Alan Selwyn, BelSoc Planning, writes:
This online meeting was organised by Camden with the 100 Avenue Road developers to present revisions to the permitted scheme and answer questions on the proposals.
After 10 years, only the foundations and basement have been built, with the site now sold to Regal who wish to redesign elements of the scheme. This requires new consent, and they are consulting between now and the end of the year, hoping to start work in early 2025 with a 3 year build time.
They will not change the existing permitted envelope but have managed to squeeze in an additional 52 units by minimising the service ducts and other modifications. There will be 166 units in the tower – now 26 storeys – and 70 in the adjoining lower building – now 8 storeys. The lower building, in addition to affordable housing units, will contain shops and a community space, which will be refined in consultation with The Winch.
The existing two buildings were to be faced in concrete with large amounts of glass. This is no longer considered acceptable in terms of energy requirements so the outside will now be clad in brick with smaller windows and curved corner balconies. This may help reduce the visual intrusion this tower presents though it will not reduce the huge scale.
There were other environmental discussions around the effects on wind, shadowing, glare from the windows, micro-climate and improvements to the landscaping.
Affordable housing will increase from 30% to 35%, now said to be “true affordable”. There are two main types included in this scheme: ‘social affordable rent’ for those on Housing Benefit and ‘intermediate rent’ designed to be achievable for those in salaried work. A Housing Association will manage these. Camden prefers this to shared ownership schemes for various reasons explained. The way the 35% is calculated has also improved to give better-quality homes by calculating floor space and habitable room area rather than simply number of units (which tends to favour small flats such as studios). 35% also meets the GLA London Plan requirement and Mayor of London Plan.
It does seem as though the new provision is an improvement on the original scheme in this respect.
Of the remaining 65%, the original scheme focussed more on private rentals, whereas this scheme now targets private sales. The developers said this would favour a more stable population, with more family sized units (though they cannot control buy to lets or overseas sales).
Access was discussed, during the building work and after, for deliveries, bin collection and so on. We have concerns about vehicle access, which is primarily from Eton Road (and presumably the rather narrow Winchester Road from Swiss Cottage). Small deliveries and disabled parking are planned to be in the basement via the ramp under Hampstead Theatre. Larger deliveries (to the shops), waste collection and any other utilities will be from ground level between the theatre and the tower. Both will create a hazard for pedestrians. More work is needed.
Other than blue badge spaces in the basement there will be no residents’ parking on site and the council will not issue residents’ parking permits, as this will be a ’car-free’ development.
I was impressed by the level of detail discussed in the 2 hour meeting and attention to answering residents’ questions, also by the commitment by the Council to achieve the best results from the proposed revisions.
More details will be published in the next couple of months with further consultation. Members are encouraged to take part.