Conservation area bid as planners approve demolition

CAMPAIGNERS fear a delay by Town Hall planning chiefs in approving a conservation area in west Kentish Town could spell doom for a historic pub.
Developers want to knock down the former Newberry Arms, at the corner of Malden Road and Marsden Street, and put up a four-storey, seven-flat building in its place.
Two previous applications by the developer, Top Castle, were rejected by planning chiefs but at a meeting at the Town Hall last Tuesday the demolition was finally given the go-ahead despite an acknowledgement from officers that the building made a “positive contribution to the area”.
Planning chiefs also admitted English Heritage has applied for conservation area status for the area and that permission to demolish the pub, which is now closed, would most likely be refused if this was granted.
According to English Heritage, the decision to grant conservation status is now in the council’s hands after the organisation paid for a report sent to the Town Hall some months ago.
But a plea from Terence Ewing, of the Euston Trust, to postpone a final decision on the flats plans was dismissed by planning committee chairman, Labour councillor Brian Woodrow.
Agreeing officers’ recommendations to give the go-ahead, Cllr Woodrow said: “It is unfortunate but we can’t do anything about the timing. The design is now moving in the right direction.”
Mr Ewing, who fears the building will now be demolished before a decision on conservation area status is made, is accusing the council of “dragging its heels” on the issue. He said: “The council is pussyfooting around the issue.
“If you knock the pub down, then you take out half the reason for it being designated a conservation area in the first place. It’s closing the stable doors after the horses have bolted.”
Christopher Truman, who has campaigned to save the pub, called the planned flats a “lego box” and criticised planning chiefs for “trampling on the voice of the community”.
Mr Truman, from nearby Marsden Street, said: “We are now in a race against time to protect the pub. We can only do it if conservation area status is granted.”
He added: “We are not against development but we are talking about producing a design that will incorporate key features of the existing building rather than a total demolition.
“Good design should understand surrounding structures so it benefits the whole community.”
A Town Hall press official said the process of designating a conservation area was “lengthy, time-consuming and complicated”.
He added: “We can only determine an application on the basis of existing policy, so whether the area would become a conservation area in the future has no bearing on the decision that is taken now.”
A spokesman for Top Castle said: “We think the replacement is going to look very good and will enhance the future conservation area, if that is granted.”