Day 2 - Public Inquiry into the CPO of The Green, Southall
Wed 12 Oct 2022
The Inquiry Inspector, Matthew Nunn, and objecting residents were given a tour of the development. They were taken to certain spots and shown diagrams (used in presentation on Tuesday) as to what the new development would look like from that particular spot.
Sam Stackhouse (Montague Evans - Planning) presented his evidence, on behalf of Ealing Council, on Tuesday afternoon and today was a chance for objectors to ask him some questions.
The two-day Peabody Exhibition (consultation) in June 2019 attracted 64 people. The two-day Peabody Exhibition (consultation) in September 2019 attracted 56 people. A total of 120 people attended over 4 days. All the Councillors and 53 community groups were invited. How many people turned up is irrelevant to the developer and planning authority.
Two large and in demand wedding venues, considered a community space, were to be demolished. Balraj Purewal asked why “One of the biggest demands was for a community space for weddings etc. Why was that not provided” in the development?
The response was that there is no policy for that. The developer just needs to provide some community space. In this case will be 100 square metres.
The largest request (from 6 people) was for a youth club. Why was no provision provided? A response will be given later.
How many cars would the new 564 flat users have? The people buying would be made aware of the parking issues. New tenants would not be entitled to resident permits for parking. So, a commuting type tenants would be moving in.
Arif Hussain pointed out that the consultation/exhibition information was not on Ealing Councils website or Peabody’s website. Enquires at some shops suggested that that they did not receive any leaflet and were unaware that a consultation was taking place. The response was that 157 objections meant that people were aware of what was going on.
Mr J S Bhangu pointed out that his experience at the Southall Waterside development suggests that the new tenants will have a lot more cars than planned for and they will make our parking problems worse. The parking issues outside the new Merrick Road developments is another headache. The new tenants will have cars and they will park anywhere they can.
The response was that for new developments, near a railway station, there is a zero parking spaces policy.
The 9k housing target has been exceeded, we don’t need any more housing.
The Inquiry Inspectors response was that permission exists for development. That can go ahead. This inquiry is only concerned with the CPO.
There will be 60 public parking spaces behind St. Anselm's Church. What if the new tenants parked there and reduce the public parking spaces. (New) residents will not be allowed to park 24 hours a day. Impact needs to closely monitored.
The Peabody Trust (a housing association) cannot make profits, so Peabody Developments Limited was set up set up to overcome that.
Peabody Developments Limited profits are passed onto Peabody Trust. It is the second largest registered housing provider in London.
Peabody are a developer for the site and they have chosen a delivery partner to carry out the building work.
The rent for a one-bedroom flat will be £180 per week. The rent for a 4-bedroom flat will be £216 per week. Social rents will be lower than that.
Peabody Developments Limited will be paying approximately £2.4 million under Section 106 to Ealing Council for the provision of extra services and infrastructure required.
This will be updated with more information later.
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