Large extension to flats on Dunstans Grove

[Rowanofski]

For any interested parties, there is a very tight deadline (TOMORROW, Thursday 2nd March!) to oppose the Developer's Appeal, which will be considered by the National Planning Inspectorate. The more representations they receive, the more powerful our case will be.

Please ?make representation? on their portal at https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/

Application number: 3164939.

The key is to register new objections related to the developers? appeal rather than repeat the objections you may have made previously.

Southwark?s Director of Planning rejected the proposal for three main reasons. In summary

1. The building would have ?inappropriate scale and massing to the rear and at roof level, resulting in an incongruous and overbearing feature in the streetscene?

2. The roof terrace would be overbearing and dominant, out of character with the area

3. The internal space of the flats was below standards and ?unacceptably cramped?.

The developers have moved some internal walls to address point three, but they are appealing to retain all the external additions and changes to which we originally objected.

A couple of suggestions...

APPEAL TO REFUSAL REASON 1 (excessive bulk, out of scale with surroundings)

Developers say: it will enhance the building; that there is no set pattern in the surrounding streets so it doesn?t matter if it doesn?t fit in; that it is on a ?similar? footprint to the existing building; that its height and massing ?responds? to nearby buildings, and that the materials [white plaster and metal cladding] have been chosen to fit the ?rhythm? of existing buildings. Finally they point out that the site is in an area with ?very little character? and that ?any harm caused by [their] proposed development? to the look of the area is outweighed by the additional flat created.

APPEAL TO REASON 2 (roof terraces do not fit the area)

The developer?s appeal here is contradictory and difficult to summarise. They say that the surroundings have no set pattern so there is nothing to fit in with; then they say it has been designed to ?integrate? with its surroundings. Then they say (as a matter of opinion) that it is not of a ?visually dominating? scale; then they say ?in some circumstances a contrasting modern design can be successful? (quoting a Southwark Residential Design Standard).

A few key points you may wish to consider:

? There are currently NO front-facing (i.e. street-visible) Dormer windows on any house on Dunstans Grove, Dunstans Road or further afield within the neighbouring area

? There are currently NO other roof terraces in the local area

? There are currently NO other buildings in the neighbourhood with four full height floors.

? The area is clearly characterised by Victorian/Georgian homes forming the vast majority of the buildings along Dunstans Rd / Grove and beyond.

? The design comments are subjective, but features such as metal cladding and white plaster on such a large scale would make Quarry Court stand out for all the wrong reasons.

? The developer?s survey which claimed parking stress of ~53% included the whole stretch of Peckham Rye up to Harris Academy (both sides), which is clearly not viable.

[sarah-marie]

Hi All, I wanted to let those of you who might not know that there has been another planning application submitted to develop Quarry Court at 2 Dunstans Grove

Last time due to the volume of objections the permission was not granted and really hoping that might be the case again this time, if enough people wish to object..

The time period to post comments/objections is between now (2/11/2017) and 22/11/2017 and you can find the application on the southwark planning website by searching for application 17/AP/3997

http://planbuild.southwark.gov.uk

Thanks

Amber

[Rowanofski]

Thanks for flagging this Amber - disappointing that interested parties from the last case weren't notified of this, but it seems they are treating it as a "new" application. The last one was ultimately rejected by both Southwark Council and the National Planning Inspectorate for various reasons, but specifcally "being out of character and appearance of the area" and the "effect on living conditions of neighbouring residents with particular reference to outlook".

From what I can see, the "new" application is almost as bad as the original. They've reduced it a small bit, but ultimately still proposed a very large street-facing dormer extension and an open roof terrace right on the public road (Dunstans Grove).

I have registered my new objections to the slightly adjusted plans and TODAY is the deadline for anyone else wanting to do so!

As Amber says, I'm sure the volume of objections would really help, so please do write your concerns on the Southwark site today, even if it is simply one sentence.