Crawthew Road closing for 18 months

[davidh]

it is all a huge hassle, but perhaps if james had collected the right info in the first place before spreading genuine alarm and outrage we would not have anything like as much wasted fury. 3 mini-closures a day is about the same as they had already pinched. this just makes their greedy intrusion legal and screw the tax-payers. in the meantime james, check things out more thoroughly.

[jimmyraj]

Is three mini closures really that bad? Certainly on my street, builders regularly block the street to load and unload materials, and to crane things into sites. It's an unfortunate annoyance about living in London but inevitable.

If the guy wants to build a swimming pool under his house - which incidentally seems to being built on a piece of brownfield land with, presumably, the necessary planning permissions - why is it so outrageous? As long as it's built properly and with the necessary precautions it shouldn't create any structural issues for anyone else. Much easier to put a basement on a new build property (and much less risky) than tunnelling under an old Victorian or Edwardian house - which happens much more frequently.

Personally the idea of it all offends me an awful lot less than the demolition of the house on the corner of Elsie Road and East Dulwich Grove - which has looked terribly sad as a lovely Victorian villa has been stripped to the ground piece by piece to be replaced by a mock Victoriana block of flats.

[SteveUK1978]

What offends me Jimmyraj is the fact that it will have been going for 2 years by the time they finish this.

It's a tiny plot with virtually no access from the road (it's like a wedge shape, with the narrow point on the road) which means all their kit & debris just lives on the street and has done for 12 months already. A pool on a site like this is crazy - yeah good for the owner, sure it adds a lot of value - but the complexity of the project has subjected a lot of people to some major inconvenience.

[bloodyjon]

What a typical James storm in a tea cup Barber post. Some people might believe that a swimming pool is excessive (I do) but I really don't see what relevance it to this discussion. Would the road closures have been less bad if they were building something else?

Also at a time when police should be focusing their resources on tackling crime, to advice people to call the police to deal with *intermittent* road closures three times a day is downright irresponsible.

[Sue]

bloodyjon Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> What a typical James storm in a tea cup Barber

> post. Some people might believe that a swimming

> pool is excessive (I do) but I really don't see

> what relevance it to this discussion. Would the

> road closures have been less bad if they were

> building something else?

xxxxxxx

That is unfair to James.

And yes in my view the road closures would be less bad if they were building something else - something of use to the wider community, for example.

[spider69]

Sue Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> bloodyjon Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > What a typical James storm in a tea cup Barber

> > post. Some people might believe that a swimming

> > pool is excessive (I do) but I really don't see

> > what relevance it to this discussion. Would the

> > road closures have been less bad if they were

> > building something else?

>

> xxxxxxx

>

> That is unfair to James.

>

> And yes in my view the road closures would be less

> bad if they were building something else -

> something of use to the wider community, for

> example.

Like using the patch and toasted etc as soup kitchens for the needy

why should they not build what has been approved legally by the council

[ianr]

Just for information, the Construction Management Plan that the applicant was required to submit as one of the conditions attached to the granting of his main application (12/AP/1700), was approved on 19 March and can be downloaded from http://planningonline.southwark.gov.uk/AcolNetCGI.exe?ACTION=UNWRAP&RIPNAME=Root.PgeDocs&TheSystemkey=9548409.

Another of the conditions (#9) was the submission of a Contaminated Land Assessment. That was submitted as application 13/APP/0337 http://planningonline.southwark.gov.uk/AcolNetCGI.exe?ACTION=UNWRAP&RIPNAME=Root.PgeDocs&TheSystemkey=9548404. Also there is a Planning Statement which includes mention of safe removal of contaminated earth. For some reason that application is still flagged as pending, though I suspect that might be an adminstrative oversight due to the proliferation of the subsidiary re-applications.

[enjoy]

How can you, James Barber, name and shame somebody in public for having a house extension?

What they do is legal, they have permission and you are creating a storm

against people, giving their full address and name here.

I can see it is disturbing to the neighbours, inconvenient for a

lot of people in the area. But this bashing in public is just

over the top and not justified.

[QZ]

...and the fact that jb and other councillors agreed to the planning application back in 2010 after much neighbourhood objection galls me that he now writes this post. Different developer back then but principles the same.

[bugsbgone]

Ok, let's see then. Let us see if it only amounts to 3 x daily 30 minute slots over a 6 month period. Seems that the project is relying on very patient,very tolerant neighbours. James is just looking out for the residents it affects, in my opinion, of course. These projects always overun, and yes it pays to be passive, for the sake of ones mental health, but these contractors do take advantage somewhat.

