 |
| Architects view of new Pentavia Park develoment and M1 |
Here is the text of my speech.
I have been asked by a group of over 20 independent Mill
Hill Residents, all of whom asked permission to speak tonight, to represent them and put across their
objections. The Barnet Cycling Campaign have also
allowed me to speak on their behalf.
It is recognised in the Council report, and all residents are of the opinion that the scheme is not in
keeping with the existing nature of Mill Hill and does not meet the councils planning
brief requirements. The Barnet Cycling Campaign believe that the proposal is
against the planning brief and Mayor’s Transport Stragey.
As a business owner, it is clear that the scheme will do
nothing to increase provision of low cost housing for local people on the wages
typical in Milll Hill’s health, social care, industrial and service sectors,
meaning a key aim of the London plan is not fulfilled
The number of households this scheme adds to the area, over
700, in excess of 2,000 residents, will
put severe strain on already overstretched local facilities such as Schools,
medical centres and local green space. Parking in surrounding streets will all
be affected negatively, along with congestion caused by large numbers of residents
having to drive to and from the already overly congested Mill Hill
Circus/Fiveways corner to turn around for access to the site largely during
rush hour.
The increased building area and hardstanding will increase
water run-off and therefore worsen drainage issues and surface water problems,
with no proposed mitigation. These are already evidenced by frequently seen large
and dangerous pools of water by Bunns Lane Bridge creating traffic hazards
during times of heavy rainfall.
The application gives scant regards to the realities of the
situation regarding local schools. The site will not be in the catchment area
for Mill Hill County High, the nearest co-ed secondary school, which is heavily
oversubscribed.
Of the local buses, the 221, as my son who attended school
in Finchley found, is overloaded during rush hour as is the 113. The stated aim of increasing cycling will not be achieved,
noted by the Barnet cycling campaign who said
“that the development in Pentavia Park does not fulfil
either the planning brief or the wider aims of Barnet Council and the Mayor of
London in terms of cycling. In particular, we can see little
evidence of paragraphs 1.2, 1.3, 5.12 and 6.6 being met;”
They added that no routes from
the site are suitable for disabled riders and that the scheme
“…is not likely to help the borough achieve any modal
shift towards cycling and might
indeed send it the other way.”
It is also likely that residents will be regularly
exposed to extremely poor air quality on entering and leaving the buildings.
In summary, we urge the committee to reject this scheme
and send a strong message to the developer that Mill Hill Residents will keep
objecting until such time as they put forward a scheme that is in keeping with
the localilty and works for Mill Hill, not just for their narrow financial
interests. If developers are not prepared to respect the views of residents,
then the council or London mayor should use CPO powers to safeguard residents
interests, as happened with a South London football club site, and build homes
for key workers at an appropriate density
-----
At the top is an artists visualisation of the M1 traffic with the buildings next to it. This tweet is how the M1 in Mill Hill actually looked in rush hour. It's funny how roads never look like this in architects drawings
— Roger Tichborne/RogT #CTID (@Barneteye) July 25, 2018
No comments:
Post a Comment