Committee member Alan Selwyn gives an update :
Belsoc has been raising awareness of the threat to the valued ‘Piazza’ outside Hampstead Theatre from delivery and service traffic to the 237 housing units and shops once the 100 Avenue Road development is completed in around 3 years.
In light of this we are pleased to report that we have been successful in our application to Camden for it to be designated an Asset of Community Value (ACV). This status – which lasts for 5 years – will be a material consideration in any planning proposals and may help achieve a better solution to the delivery and service problem posed by 100 Avenue Road, as well as influencing any wider plans for the area. The main function of the ACV is to give a local community an opportunity to buy the Piazza should it come up for sale, though we see that as an unlikely proposition!
To support our application, we handed out around 500 leaflets with a link to an online questionnaire which we also emailed to our members. From the 260 responses we have a large body of very powerful statements on how the piazza is used and its vital role in the lives of locals. Our detailed report which was submitted to Camden paints a picture of the importance of this safe and congenial space to the mental health, wellbeing and quality of life of local residents and their fears of how a stream of delivery traffic would spoil this and endanger pedestrians, especially children. Thank you to those who responded.
The full report can be seen in an article on our website – enter ‘Piazza report’ into the search box.
In October we held an on-site meeting with Richard Limbrick, the Planning Manager for our area of Camden, a team from the developers, Regal, and Tom Simon, one of our three local councillors.
We gained access to the basement of 100 Avenue Road through the tunnel running under Hampstead Theatre and quizzed the team on the plans.
As we know, this tunnel is much too low to allow the usual delivery vans (such as Tesco, Amazon, DHL etc) and so all of these would have to travel over the Piazza to gain access to the residential units. Also, it seems unlikely that the many Deliveroo type take-away deliveries by e-bikes, cargo bikes and motorcycles would wait for an electronic door to be opened to gain entry to a claustrophobic tunnel. They would always choose the quickest route to drop-off their packages, again whizzing across the Piazza.
The developer believes their on-site management can control the deliveries and reduce traffic over the Piazza. Plans are being discussed to create more drop-off bays at the entrance to the Piazza in the hope that most deliveries will be by trolleys to the residential units. Signs would deter drivers from access to the Piazza. Some may be sceptical of the practicality of this and also how it will work with contractors who may need to be on site for many hours with their vehicles and equipment close by. But it was good to learn that the ‘Delivery, Servicing and Waste Management Plan’ will not be finalised and signed off until later in the development process and that it still very much a ‘fluid’ document.
This introduces an interesting possibility. The C11 Cycle Superhighway was planned to remove traffic from the southbound Avenue Road leg of the Swiss Cottage gyratory to divert it along Finchley Road but was abandoned after legal action by Westminster. This would have brought great environmental benefits to Swiss Cottage and the easy pedestrian access to the island site might have saved the Swiss Cottage pub.
If the 4 lanes of traffic were removed, this could create space for a drop-off lane to be created on Avenue Road and could take much of the traffic away from Eton Avenue side and help save our Piazza (though there would always need to be a route for emergency vehicles and probably waste collections). The developers say that this would support their desire to create the best environment for flat sales.
Camden has long wanted a solution to the blight that the gyratory creates and says TfL might now be more amenable to discuss this again with our support and that of local councillors. Funding will of course be key. Similar schemes at Archway and Highbury Corner – and many others – have demonstrated the benefits to local communities. We have already made representations to TfL and the GLA and shall be discussing this further with Camden. We also have general support from CPRE, London Cycling Campaign and Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (ex-Sustrans) and our Greater London Assembly member, Anne Clarke.
There has been no overall master plan for Swiss Cottage and Camden’s Director of Economy, Regeneration and Investment, Daniel Pope, recognises the need to look at this and says his department will consider forming a Swiss Cottage ‘Vision’ some time in 2026, following similar exercises for Bloomsbury and Camden Town.
We thank local councillor, Tom Simon, for facilitating this most useful meeting and lobbying on our behalf.
