Camden moves to fight policy allowing basements to be built without planning permission
Friday, 6th November 2015
THE Town Hall is looking at bringing in borough-wide blanket powers against basement projects after a new High Court ruling found that many of them can be built without the need for planning permission.
Labour environment chief Phil Jones has sent a briefing to all councillors explaining how a case in west London could have a knock-on effect in Camden by watering down council powers to block basement digs.
Kensington and Chelsea Council had tried to stop home-owners carving out basements under the government’s “permitted development rules” – a new fast-track planning process which allows work to begin without going through the full process.
In his briefing, Councillor Jones wrote: “It appears the council’s approach to permitted development rights is unsustainable because of a number of newly-decided cases.”
He is seeking to hit back with a new rule, known as an “Article Four direction”, a blanket guideline that would control the developments.
“I will also be writing to the government to set out my concerns about the potential risks of basement excavations not being controlled through the planning process,” said Cllr Jones.
“It is clear the law is inadequate and must be changed.”
Civic group the Heath and Hampstead Society has run a six-year campaign with the aim of clarifying the responsibilities of people who want to build basements. It says the Town Hall must act quickly to ensure people do not use the new rulings to start a rash of potentially damaging building work.
David Castle, from the society, said: “We have long been concerned about the potential damage, the disruption and the worry caused to neighbours by the construction of basements. The fact that a basement can be inserted without planning permission is shocking and this fact is increasingly being realised by developers and builders.”
He added: “Planning law should have been clarified years ago and it is now good to hear that Camden is considering using its powers to make it necessary for all house-owners or developers to apply for planning permission before constructing a basement.
“Action is needed, and we urge Camden to act quickly and solve this situation, as the City of Westminster has already done, by issuing an Article Four direction.”
NEIGHBOURS IN QUIET FLASK WALK OPPOSE BASEMENT PLAN
MUD, dust and heavy traffic will cause chaos by clogging up one of Hampstead’s narrowest streets if plans for a basement extension are approved, residents have warned.
Owners of a small terraced house in Flask Walk, a sloping street which connects Hampstead High Street to the Heath, are seeking council permission to dig what they say is a “modest extension” to accommodate their growing family. The plans include a subterranean living room and dining space
At one-storey deep it would be no “iceberg home” but neighbours say construction vehicles will wreak havoc as they squeeze up and down the lane, which has a six-foot width restriction.
In a string of objections filed at the Town Hall, they claim that in the past lorries trying to squeeze through Flask Walk have become wedged between parked vehicles, tearing off wing mirrors and scratching cars.
David Altaras, a planning barrister and member of Flask Walk Resident Association, told the New Journal: “We’ve had a history of HGVs trying to get down Flask Walk and damaging cars that are parked on the side of the road. The idea that you are going to have a regular flow of lorries coming up Flask Walk to take away the spoil and to deliver all the material is quite ridiculous.
“Most residents in Flask Walk are concerned about the traffic impact – we just don’t think it is practical.”
The Heath and Hampstead Society has described the application as “unbuildable”, filing an official objection which added: “Flask Walk is one of Hampstead’s narrowest and most congested one-way roads, and the impact of this work, especially the excavation and spoil removal stages of it, would clearly lead to traffic chaos.”
However, other neighbours submitted letters of support for the plans.
Pre-application advice from Town Hall planners is that there is no objection in principle to a basement extension at the house.
Sebastian Sandler, of XUL, the architects for the project, said they were working with the council to ensure the building process causes “as little disruption as possible”.
“The construction management plan that has been prepared, and is in the process of being updated, confirms that noise levels will be compliant with permitted levels and no damage to the road is expected,” he said.
“We are very conscious of the area’s character, beauty and historic value and therefore endeavour to do all we can to have a fitting, high-quality design and a smooth and well-managed construction process.”
Camden’s existing planning guidance on basements requires developers to prove that neither neighbours nor the environment will be harmed during building work.
But as Flask Way is located in an “area of concern” with regard to slope stability and groundwater flow the applicant must pay for an independent check on this guarantee.
