57-59 Lombard Road, 2023/0892
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).
As is set out on pages 11-14 of the planning statement this would be yet another tall building alongside York Road which will in time become yet another canyon of tall buildings The illustrations on pages 53 and 63 of the Design and Access Statement show this clearly.
We therefore maintain our objection to this application on the grounds not only of excessive height but also that a development of this size – with its preponderance of small units – will further exacerbate problems of traffic capacity and lack of infrastructure.
Height: There seems some uncertainty in the paper work as to whether this is a development of 23 storeys or of ‘up to 24 storeys’. In either case this is excessive made worse by an increase in height of the lower block from 12 to 14 storeys.
Traffic: A high PTAL rating is of little value if residents cannot get on the bus or train due to lack of capacity. In the case of Clapham Junction station there have been occasions when the station has to be closed to new travellers, and congestion due to interchanging is a further problem. The traffic evaluation fails to note the constraints on the 170 route, its lack of frequency and the number of times when passengers cannot get on as it is full to capacity. In our experience buses along York Road are not that frequent, certainly not in the case of the 44. While we too are keen to see the Cremorne Bridge built we understand there is no funding for this for some time into the foreseeable future. Crossrail 2 is even further into the future.
Off Street Parking: We are not clear to what extent the development provides off-street parking for disabled residents and visitors and for the regular delivery drop offs to be expected. As a matter of principle no development should rely on existing on-street disabled parking bays, nor should it rely on on-street parking for delivery drop-offs and longer term parking for servicing vehicles. The provision of one or two car club parking bays within the development would be desirable.
Infrastructure: No mention is made of the possible inclusion of health care facilities, schools, community space (free to use), nor, as far as we can see, estimates of how existing capacity for these will be adversely impacted by the addition of this dense development. It is worth noting that the loss of Halfords on top of the loss of Homebase both in York Road and at Wandsworth roundabout is a serious diminution of infrastructure for Battersea and other residents.
Unit Mix: We object to the high number of studio and 1-bed apartments for both the market and affordable tenures. This will further increase the number of transient residents within Battersea. The lack of family housing for middle-income residents is working against a fully mixed community with the majority of people unable to make their home in Battersea over the longer-term. It is essential that key workers with families are able to live within a short travel distance of their work and this development does little to help offset the lack of such housing.
BREEAM Excellent: It is Council policy that new developments are ‘Outstanding’’. Excellent is disappointing.
We trust that these concerns will be addressed by the applicant and that the application in its current form will be refused.