13 April 2021

The Battle of the Ridgeway - New Planning Application

Ongoing Battle Against Development 

The local community in West Harrow have been fighting aginst the 265, The Ridgeway planning development for over two years, submitted by the land owners, the Plymouth Brethren group.  The Brethren are proposing a 3-7 storey development, which will be completely out of character with the local area.

Sue Green who set up the Change.org petition, which now has over 3000 signatures (please sign if you haven't already), wrote on NextDoor on the 5th April 2021: 

"For those who don’t know the history, The ‘Brethren’ bought the land from Harrow Council 20 years ago at favourable rates as it is designated a D1 site. This means it should only be used for religious, education or sporting activities.  A meeting house was built to hold religious meetings which complied with the Covenant and parking was provided onsite for their congregation.

A couple of years ago they moved from the area and put the site up for sale at a cost of £8 million. The site is now subject to a planning application for several high rise tower blocks, up to 7 storeys, consisting of 178, mostly one bedroom flats, with little parking."

Destruction of Green Corridor

In December 2020, the Brethren destroyed much of the green corridor running along its border with the West Harrow allotments.  Read about the events that unfolded on the morning just before Christmas and the impact the removal of trees and vegetation will have on local wildlife, including endangered species recorded living there.  There is now an excellent new documentary by Maya Dodwell of Speak For Trees, reporting on the actions of the Brethren, including interviews from Simon Braidman, Warden at Stanmore Common, Cllr Adam Swersky, Mark Mulvenna, West Harrow Allotments Site Rep and Emma Wallace from Harrow Green Party.

Planning Application Re-submitted

This April, the planning application has been resubmitted by the Plymouth Brethen, with Harrow Council giving residents just 21 days notice, from the posted reconsultation letters, to comment on the application.  It appears there are minimal changes to the development, with the tower blocks still the same height and quantity of units. 

The window to comment on this application is now very short - please add your objections to the P/1492/20 application by 20th April 2021.   

Reasons to Object the Planning Application 

1. Its height, mass and scale are still completely out of character with this green, low rise, residential area.
2. It still fails to deliver on the two to three bedroom family housing Harrow urgently needs
3. It will still destroy the area’s green open tranquil character and replaces it with an urban look
4. It will still sever the green corridor destroying the habitat of many beneficial creatures, and offers money to compensate for it
5. It flouts 1997 planning conditions which state it can only be used as a low-intense faith premise ‘to safeguard the amenity of neighbouring residents and the character of the locality’
6. It relies on the loss of statutory Allotment land to create a new cycle and pedestrian link with it and West Harrow Station. But would you use a path surrounded by open land when it is dark?
7. It is not redundant as a faith premise as The Brethren were approached by 4 faith groups to buy the site for a very healthy profit.
8. It will still put a strain on local resources and increase parking and traffic problems in the area.
9. The proposed development will cause a nuisance to properties, park users, allotment users and public health (social prescribing) project neighbouring the site.
10. It promises a new and expanded GP surgery but will it really happen? A health service to be changed to a commercial and business premise without needing planning permission.

Thank you to Wendy Mulvenna for compiling and sharing this list.

Emma Wallace

Green Party GLA Candidate for Brent and Harrow 

 

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