PLANNING COMMITTEE
Liz Walton, Chair
The Planning Committee aims to promote development that meets the needs and aspirations of the people who live and work in Battersea, and to guard against the kinds of development that would damage their interests.
Our work focuses on three key areas:
1: Reviewing and commenting on planning applications
2: Responding to consultations on major developments
3: Providing input to the development of planning policy
In addition we contribute a Planning Matters column in Battersea Matters, provide updates in Battersea Insider and notify members of any urgent planning matters.
You may also like to look at our Planning Process page for general information about how the planning process operates and current planning policy in Wandsworth.
Please note: the Battersea Society cannot provide specific planning advice and you should always seek professional assistance with any planning issues.
A report has been published setting out proposals to regenerate the 299 railway arches that extend all the way from Waterloo to Battersea Power station. It is based on year-long study commissioned by Wandsworth and Lambeth Councils, and undertaken by a team of consultants led by the architects Allies and Morrison.
In 2019 Wandsworth Council - then controlled by the Conservative Party - commissioned a study of an industrial and commercial area to the south-west of Nine Elms and the Power Station. The study produced a framework for the development of the area which falls into three distinct parts:
Havelock Terrace
Ingate Place and
the mainly industrial area to the east of Silverthorne Road.
In the Local Plan submitted to the Secretary of State in 2022 and finally approved in 2023, Wandsworth Council committed itself to developing a masterplan for an Enhanced Urban Heart to Clapham Junction. The Council’s Transport Committee agreed in February to start work on the masterplan, which focuses on the station and three sites surrounding it:
the Asda, Boots and Lidl site (the former Falcon Lane goods yard)
the ShopStop and PCS site on St John’s Hill and Falcon Road, and
the carriage sheds and sidings to the west of the station.
Many people will have seen the announcement in the weekly Brightside Online newsletter about the Council’s plans to increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists on the northern part of Queenstown Road, from Queen’s Circus to Chelsea Bridge. The Battersea Society welcomes these plans for much-needed improvements. Full details presented to the Council’s Transport Committee ealier this month, including detailed drawings. For those who are interested, you can find them here at item 5.
The Centre for London has recently published a report on street clutter, the problems it causes and how to reduce it. The clutter includes abandoned hire bikes and e-scooters, left-behind traffic signs, advertising A-boards, rocking manhole covers, fly-tipping and overflowing bins, piles of commercial refuse, redundant phone boxes, poor utility reinstatements and relentless roadworks. They can all make walking, pushing a pram or using a wheelchair an unpleasant experience.
We wrote in January about the long process involved in establishing the new Local Plan, and the Examination in Public in which we participated in November last year. In the succeeding months, several changes to the daft Plan were considered by the Council and the Inspectors, and the final version was formally approved at a meeting of the full Council on 19 July. We regret that many of the changes weaken policies of which we approved: in countless cases ‘must’ has been changed to ‘should’, with the result that developers have been given much more wiggle room on matters such as tall buildings, for example. The final version of the Plan is here, and we shall be keeping a close watch on how individual applications are dealt with in accordance with the new policies.
We are finally getting towards the end of the processes involved in Wandsworth’s producing a new Local Plan, to replace the one which was published in 2016. The process began for us more than four years ago, when we commented on a Local Plan Issues Document issued by the Council in December 2018.
In the Spring of 2019, Network Rail announced ambitious plans for the complete redevelopment of Clapham Junction station. New housing, restaurants, co-working spaces,and retail developments would improve access between communities north and south of the station; and, it was claimed, provide the opportunity to transform Clapham Junction into a 'major town centre'. The scheme would have been bigger even than the recently-completed redevelopment of London Bridge. All those plans bit the dust following the general election in December 2019, which also brought the cancellation of CrossRail 2.
Now Network Rail is proceeding with much more modest improvements, focusing on the Brighton Yard entrance.
