How the latest plans for 100 Avenue Road look

ONE of Camden’s longest-running planning sagas is back at the Town Hall tonight (Thursday) – and this time it’s even bigger.

It is 12 years since the redevelopment of 100 Avenue Road in Swiss Cottage was first approved by planning chiefs.

The 24-storey tower, social housing block and new home for the Winch Youth Centre was mothballed after years of legal tussling, planning appeal hearings and developer shenanigans.

Regal, which has taken over the scheme after former developer Essential Living downed tools, is proposing a series of amendments including adding 53 extra homes and changing the colour of the cladding to red brick.

It says design changes including “floor-to-floor efficiencies” can be made to make space to build 237 homes in total, making the scheme acceptably profitable.

Council officers are recommending the “quality scheme” is approved but there have been objections from dozens of residents to the “monster” tower that focus on the scheme’s scale, the shift from rentable homes to sale only and the new colour of the tower.

The Winch Youth Centre has been waiting for a new home for more than a decade and has consistently backed the scheme, despite the overwhelming objections from neighbouring residents.

In March, the centre’s chief executive Rashid Iqbal MBE told the New Journal: “I’m not focused on litigating the past, my focus is on making sure there is a community benefit for generations to come.”

Belsize ward councillors Judy Dixey, Matthew Kirk and Tom Simon say they welcome the plan for the new home for the Winch, but are objecting saying there are not enough affordable homes and the scale of the scheme is too large.

Alex Andrews, a resident living next to the scheme, said in his objection: “Regal propose a dense, dark-red brick giant tower which in my opinion is architecturally a monster blot on our local landscape and much less visually appealing by previous proposals by Essential Living.”

Jean Manthorpe says the tower will “cast a huge shadow physically and mentally over the whole area”.

Sir Daniel Bethlehem,  a barrister and former legal adviser to the government, also registered his “strong objection” to the “market for sale” approach of the new developer.

The Belsize Conservation Area Advisory Committee warns there has not been a proper “wind microclimate assessment”, and proposed red cladding will be in “unacceptable contrast with the sky” and neighbouring buildings, a council report said.

The Belsize Society has also criticised the cladding material that is “obtrusive and inappropriate”.

Other objections have come in from the manager of the Swiss Cottage Farmers Market, the Combined Residents’ Associations of South Hampstead (CRASH), Save Swiss Cottage, Save Swiss Cottage Action Group, and South Hampstead Flood Action Group.

A Regal statement said: “We submitted our S73 amendment application for 100 Avenue Road earlier this year to enhance the extant permission with more homes, better community spaces and improved fire safety and sustainability strategies.

“The updated proposals are informed by detailed technical assessments, including design, transport, environmental and heritage considerations. They have been thoughtfully developed to reflect the site’s context and align with local and strategic planning objectives.”

A decision is expected tonight.