Its property team has written a very well argued letter to the Dame's new 'bestie' Mr Stallwood.  |
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If any dear reader wants to see it in its entirety then drop the old thing an email and she will forward on. Very odd that HVRA don't want to engage with the Dame....far too grand, one supposes!
287 people have now viewed this. Had the Dame been briefed up by HVRA days ago a good proportion of those might have added to the one hundred who have commented on the RBKC comment page. It may not be too late.
Click HERE AND MAKE YOUR VIEW KNOWN
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This Dame needs to mind her own business. How did she get the letter?
ReplyDeleteWould you not like to know.... Ludo plays a major part in these coups, you know... He has contacts in many high places, even where a famous beer does not reach.. I suggest you mind your own business... The poor Dame is doing a fine job, of public interest....
DeleteHillgate Residents are new boys and girls on the block. Still learning the ropes. The Dame and her hornets (the new force for good in the Rotten Borough)are a novel idea for the Hillgate Village set. They still think that a pith helmet and old school tie carry some weight in the Royal Borough.
DeleteThe scandalous "regeneration" of Nottinghill Gate has been brewing for ages - stoked up by busy bodies such as the Nottinghill Gate Improvement Trust (aging misfits) and ruthless, profit driven developers who have bought up the whole area and are salivating over another "buy to leave" bonanza.
ReplyDeleteThe Hillaget Village Residents Association has come late to the party but the members are focused, determined and organised. And it is the single issue pressure groups like this that stand the best chance of making a difference. Unfortunately the Resident Associations do not seem to ave what it takes when push turns to shove.
Residents have been prodding the Ward Councillors for years and urging them to get the Council to take resident opinion seriously. All a waste of time although in recent weeks Cllr Faulks and Cllr Coleridge thought it wise to attend meetings and say a few "mature words".
DeleteHowever the star representative has been MP Victoria Borwick who made herself available to listen and instead of making the usual inane noises ("you are doing very well but it is all very difficult and central Government wants these things and the Council's hands are tied and there are procedures and there is the inspector and blah blah blah)the MP delivered a Master Class on how to make democracy work. A check list of who to approach, what to say and how to say it. And contacts and suggestions for building the campaign. Magic.
Three cheers for darling Lady B....
DeleteCllr Palmer has stopped briefing against Cllr Borwick
DeleteThe ridiculous Paddington Tower was stopped. Next step, Newcombe Tower.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone contacted Sir Simon Jenkins?
He's a good egg, amazing how many of the great and good find architects and developers today akin to Estate Agents & Laywers even Ben Goldsmith was against Earls Court being knocked down bit of irony as his brother is the prospective mayor of London Frank Goldsmith who has remained schtum about our losing heritage in London.
DeleteYes, Borwick is a class act when it comes to engaging with residents. Reading between the lines one senses that the Dame is none too happy at not being briefed up. She was showing off to Cllr Rutherford the other day, at Kensington Darby and Joan Club 'The Dansant' that she has 1200 residents reading her scribbles daily. Has her nose been put out of joint?
ReplyDeleteThe Dame is a sensitive old soul and does not like it when she is not the center of attention. Slightly worrying to read that she has been attending the Darby and Joan Club. This is a one way street to Rutherford style oblivion.
DeleteBuck up, girl.
Ex Chancellor Lord Lamont, a resident of Hillgate Village, has thrown his weight behind the protest. And ex Mayor Buffy Buckmaster, a longstanding Hillgate resident, has also come out in support of the campaign. For many years Buffy has voiced his concern about what has been going on and told one resident "we are coasting into another development disaster". Resident Association Chairman, David White, has still to show his hand.
ReplyDeleteHillgate Resident
DeleteYou are quite incorrect to suggest that the redoubtable David White 'has still to show his hand". This is the CHRA's punchy objection.
You must check your facts and sources. The Dame cannot do this for you.
Below is the objection letter....
Dear Mr.Smallwood,
Planning Application PP/15/07602 – Newcombe House
Campden Hill Residents’ Association (CHRA) objects to this Major Planning Application as currently presented.
Background
CHRA’s ‘territory’ includes both the development site and the adjoining dense residential area of Hillgate Village. CHRA has been a party to the extensive consultation that has taken place between the Kensington Society, local amenity groups and the applicant.
CHRA considers that on balance the principles of the development as described in the application and endorsed by the Kensington Society could be a valid response to the redevelopment of the site and could in turn be the catalyst to unlock the general improvement of Notting Hill Gate, which has been discussed and desired for so many years.
However, whilst there are many admirable features of the proposals as submitted, CHRA considers that there are three key issues that require more work before the package as a whole can be supported by CHRA and hopefully by the local community.