Scarcely had the ink dried on the Queen’s Speech than Michael Gove’s Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill (LURB) hit the streets. The Bill has already had its First Reading, and the Second Reading is scheduled for 24th May. This note about the planning aspects of the Bill has been prepared by the London Forum of Civic Societies. Our Planning Committee will consider the Bill and its implications at its next meeting.
We are very pleased that following our application to Historic England, the former St Saviour’s Vicarage on the corner of Prince of Wales Drive and Alexandra Avenue has now been listed as being of special architectural and historic interest. This means that it will be protected for future generations.
The Battersea Society is part of a consortium led by the Clapham Junction Business Improvement District which is investigating ways to improve the environment for businesses, residents and all those who use the town centre. The project has received some initial funds from the Mayor’s High Streets for All Challlenge Fund. The first stage has been to gather perceptions and ideas from a range of people in workshops and walks around the Junction, and an initial report has been produced by The Glasshouse, who specialise in community-led urban design. The next stage is now getting under way to produce some specific proposals that aim to improve the connections between the distinct areas of the town centre: Lavender Hill, St John’s Hill, St John’s Road, Battersea Rise, and Northcote Road. And we hope to secure more funds from the Challenge Fund to put those proposals into effect
The creation and use of design codes is now becoming a key plank in planning policies at national and local levels.
Around a third of the households in Wandsworth are occupied by a single person. That is significantly higher than the average for London, or for the rest of the UK.
View all Battersea Society Events
WHAT WE DO
1. PLANNING APPLICATIONS
Committee members review Wandsworth Council’s weekly lists of planning applications. We focus on those that affect listed buildings and the twelve conservation areas in the former parish and borough of Battersea, and on the larger developments, principally in Nine Elms and the former industrial land along the River Thames.
In conservation areas we seek to guard against unsightly and inappropriate proposals that would harm the character of the conservation area. If in our judgment they do, then we submit comments or formal objections to the Council.
Our responses to the more significant recent applications are shown below. But we make many more responses on minor developments. If you are interested in specific applications, contact planning@batterseasociety.org.uk.
PLANNING APPLICATIONS
The Battersea Society objects to this application which is an unneighbourly over- development of a site in a narrow and heavily trafficked road. We have read with interest the detailed comments from West & Partners and support their views. In particular we share their concern regarding: the impact of a second tall building on views of the existing marker building to the west; the lack of off-street servicing and delivery space; effect on transport and parking in the area; the extent to which the building covers the site and its proximity to the next door building and poor standards of accommodation, particularly in regard to daylight levels.
Overall we welcome this application. Further toilet facilities in this area are desirable, and the design of the proposed extension should blend in tactfully enough with the existing building.
The Battersea Society objects to this application to demolish an 18th century cottage, the sole survivor of that kind and period of building facing onto Clapham Common. The building has fallen into a deplorable state of repair since a series of applications for redevelopment was submitted and refused in 1987 and 1988, with an appeal refused by the Planning Inspectorate in the latter year. No work has been undertaken since then, and in the detailed description and history of the site published in the Survey of London vol 50 p.282 in 2013, it was described as 'battered'.
The Battersea Society objects to this application. We recognize that flower stall has been operating for some years; temporary permission was granted in 2017 (2017/0146) for a period of five years. The new application is for permanent permission for a kiosk slightly smaller than the current one.
Our objection, however, is on three main grounds, which were set out in the officers’ report that recommended refusal of the 2017 application.
The Battersea Society acknowledges that this application follows an extant permission for a major development on this site, 2018/3776. We objected to that application on the grounds of excessive height at 20 storeys (see attached letter).
The Battersea Society objects to these proposals in relation to: affordable housing proposals, poor daylight and sunlight measures, low BREEAM rating, the manner in which the entrance pavilion blocks the open space and the fact that despite major design changes no Design Review has taken place since an initial review by CABE in 2014.
