Yesterday Mrs. Johnson, the Clerk of Acton Parish Council, and I went to the Development Committee at Babergh to argue against proposed building in Queensway in Acton (pictured above) I am happy to say that our efforts paid off and the application was rejected unanimously. We both felt that this was a victory for local democracy since, in addition to the opposition of the Parish Council, a number of people in the village had objected directly to Babergh.
There were a number of good reasons for resisting this particular application. Mrs. Johnson pointed out that access to the street is very restricted, the roadway being only 3.6 metres wide outside the proposed site (for cars to pass safely one needs 4.8 metres). I argued that infilling of this type would spoil the street scene, since what one has in Queensway is a planned estate of identical semi-detached homes, designed to stand harmoniously together with reasonable gaps between them. Filling in the gaps would destroy the street’s architectural integrity, and, frankly, result in something of a pig’s breakfast.
The officer from Babergh was rather dubious about arguing that the street scene would be damaged since the road is not of ‘historic interest’. Well, I would strongly argue that this is not the case! The estate was originally planned in 1948 apparently, was completed in time for the coronation of Her Majesty the Queen, and named accordingly. It has been almost untouched since the 1950’s, although what was originally a council estate is now a mixture of owner occupied and tenanted homes.
In rejecting this application the Committee was consciously taking something of a stand, since given current pressures there are bound to be other similar planned estates outside conservaton area that come under threat.
Building in gardens and filling in every gap in street frontages has become very popular, driven by Government housebuilding targets.
There has been some resistance at
To learn more about Mrs. Spelman’s Bill go to
http://www.epolitix.com/EN/Legislation/200612/08b348c9-8ac4-48ed-b95b-3bf91a960605.htm
Oh, by the way…a disclaimer just in case I ever find myself actually voting on a similar issue…The views expressed in this post relate exclusively to this development in Queensway. I would of course judge any similar application on its merits at the time!