Dialing 101 is a stretch too far though, I must admit!

[unlurked]

Edit

[Falklands]

Hasn't this councillor got better things to do ......Apart from the fact he should be writing copy for the daily mail

I e .....print the headline .....doesn't matter if the facts don't match. #lossofcredibility

[EDLove]

So this is how it will look...

http://www.constructure.co.uk/crawthew-grove/

[James Barber]

That's a little harsh Falklands.

I was sent an email by council officials telling me Crawthew Grove would be closed for 18 months. I alerted people to this. Those officials have since said it wont be closed for 18 months and only up to 3 times a day for 30mins. They've not explained why so much of the road has been handed over to the builders for offices, huge skips, lavatories.

Hi EDLove, That looks great. I just wish they could put a little more thought into planning how to achieve this desgin being thoughtful about impact on other residents.

[Sue]

enjoy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> How can you, James Barber, name and shame somebody

> in public for having a house extension?

xxxxxxxx

The information re the person's name and full address was already in the public domain.

Anybody can have access to it quite easily.

And this issue is not about "having a house extension". It's about considerable inconvenience being caused to neighbours and other users of a quite narrow backstreet by somebody wanting to build a basement swimming pool and - apparently - cinema (!!!!) in a relatively small space with - apparently - restricted access.

I think people round here should be over the moon to have such a proactive councillor who looks out for the community's best interests, not be constantly slagging him off at every opportunity, often getting their facts wrong.

Many councillors attend a few meetings a year and - er - that's it.

[Earl Aelfheah]

Might want to update the title of this thread, as it's a little misleading.

[James Barber]

Hi rahrahrah,

I must say I feel relieved the original statement and advertisement by council officials is apparently wrong. They stated closure for 18months. They've done nothing to correct or readvertise that it's upto 18 months or to get the street name correct! Some have been told up to 3 street closures a day each of 15mins. Others have been told 30mins.

Baffled how something so simple could have been made so complicated.

[unlurked]

If the road closure hasn't been advertised correctly and for the appropriate amount of time then the closures are illegal. The wrong street name is a ridiculous error. Speak to the Head of road closures, JB.

[worldwiser]

Crawthew Grove has basically been closed at least the last two months anyway. The sightlines round that corner have now been so reduced by the near-permanent plant, machinery and debris, anyone would have to be suicidal to try and go around it. I am utterly stupefied by what this owner is getting away with - in any other part of London he'd be paying a gargantuan fee for taking up so much public parking space. My views have nothing to do with the ambition of the development - it's the utter chaos the owner is causing to realise it. AND there is no incentive of any kind to get them to proceed at a pace which is commensurate with the public interest. Will they be paying anything for the baron-like power to close a public street at will??

I note, James, that you haven't come back to my earlier request on another thread re. the incredible damage the contractors have done to the road in recent months. Can you press for full professional reinstatement of the entire road surface at their cost please.

[James Barber]

Hi worldwiser,

Sorry I've not come back before.

I don't have an answer yet but have asked.

As you say I'm also agog at how they've been allowed to undertake their works. It sets a terrible precendence.

With London house prices predicted to rise by 50% by 2018 we can expect to see a lot more of these types of basement works.

[uplandsneighbour]

ah! so Scott strikes again!

He cleverly uses the EDF to drum up publicity and business for his pub. He then sells it to a chain, and not at a loss, I expect. Funnily enough it's a lot better behaved as a neighbour to us queiter folk since Scott left. So no tears there.

But sad to see that he's got into the habit of helping himself at the expense of his neighbours.

Thanks to James for doing his job and highlighting this blatant disregard for their convenience.

[StraferJack]

Long time grudge holding poster ahoy!!

[uplandsneighbour]

heh heh heh!

(long time suffering poster ahoy, SJ)

[EDmummy]

Oh my,I have major house envy. Love modern design and the plans look amazing. On the flip side my thoughts go out to the poor neighbours during the build phase.

[Sue]

EDmummy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Oh my,I have major house envy. Love modern design

> and the plans look amazing. On the flip side my

> thoughts go out to the poor neighbours during the

> build phase.

xxxxxx

The whole corner of the road is full of skips, building materials and a huge toilet block.

Cars can scarcely get through.

Why do they need more than one bog? Have all the builders got dodgy bladders or something?