The Battersea Society is concerned that this application for an interchange over-bridge and lifts between platforms will do little to reduce congestion and future proof against increased footfall. We have found it hard to envisage the proposals but understand that these proposals would not add step-free access for passengers entering the station from Grant Road. Such access seems to us to be essential in order to reduce traffic in the tunnel and future proof the station against increases in footfall.
The Battersea Society objects strongly to this application for an extension of Go Ape to provide a 'plummet feature' as part of its operation within the Grade2* historic Battersea Park. The proposal to add this plummet feature to the existing layout would extend the area of Go Ape outside its existing boundaries by requiring a support wire to a tree in the park area towards the boules ground.
The Battersea Society objects most strongly to the damage to the Conservation Area of work currently being undertaken in direct contravention to the Article 4 directions and to the planning permission given for the original applications.
The Battersea Society objects strongly to the proposed amendments to the roof profile which are detrimental to the listed building and should be referred to the Wandsworth Conservation Areas Committee before any decision is taken by the Planning Applications Committee. In addition we are disappointed to see the revised tenant mix which may reduce public access to this important building
The Battersea Society objects strongly to this unneighbourly over-development of the site which fails to complement other buildings within the area; to the move from housing to student accommodation; and to the lack of concern for the environment in relation both to the removal of trees and to the low level of BREEAM proposed. We note that a number of these concerns were raised by the Design Review Panel (DRP) prior to the application being submitted and it is regrettable that little has been done to address these issues.
The Battersea Society objects to these applications to replace telephone boxes with “Street Hubs”.
First, they will largely sustain, rather than reduce, the needless street clutter on busy, and often narrow pavements. BT’s claim that the Street Hubs occupy a quarter of the footprint of a telephone box is simply wrong, and by a very wide margin. The telephone boxes BT seeks to replace are 0.9*0.9 metres wide, with a footprint therefore of 0.81 sqm. The new Street Hubs are 0.35*1.24 metres wide, with a footprint therefore of 0.43 sqm, more than half that of the existing boxes, not a quarter as claimed. Moreover, since they are 0.34 metres (38%) wider than the existing boxes, they will, unless very carefully placed, add to the obstruction of narrow pavements.
The Battersea Society objects to this application. As we set out in detail below with regard to the Mendip/Chatfield Road pathway and the garden alongside it, both the current situation and the changes proposed in the application are in conflict with the policies relating to the riverside set out both in the current Local Plan and in the new draft Local Plan; and they are wholly unacceptable. We strongly support the Council’s policies to enhance both public access to the riverside and the volume and quality of public realm. This application seeks to do precisely the opposite.
The Battersea Society maintains its objection to these revised proposals which are proposed to be built so close to the roadway along both Nine Elms and Ponton Road as to leave inadequate space for drop off, servicing and essential parking. This will be to the considerable detriment of traffic flow along both Nine Elms and Ponton Road, the latter a key route to other buildings along Nine Elms, to the US Embassy and to Waitrose. Adding trees along the centre of this busy side road will merely exacerbate the problem.
The Battersea Society objects most strongly to the application for a building which is an unneighbourly over-development of the site, to the detriment of views from the Battersea Park, Latchmere Estate and Shaftesbury Park Estate conservation areas and which fails to provide long-term housing for a variety of household sizes.
Alterations to bowls greens to create landscaped putting greens including landscaping and installation of water feature. The Battersea Society objects to this application.
The Battersea Society, as with previous applications for development on this site, objects strongly to this latest application.
The Battersea Society objects most strongly to a further extension of permission for this illuminated advertisement, first granted for a temporary period of three years in 2013.
The Battersea Society wishes to maintain its strong objection to this application and do not consider the revised proposals, nor the responses given to our letter of 7 September 2020, are persuasive in allaying concerns expressed by ourselves, by neighbours, by TfL and by the Design Review Panel.
