| Topic: | Council agrees to quash planning permission | |
| Posted by: | Nicholas Evans | |
| Date/Time: | 13/12/12 20:22:00 |
| FoPC Press Release – issued 13th December 2012 This is quite a long entry, but worth reading . . . Wandsworth Borough Council quashes planning permission for the Putney Hospital redevelopment • FoPC has obtained agreement from the Council to quash the planning permission granted by itself to itself on the 29th of October. • The lack of a full environmental assessment is shown to be unlawful. • The Council has not provided the transport assessment relied on in the screening opinion. • FoPC describes the planning process for the Putney Hospital development as “lacking in the necessary honesty and integrity that the residents of Putney expect from their own representatives and officials.” • FoPC calls on the Council to rethink its plans for Putney Hospital and listen to all residents. It will be holding an open public meeting in early 2013 when all sides can put their opinions. Community group ‘Friends of Putney Hospital’ (www.friendsofputneycommon.org) has obtained an undertaking from Wandsworth Council to quash the planning permission granted on the 29th of October to build a 420 pupil primary school and 24 luxury flats in a mixed-use development on the island site surrounded by Putney Common. Presented by FoPC with clear legal opinion that the lack of an environmental assessment could be successfully challenged through judicial review the Council has decided to withdraw their planning permission. Should the Council decide to reapply with a similar proposal to overdevelop the site with both a 2FE primary school and 24 luxury flats it will be axiomatic that a full environmental assessment will now be required. While FoPC’s challenge focused on the transport issues – increased traffic and difficult parking - raised by the proposal, it is also the case that other environment issues will need to be addressed, as stipulated in the EIA regulations prior to any reapplication. These include the impact on the natural environment (there is evidence of bats and badgers, both protected species), the health impact on primary age children of placing the school alongside one the busiest roads in Putney, the risks of accidents from crossing the Lower Richmond Road, the lack of parking facilities and much else. A spokesman for FoPC said in response to the news: “We have doubted the honesty and integrity of the whole planning process from the very beginning and we’ve been proved correct in this view throughout. This has been a woeful display of arrogance and obfuscation from the Council. The original planning application from the Council’s Education Service to itself as Planning Authority went through numerous revisions before being declared invalid. Even before the permission was finally granted in October we had pointed out that the lack of a thorough Environmental Assessment was unlawful, and any planning permission granted would therefore be flawed. They did not listen. Nor did they hear the 628 objections from over 800 residents and other local organisations who made specific objections. The actions of the Planning Department in particular and the Councillors who voted for and supported the scheme has been little short of a disgrace.” “We are also now accused by the Council’s Education Spokesperson Councillor Kathy Tracey of being a ‘small number of people who are trying to prevent a much needed primary school being built by tying us up in litigation.’ This is not so. We have wide support in the community as demonstrated by the number of objections registered on the WBC Planning website. We endorse the need for a new primary school, but not the one suggested by the Council. It is too big. It has a rooftop playground with restricted space. The access roads encroach onto Putney Common. 320 residents used an FoPC postcard to protest, as did many others. We challenged the lack of an EIA for clear planning and environmental reasons. The Council was warned of the problems before they granted planning permission, and only a legal challenge remained to halt wrong-doing.” Background to FoPC’s legal challenge (http://www.friendsofputneycommon.org) Hooray - thanks everyone. Just the illegal easement agreement with WPCC next. Nick |