| Topic: | Re:The case against a Conservation Area for Northfields | |
| Posted by: | Kay Garmeson | |
| Date/Time: | 19/01/24 17:51:00 |
| As the person who initiated the idea of making Northfields a conservation area, I would just like to point out the following: – No-one has pressurised the Council. I simply put forward this proposal to the external consultant conducting a review of all Ealing’s CAs and it was accepted for consultation on its merits. – With regard to the lack of consultation with recognised residents’ associations, I have been in touch with EFRA, the residents’ association of which Roger is Chair, on multiple occasions about the CA since the first public consultation in early 2022, and spoke at their AGM on the subject last year. – EFRA represents only a fraction of all households in the area (which, incidentally, are nearer 4,000 than 7,000. I know. I’ve leafleted them all twice!) By contrast, every household in the affected area has been notified about this consultation by the Council. – Contrary to Roger’s view that the area has ‘been and gone’ and cannot be judged as anything exceptional’, Historic England and the Victorian Society have supported the CA proposal, and that is not something that they do lightly. – It is simply not true that ‘the declaration of a CA would stymie any new building in the area’ or stop people making changes to their homes, including improving energy efficiency. This looks like scaremongering. CA designation will mean that more substantial changes to houses would be subject to greater scrutiny to ensure that they are sympathetic to their surroundings. – Roger says that ‘we should add to our housing stock in a sensitive way in areas like Northfields’. I would wholeheartedly agree, but anyone who has followed the developments springing up across the borough knows that we cannot rely on developers to build sensitively, e.g. Waitrose. I encourage everyone to respond to the consultation by emailing localplan@ealing.gov.uk (or by writing to the Strategic Planning Team, Ealing Council, Perceval House, 14-16 Uxbridge Road, Ealing, London W5 2HL). The consultation ends on Wednesday, 31 January 2024. |