 253 pubs had opened between the end of 2012 and the first part of 2013, but 362 had closed, meaning four pubs were shutting every week in in London and the south east.

Why ? Is it because people don’t like pubs any more? No, of course not.

The problem is not only down to the Council’s attitude to the loss of amenity, it is also down to the way in which the Pub business has been transformed over the centuries from individually owned hostelries buying beer from local breweries into very big business with Breweries and Banks owning thousands of pubs in huge groups and draining them dry of profit for the benefit of themselves and their shareholders.

Supplies of beer and prices of beer are nearly always tied to specific breweries and companies, and make it impossible for pub managers/ lessees to be competitive with supermarkets and, for that matter one-another. Pubs are also heavily policed by the companies concerned to make sure they are not ‘cheating’. The jolly publican has a hard life these days.

Multiple-held pubs do exist in countries other than the United Kingdom, but due to most countries having different accepted systems of ownership and supply, they do not hold anywhere near the level of control over the market as they do in the UK.

Here in the UK, a mixture of stifled competition leading to low returns both for the companies concerned and the Pub managers/ lessees, combined with a rise in real-estate values leads to ruthless selling-off of our social amenities. Companies exist to make money for their shareholders; pubs are no more important to them than ‘white goods’ or blocks of flats. It’s just money! But for us it is the way we live our lives and we should have some protection of our amenities.

Debate in parliament to create a new statutory code for pubs

But there is some hope. Even Parliament is at last recognising that an abusive system is destroying competition and killing the pub trade.

Kate Mc Cann, a reporter at City A.M, wrote (21Jan2014):

“In a move supported by Labour leader Ed Miliband and shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna, Toby Perkins [LABOUR’S shadow minister for pubs] will call for a pubs bill to introduce rent reviews, a free-of-tie option to allow landlords to purchase products on the open market, and an independent pubs adjudicator. Perkins said: “The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) estimates that 26 pubs close each week and that each closure costs local economies £80,000. The all-party Business Select Committee has investigated this issue several times and concluded that the unfair and unbalanced relationship between pub companies and their licencees is a huge factor.

The issue has been debated in parliament twice before and in 2012 MPs voted for a code to be introduced, but progress has been slow.

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said it would publish a response to its consultation on the code “in due course,” adding: “There has been, and continues to be, a high level of interest in the consultation on pub companies and tenants. The fact that we received over 1,100 written responses and more than 7,000 responses to the online survey demonstrates this.””

However the pub companies are fighting back and blaming it all on the Supermarkets. Take your choice! There is not a lot we can do except sign petitions and make sure our politicians know we are not happy.

>>> Petition to the Government

More detailed information about the Byzantine ways Pubcos work to the disadvantage of the managers/lessees of pubs HERE.

Filed under: Clapham Junction