Issue - meetings
Buccleauh House
Meeting: 04/02/2009 - Planning Sub-Committee (Item 13)
13 Buccleauh House, Clapton Common, London, E5 
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Additional documents:
Decision:
RESOLVED that:-
Permission be REFUSED, for the following reasons:
· Overdevelopment within the envelope of the building by approximately 20%.
· Poor internal design and layout, especially for the larger family units.
· Unconvinced that the current set of plans provided a good standard of accommodation.
· The open plan living areas with bedrooms located off this was deemed unacceptable.
· Too many single aspect flats and internal corridors too long.
Minutes:
Demolition of existing building and erection of a six storey building (plus basement) to provide 152 residential units (46 units to comprise extra care accommodation and 25 x 1 bed, 50 x 2 bed, 19 x 3 bed and 12 x 4 bed) with ancillary car parking and landscaping.
14.1 The Planning Officer introduced the report, as set out in the agenda, and gave an overview of the history of the site.
14.2 Mrs Meisels spoke in objection to the scheme, her comments are summarised as follows:
§ Very little time to prepare her objection as she and some of her neighbours did not receive a letter notifying her of the revised application.
§ The proposal was out of proportion with the neighbouring properties and created overlooking to the properties in close vicinity.
§ Loss of daylight and privacy.
§ The number of dwellings was out of context with the space.
§ Insufficient number of car parking spaces for the size of the scheme.
§ Increased noise and traffic in the surrounding area.
§ No recreational areas for children provided.
§ She would suggest only 3 / 4 storeys and more family units and facilities.
14.3 Neil Rowley (Savills) and John Moore (Formation Architects) spoke in support of the scheme, their comments are summarised as follows:
§ The building is currently vacant and in a dilapidated state.
§ They have been in consultation with Planning Officers for the past 12 months, which had resulted in a better scheme being submitted.
§ A public exhibition was held in 2008, displaying the plans for the scheme.
§ The height of the revised scheme is no greater than the previous proposal.
§ The scheme meets with housing needs and provides a number of extra care units.
§ The new scheme was slightly longer, although it had now been split into 3 blocks.
§ 1/3 of the units are wheelchair accessible.
§ There will be limited access to the site and private parking to the front of the building.
§ The proposed materials were displayed for Members’ information.
14.4 In response to a query from the Chair regarding consultation, the Planning Officer stated that the consultation had commenced in April 2008 and she was satisfied that a full consultation exercise had been carried out and that responses to the objections received were detailed within the report.
14.5 Reference was made to the comments made by the Design and Conservation team and the Planning Officer explained that responses to these comments were set out in page 263 of the report.
14.6 Concern was raised over the open plan living areas and bedrooms being located off this in a number of units. In response, the Planning Officer explained that condition 5 of the recommendation addressed this issue by stating that access to bedrooms separated from living areas with open plan kitchens, as the provision of a bedroom coming off open plan living spaces was not considered conducive. The applicant added that this only concerned ... view the full minutes text for item 13