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NOTES ON HOW TO RESPOND TO LAMBETH COUNCIL’S CONSULTATION ABOUT THE TESCO DEVELOPMENT
The current consultation period for the SADPD is open again until the 13th of August 2024 (due to a technical error re many people were not aware that the consultation period was open from March to May 2024 and did get the chance to object). You can still object 😉 Please do so, as the number of objections really matters.
SEND YOUR CONSULTATION RESPONSE TO sadpd@lambeth.gov.uk
AND PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR FULL POSTAL ADDRESS AND THE NAME OF ALL THE ADULTS IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD THAT YOU ARE WRITING ON BEHALF OF.
The number of objections Lambeth Council receive is a really important factor in how seriously they'll take our objections. Your voice counts!!!
The note below aims to make it easy for you to quickly send a response, so PLEASE TAKE 15-20 MINUTES TO RESPOND TO THE CONSULTATION!
1. Introduction
Lambeth Council are currently consulting about what a new housing development could look like on the site of Tesco and its car park.
To be clear, Tesco have not yet started a 'planning application’. What's going on now is the stage before a planning application might be submitted. So this stage is a consultation carried out by Lambeth Council about how the Tesco site might be developed. As such it's a vital opportunity for us as a community to say what we don't want to see, and also to say how we DO want the site to be developed.
All the key documents are on the Lambeth Council website at:
2. What is the summary of what we as a community do and don't want?
We should all recognise that there is a need for more housing, and that the Tesco site is a good site for development. So, it's not realistic to say 'we want you to leave the site exactly as it is!' As such, the summary view we suggest you put forward to Lambeth Council would be something like this:
As a community we recognise that Lambeth does need more housing, and we are supportive in principle about developing the Tesco site, but the current proposals would pack too many units into a massive complex that will loom over the surrounding neighbourhood. The height and density should be scaled back, so that the height is similar to the surrounding neighbourhood, and less dense to allow for green spaces near to the boundaries of Baytree and Porden Road.
3. Specific objections to and concerns about the proposal for 'Site 20 - Tesco'.
We suggest you include some or all of the following points in your response to the consultation, alongside any additional concerns you have:
The proposals try to squeeze too many housing units (210) onto the site, and I'm concerned that the site owners actually want to build more than twice that number!
In the original Lambeth Council consultation, a lower figure of units was proposed, between 120-170. That was considered an ‘optimised’ level, so I am concerned that Lambeth Council now claim that it can almost double that.
I am also really concerned that the published responses to the Reg.18 consultation revealed that HSBC, who hold a 999-year lease of the Tesco site believe that it can yield between 420 - 470 dwellings! Again, this is not based on sound design-led principles, but a site owner wanting to maximise density and therefore maximise profit.
Indeed, at the online stakeholder meeting on Saturday 27th April, Lambeth Council stated that the reason the size of the development has increased so much between the first and second consultations is because Tesco have said they wouldn’t develop the land if it was only the amount of units specified in the first proposal. So, this indicates that the scale of the proposal is led by developer’s profit motive, rather than by sound planning principles.
As such, these new profit-driven proposals contradict Lambeth Council’s own optimised proposals set out in the Regulation 18 consultation stage.
Even though the current proposals set out a maximum height of 32m, there is nothing in the proposals that would prevent the eventual structure to be as high as 45m (the maximum height before it is classed as a 'tall building'). But to be clear, even 32m is far too high. It would be completely out of keeping with, and tower over, the adjacent streets of 2-3 storey family housing.
Objections made to the original proposals about the impacts for neighbours in terms of overlooking, enclosure and outlook have been completely ignored, despite clear policy on this in the Lambeth Local Plan.
The proposals aim to override the planning condition applied to the site boundary wall with Baytree Road (and Arlington Lodge) in 1985 to protect their privacy. The current boundary wall height should be maintained.
Given the pressures on local parking already, it is imperative that no parking permits should be provided to residents of the new development (with the exception of registered disabled people).
The scale and mass of the development would damage the settings of adjacent Conservation Areas and Listed Buildings just across the road.
The current unsafe service access to the supermarket is not being addressed by the current proposals.
The opportunity of providing a greater proportion of family-sized and child-friendly housing, which Lambeth desperately needs (especially given the exodus of families from Lambeth, and the merging of closing of local schools) is being missed. We think this particular site should focus on low-rise family sized accommodation.
Based on the current proposals, the site would be over-developed, leaving little or no space to meet the Council’s stated ambition to “retain, improve or create new open space” despite the area being deficient in this.
4. Specific 'positive' proposals for how the site can be developed
As much as we might all want to just say, turn the site into a community garden or allotment, such a (lovely) idea would be unviable. Lambeth desperately wants to and needs more housing, so the following is what we see as some sensible and proportionate proposals:
The highest point of the development should be along the Acre Lane line, and it should be massed downwards from there to reduce impact on the low-rise housing on Baytree and Porden Roads.
Specifically, the peak height of the development should be no more than 15m bordering Acre Lane (which is in keeping with the Acre Lane skyline), stepping down to 9m towards Baytree and Porden roads.
We note that in the planning documents for the 47-49 Acre Lane development (https://moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk/documents/s147791/PAC%20report%20-%2047-49%20Acre%20Lane%20to%20DS.pdf), that in section 6.11.3 ‘Height, scale and massing’, it states “The proposed building heights would be consistent with the local context. Existing buildings around the Site range between 1 and 5 storeys in height, with a general increase in height and scale towards Acre Lane. The tallest building is the consented development at 41-45 Acre Lane which will be at 5 storeys when complete. The proposed development would range from 1 and 4 storeys in height. The predominant height is 4 storeys and this would step down towards the south, from 4 to 3 to 2 storeys closest to the rear of existing properties on Sudbourne Road." As a community, we simply want the same principle to be applied here. For Lambeth Council to consider a planning proposal for the Tesco site like the one set out in the Regulation 19 consultation would be a total contradiction to the height, scale and massing principles of this nearby Acre Lane development.
There should be a minimum separation distance of 10m from any existing property line on Baytree Road, Porden Road or Arlington Lodge to any new buildings.
Any building within 30m of the domestic two-storey properties on Baytree and Porden Road should be limited to 9m tall.
Buildings to the southern and western sides of the site should be townhouses and not flats.
We want to see low rise family sized housing on this site, in keeping with the low-rise family housing immediately surrounding it.
The site must provide green spaces. The green spaces should be positioned along the boundaries of Baytree and Porden Roads to maximise the distance between the existing houses and the new buildings.
This advisory note is based on extensive communication and consultation between local residents affected by the development. As such, these notes are just a guide of a broadly collective view. But we don't want to tell anyone what to think, or what to say. We just want this to be a helpful guide to make it easier for you to submit a response. So, whatever you want to say, do take this golden opportunity to say it!
REMEMBER, EMAIL sadpd@lambeth.gov.uk NO LATER THAN 5PM ON FRIDAY 3RD MAY AND REMEMBER TO INCLUDE YOUR FULL POSTAL ADDRESS AND THE NAMES OF THE ADULTS IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD THAT YOU ARE WRITING ON BEHALF OF!
REMEMBER, EVERY LITTLE BIT OF OPPOSITION HELPS!
GOOD LUCK AND MESSAGE OR CALL HARMIT ON 07780 994204 IF YOU NEED FURTHER ASSISTANCE!
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