Clapham Junction Flower Kiosk, 2023/3883

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. Those grounds still stand.

First, we believe that while the new kiosk will be slightly smaller, a kiosk as large as 8 metres long, 2 metres wide and 2.5 metres high will remain a bulky, unsympathetic and incongruous element in the Clapham Junction Conservation Area. It fails to relate in any meaningful way to the local character of existing streetscape or to the nearby listed buildings.  No attempt is made to integrate with its surroundings; it is thus visually intrusive and compromises the visual amenity of the Conservation Area. The proposal thus contravenes Section 72(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and the 2021 NPPF; Policy HC1C in the London Plan; and Policies LP1, LP2, LP3 and PM4 in the Local Plan. Any offsetting public benefit would be at best marginal.

Second, the location outside the busy main entrance to the railway station and adjacent to a signalled pedestrian crossing across a busy main road with many bus stops raises a range of concerns. The kiosk restricts very high pedestrian flow along the footway, as well as to and from the station entrance. It causes problems for the large numbers of people with buggies, suitcases and trolleys; for people who are mobility-impaired or in wheelchairs; and for people who are blind or partially-sighted. It is thus incompatible with the Healthy Streets approach adopted in Policy T2 of the London Plan; and also with the requirements in Policy LP50 in the Local Plan to avoid harm to highway safety and any road safety hazard.

Third, it has an adverse impact on the main entrance to the station and to the shops in the StopShop centre, impeding access on the way in and out, and obscuring views of St John’s Hill and its streetscape, its bus stops, and the amenities it provides.

We trust that for all these reasons the application will be refused, and that efforts will be made to find a more suitable location for the kiosk