CHRA’s key issues:-
1. No on-site Affordable Housing
Currently on the SE corner of the site in Royston Court there are 20 small flats managed by the Notting Hill Housing Trust, which CHRA assumes are therefore Affordable/Social Housing. In the current proposal there is no on-site affordable housing and there is no off-site bricks and mortar affordable housing provision. The CIL proposals include a possible financial contribution towards affordable housing but the money allocated could go to fund step-free access.
2. No on-site provision whatsoever for the unloading and loading or the short term parking of vehicles essential to the servicing, management and cyclical maintenance of the development.
3. No guarantee that all or indeed any of the three key objectives highlighted by the local community – Retention of the Farmers Market, A new Surgery, Step-free Access to the TFL ticket office – will in the end be delivered. To a greater or lesser extent the proposals for these three items as currently presented appear ‘designed to fail’.
The above three key issues need to be satisfactorily addressed before CHRA will feel able to withdraw its objection. To address the issues raised, CHRA considers that the current proposals for the southern end of the development may need to be modified. However CHRA’s view is that this modification could be made without materially affecting the two key and much discussed elements of the design – the massing and location of the main tower and the principle of a new traffic free square with shops at ground level and residential above.
In addition to CHRA’s three key issues, there are a number of important detail issues that need to be addressed but these could perhaps be addressed by way of Conditions to an approval, rather than in every case their resolution being a pre-condition.
Attached below are background details to CHRA’s objection.
Yours sincerely
David White Chairman CHRA
City grandee David White is not a person to be trifled with - as many have discovered who have tried to shaft Campden Hill residents. The Cockell/Hall axis was exposed for the shoddy approach to the local community that they attempted when the redevelopment of Holland Park School was underway and Headmaster Hall is still being held to account.
DeleteHow silly to attack the Campden Hill Residents Association. One of the most effective and heavyweight resident associations in the Royal Borough
DeleteThe objections from the Campden Hill Residents Association are well argued and clearly put. It is incredible how professional these voluntary organisations are (including the Kensington Society) and how they manage to do such convincing analysis without the expensive consultants and staff employed by developers. The problem is that time and time again the input from these resident bodies are just ignored and brushed aside by the Council.
DeleteThe challenge is how to get noticed. How to create bang for the buck. Part of the solution should be the Ward Councillors and MP who should be doing far more to make sure that their resident voice is heard.
Fantastic to learn that MP Victoria Borwick met with the Hillgate Association and gave them clear guidance about who to approach, what to say and how to say it. The Ward councillors need to copy her example and make sure that their residents are heard in Hornton Street. They need to make life uncomfortable for the developers friends in the Hornton Street planning department.
The Council has designed a planning system that is blatantly anti resident. The same developers and their consultants are in and out of the Planning Department for "pre planning" meetings, building relationships and operating the nod and wink culture. Eventually the planning Officers recommend the developer plans to a bunch of mostly lazy Councillors on the Planning Committee.
DeleteThe Planning Committee is controlled by the Tories and the current Chairman (Cllr Warwick) has a pre meeting with his Tory Councillors and tells them how to vote. At the meeting any resident objector, or resident body such as the Kensington Society, is given THREE MINUTES only to object. If there are ten objectors, then it is 18 seconds each. For most residents it is a once in a lifetime, intimidating experience, with no idea how to handle the complex process.
Every now and again public servants stand up to be counted. Cllr Ahern exposed the planning system for what it is. He was rogered by his colleagues. Cllr Mackover, in a recent case of a basement being overbuilt that was promoted by Savills and recommended for approval by Officers, said "no". The brave Councillor got out his tape measure and visited the site to confirm his suspicions. Cllr Mackover needs to watch his back. Officers now have a score to settle and he is a marked man for developers who consider him "unsafe". As noted above, MP Victoria Borwick met with Hillgate residents and explained the system. "This is who you approach, this is what you say, and this how you say it". Not for her the usual drivel of "its all very difficult".
Residents need to treasure and support these public servants and shame the others into doing what they should be doing.
Its time for Cllr Paget-Brown to make some long overdue changes.
The comments above are silly, misleading and mischievous. If there are ten objectors to a planning application (or fifteen or even twenty objectors) then they should appoint one of their number to speak on their behalf and three minutes is sufficient to make their points. The three minute rule is strictly enforced because it produces focus and prevents waffle
DeleteOfficers do not like residents who waffle. And they do not like residents who make a fuss. And they hate residents who get to the point. And they despise residents (most of us) who are not very bright. In fact they do not like residents at all. Under any circumstances.
DeleteDevelopers bearing brown envelopes a much more attractive way to work.
The Kenisngton Society has dropped a stitch on Newcombe House. For many years Chairman Amanda Frame fought the developers and secured concessions, such as retention of the farmers Market. But even KS eventually caved in and went along with a version from developers that is ABSOLUTELY OUT OF THE QUESTION for residents.
ReplyDeleteThe Kensington Society must be careful not to go the way of the Chelsea Society and lose touch with the membership.
The possibility of the Kensington Society going the way of the Chelsea Society is inconceivable whilst Amanda Frame is at the helm.