The Battersea Society maintains its strong objection to plans for this plot and is disappointed that, with some exceptions, this application has not taken the opportunity to move forward from the plans approved at 2019/2293 and about which we, and the Design Review Panel, had significant concerns.
While the Battersea Society supports the aim of restoring this strategically-important building and bringing it back into mixed retail and office use we have to object to this application which fails to take account of concerns we have expressed since the start of the consultation process.
We are grateful to Thomas’s for including the Battersea Society in their consultation discussions and are largely supportive of the proposal but would like further work to be carried out to ensure that the increased number of users of the site does not have an adverse impact on residents and businesses in the surrounding area.
While the Battersea Society considers these plans to be a significant improvement over the approved scheme (2016/5422) we have a number of concerns which lead us to object to this application as it now stands.
The Battersea Society strongly objects to the part of this application which involves the destruction of the trees and planted areas surrounding the car park in front of Asda, and replacing them with a porous resin finish.
The Battersea Society Planning Committee objects strongly to this application to locate a 20m telecommunications pole and associated equipment in this highly visible location in the centre of Battersea Park which, as the Conservation Area Appraisal emphasises, is a Grade 2* listed Registered Historic Park and Garden of outstanding landscape interest.
The Battersea Society objects to this application, which proposes to create a building considerably larger than the one to which the Council refused permission in September 2017 (2017/2041).
The Battersea Society objects most strongly to this application which is an unneighbourly overdevelopment and one which would do irreparable harm to the streetscape.
The Battersea Society strongly objects to this attempt to formalise what has been constructed outside the terms of planning approval.
2. CONSULTATIONS ON MAJOR DEVELOPMENT
For larger developments, developers often mount public consultations to which we alert members. In addition to responding to these, we sometimes talk through schemes with developers before they finalise and submit planning applications.
The documents associated with these may run to hundreds of pages and we try to read as much as we can with care before submitting detailed written responses.
Our responses to the more significant recent consultations shown below.
PLANNING CONSULTATIONS
The Battersea Society strongly objects to this proposal to build a 38-storey tower on a prominent site facing the Thames next to the Grade 2 listed Battersea Bridge and close to the Grade 2* Albert Bridge.
We broadly welcome the thrust of the draft, on tenants and leaseholders, building more homes, improved standards for private renters, homelessness and rough sleepers, and residents with additional needs. But we make a number of suggestions for improvements
The appraisal is incomplete as it lacks guidance for those wishing to alter their property, concentrates too much on the Square and its buildings and does not set out details of current issues and how the Council plans to manage these.
While the Battersea Society is generally in favour of any proposals to improve safety and traffic flow across Battersea Bridge and along Battersea Bridge Road we are not supportive of these proposals. Having looked at the proposals in greater detail following our virtual meeting with the TfL team we have a number of concerns, not least the final balance between the benefits and drawbacks of the changes overall. The exception relates to changes at the junction at Battersea Bridge Road and Battersea Church Road where we have long called for improvements.
The Battersea Society object strongly to the limited consultation on the proposal to close so many ticket offices and to the obscure manner in which that consultation has taken place. In particular we are concerned that Clapham Junction, the largest interchange station in the country and one which also has a very high level of passengers directly travelling from the station, would, under current proposals, be without any ticket office at all.
The Battersea Society cannot support these proposals to replace 39 residential units with co-living space.
The following response follows the format of the online questionnaire in narrative form.
The Battersea Society was surprised that they were not included in the notification about the consultation on these proposals, only having been alerted to them belatedly by a local Councillor.
We were disappointed that this appears to be only a partial consultation to register an intent to make changes to the masterplan.
First we wish to thank Joe Richardson and his team for the helpful way they have briefed us and for their willingness to maintain dialogue as their plans progress.
The Battersea Society has now considered further the proposals for the redevelopment of the storage facility in Mendip Road Battersea which were presented at the webinar in August.
As with our earlier response, there is much to commend about these proposals and we have confidence that the restoration work and new building will be carried out to the high standard this important Battersea landmark building deserves.
