PROPERTY: Neighbourhood Development Forum sets its sights on housing design, schools and transport
Thursday, 3rd October 2013
A key issue for the forum is the West Hampstead transport interchange
Published: 3 October, 2013
by DAN CARRIER
THE height of new buildings, street signs in a conservation area, affordable housing, and lobbying for a new landlords’ register are some of the issues Fortune Green and West Hampstead Neighbourhood Development Forum hopes to confront as it draws up a new development plan.
The forum is one of a number formed in Camden since the Localism Act of 2011 which granted new rights for local communities to shape new development and prepare neighbourhood plans. It was recognised by the Town Hall in May this year, and has just published the sixth draft of its plans for the area.
The final plan will be voted on in 2014 by people who live within the 189 hectares.
The forum area runs along the Camden side of Kilburn High Road in the west to Finchley Road in the east. It has 11,000 households and contains 43 per cent of people living in private rented homes – compared with Camden’s average of 32 per cent.
Once ratified, the forum’s plan will form a plank of policy for all planning applications in the area.
Forum chairman James Earl, who has lived in West Hampstead for 14 years, said there were a number of challenges. “It is one of four growth areas identified in Camden and it’s the only one on the north of the borough,” he said.
“There have been 800 new homes and people are concerned how it will fit.”
He said the forum’s concerns run along two lines in terms of new developments: “Design is hot issue for us,” he said. “People are concerned about the design and the height of new buildings. You can’t just put in Canary Wharf here with tall glass and steel tower blocks.”
Another issue relating to development is how the area’s infrastructure – health services, schools, transport, for example – will cope.
He added: “If we are going to have a large new population coming in, can the area cope? Existing infrastructure is very overcrowded already. This isn’t a Nimbyish thing – we accept that growth will happen, we just want to ensure it has a positive impact on our neighbourhood.”
In a draft of its plan, the forum is calling on Camden Council to establish a central register of private landlords to help monitor rents and conditions and offer a level of protection.
“We have a significantly higher number of people in private rented accommodation,” the draft plan states. “With many of the newer properties in the area being bought by investors to rent, greater thought needs to be given to this issue.
"Some councils are introducing a register of private landlords in order to give greater protection to tenants and make landlords more accountable. This is something Camden Council should consider.”
Another key issue for the forum is the way the West Hampstead transport interchange is redeveloped. Various schemes have been on the agenda for years, and the forum’s report has a number of suggestions on how things might proceed.
It adds that the areas outside the stations are dangerous: “It is regularly crowded, with little room for pedestrians, causing them to spill over in to the road.
This area is dominated by traffic, with narrow, cluttered, highly congested pavements – which are used by both residents and commuters. Urgent improvements to the public realm are needed.”
The report flags up how much people love West Hampstead, its village feel and sense of community.
Surveys show the Victorian and Edwardian architecture is respected, and many of those consulted want stronger enforcement of planning laws to protect them.
The homes and shops along West End Lane present the forum with a special problem, and it suggests asking for an Article Four directive to help clear up what it says is a mixture of street clutter through various signs, changes made to homes that have seen original windows and doors replaced with unsightly modern alternatives, front gardens paved over and turned into parking spaces, and other piecemeal changes that have degraded the conservation area.
• Further information about Fortune Green and West Hampstead Neighbourhood Development Forum plans at
www.ndpwesthampstead.org.uk