ReplyDeleteHow on earth she achieves what she does is unfathomable.
The Dame holds this lady and the KS in the highest regard and every resident should be grateful for the wonderful work she and her team so selflessly undertake....and the same goes for David White at CHRA.
The new skyscraper that is proposed to replace Newcombe House will cause the most terrible wind currents in Nottinghill Gate. The tall building next door to Tesco already causes havoc with umbrellas blowing out and the wind deposits rubbish and discarded Wimpy bags and boxes in Hillgate Village. A second, larger, tower will make matters much worse
ReplyDeleteThe Kenisngton Society has summarised this part of London perfectly as "cafe society". It is what we bought into when we came to live here and it is what was created by generations of families who came to live in this part of London and made it what it is. It is a unique experience, a unique culture and a unique micro society.
DeleteNow we have four developers who have bought up the whole of Nottinghill Gate and plan to bulldoze the entire area in order to create (very profitable) buy to leave flats.
The community will be devastated and in the end the empty flats will not be spending money to support the local shops. But the developers will be on the their yachts in the Med.
Why are the Hornton Street councillors and planners so myopic? So totally myopic??
Is Mr Stallwood the Dame's new "bestie" or is it "beastie"?
ReplyDeleteThe question is:
Is Mr Stallwood and his staff in Hornton Street paying equal attention to developers and RESIDENTS?
For too long residents have been ignored by the Hornton Street planners. Cockle used to refer to them as "unsound", "nuisance", "deranged", "bitter". And the current Chairman of the Planning Committee, Cllr Warwick, considers residents to be contemptible.
Cllr Ahern put his finger on the pulse when he called for the Planning Department to be more resident friendly. Of course the big money made certain that the Irishman and his strange views were buried without trace.
The political heavyweights in planning, Cllr Paget-Brown, Cllr Coleridge, and Cllr Warwick, need to make it clear that residents must be listened to and given due weight in the planning process. Paget-Brown needs to take the lead and tell his people what he expects of them
Pigs (and even piglets) will fly
DeleteDim Tim Coleridge is not a heavyweight. He is belly weight.
DeleteCllr Coleridge has demonstrated clearly that he is incapable of stopping anything or of shaping policy. He is a mere postbox. This is not the right profile for the Cabinet Member for Planning
DeleteThe proposal from the developers is completely insensitive to the area. For example it plans to site a car lift for the new car underground car park adjacent to the old Methodist chapel in Kensington Place. There are no planning rules against this but it shows a total lack of respect, sensitivity and understanding about what the community is about.
ReplyDeleteNot a squeak from the developers in response to the objections on this blog. But they have sent reports to the Council saying how widely they have "consulted" The developers even paid for materials and gave free space to Officers to promote their plans for them to residents.
ReplyDeleteSpeaks volumes.
Is it now to late to write to the Council objecting?
ReplyDeleteFriday was closing day but the Council takes notice of written objections for some days after this and will publish on the website - so get your comments in ASAP
DeleteThere are already about 100 comments on the website. 90% against and 10% supporting
Deletehttps://www.rbkc.gov.uk/planning/searches/details.aspx?adv=0&simple=newcombe+house&simpleBatch=20&simSubmit=Search&id=PP/15/07602%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&cn=196353+Bilfinger+GVA+65+Gresham+Street+London+&type=application&tab=tabs-planning-1#tabs-planning-5
Dame, is there any chance to report Victoria Borwick voted for cuts of Employment and Support Allowance for those who are disabled.
ReplyDeleteBorwick can afford to look after her disabled child but others can't survive on paltry sums offered by the government.
Would be appreciated.
Has Cllr Palmer started to brief against Cllr Borwick again?
DeleteAn important comment; but returning to the issue: the architects are proud of their design and aghast that the locals have not swooned in admiration of their achievement. Which all goes to show, this is all about the developers trousering the cash from absent offshore purchasers. The developers seem not to have noticed that that particular bandwagon moved on some time ago. Apparently Los Angeles is now the name of the game. This is odd since it's known that the long overdue major earthquake will one day flatten the place. 'Tis the folly of our times.
ReplyDeleteAnd Cllr Dent-Coad, who used to be so hot on planning, seems to have taken leave of her senses and is now campaigning instead to expel the Queen from Buckingham Palace. A great pity. I thought she was a serious politician and I used to admire her.
ReplyDeleteWhat does EDC's madness have to do with Newcombe House?
DeleteNothing. Nothing at all.
DeleteNow then Anonymous 08.54, you know perfectly well that if I expressed an opinion as an application is going to Planning I would be hoiked off the committee. I am always scrupulous on these matters.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Queen thing, I've been a Republican for as long as I can remember, so it's gratifying that the world is finally catching up. This is not a personal campaign, quite simply it is an issue of inequalities, which as you know are the worst in the country in our borough and a shame on us all.