The Battersea Society Planning Committee were grateful for the Zoom presentation from W-RE on the proposals for the future of the former Arding and Hobbs building.
We are grateful for the time the team gave to presenting their plans to us and allowing us to provide feedback at this stage.
We are grateful that the developers alerted us to this and enabled us both to alert our members and respond to the consultation.
This is set out in strategy paper 20.056 presented to the Strategic Planning and Transportation Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 5 February 2020.
3. INPUT TO POLICY DEVELOPMENT
The third major element of the work of the Planning Committee is keeping up to date with the continuous changes in planning policies at three levels: national policies set by the Government; London-wide policies set out in the London Plan; and policies set by Wandsworth Council in its Local Plan.
The Government makes regular changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which sets policies and procedures to which all local authorities must adhere. A major reform of the framework is promised following a controversial White Paper issued in 2020, with new legislation likely later in 2021. If taken forward this will lead to fundamental changes to the way planning policy and applications are handled.
A much-delayed new London Plan was published in March 2021 which will have a significant impact on developments across London, including Battersea. Wandsworth’s Local Plan sets policies for what kinds of buildings, for what kinds of uses, can be built in different parts of the borough. A draft of the latest Local Plan was issued for consultation in January 2021. It looks forward fifteen years, covering issues such as housing, the local economy, transport, the natural environment, and community services. It also sets out strategies for the development of key areas such as Clapham Junction and Nine Elms.
We review and respond to proposed changes in policies and strategies at all three levels, drawing on our own experience and discussions with other bodies, both local and national. We work closely with neighbouring civic societies and with other groups such as the Clapham Junction Business Improvement District (BID) and the Friends of Battersea Park; and we liaise with bodies such as the London Forum of Amenity and Civic Societies. We also have regular contact with officials in the Council’s Planning Department.
Our responses to the more recent consultations on policy are shown below.
PLANNING POLICY
The Battersea Society supports the three aims set out for the Partial Review of the Local Plan in relation to affordable housing, and we recognise the urgency that has led to the Review. But we would welcome the opportunity to discuss key aspects of all three aims together with the exploration of some topics not covered in this review.
One of the Government’s many recent consultation documents was about the reform of local planning. The stated aims of its proposals were to
· reduce the complexity of Local Plans and to make their role and content clearer, with more use of digital tools, visualisation and mapping; and
· to reduce the time taken to develop Local Plans to a maximum of 30 months from initiation of the process to adoption, and to ensure that new Plans are developed every five years.
This response relates to the routes in the Central London Bus Review of significance for those living within the area covered by the Battersea Society; that is the former borough of Battersea. Because of its historic development Battersea has always depended on convenient, quick and reliable bus services across the river to Chelsea, Kensington, Victoria and Westminster. Any change to services has to ensure that buses continue to serve and meet this demand.
The latest version of the Local Plan was published for consultation in January. It aims to set policies governing the development of Wandsworth over a period of 15 years from 2023.
There is much that is laudable in this strategy and little with which we would disagree. We are disappointed, however, that while the targets for changes in behaviour on page 12 are set in precise terms, most of the actions to be taken by the Council are highly generalised and non-specific. Rather, they talk of reviewing, improving, prioritising, transforming and so on in non-specific terms, combined with phrases like 'as much (or as many) as possible'. There are thus no targets set for these activities, nor is it stated how they, still less their impact or effectiveness, will be monitored.
The Planning Committee’s full response covers chapters including those dealing with Area Strategies for Clapham Junction, Nine Elms and Wandsworth Riverside, Design Excellence, Climate Change, Housing and Transport amongst others.
The Battersea Society is the long-established civic society for Battersea within the London Borough of Wandsworth and an active member of the London Forum.
The Battersea Society has alerted its members to this study and has previously supplied input to the SWOT for each of Clapham Junction and Nine Elms.