Have Your Say

Having visited the Master Plan Exhibition on Friday 18th at Earls Court I broadly welcome the plan and concept as a whole.  However;  I was struck by the current intention to build a four story retail and residential building on the eastern boundary of the southern entrance to the Broadway.  This proposed building backs immediately onto the west side of Empress Place where it would overshadow the gardens and existing houses depriving them of daylight and sunlight.  If a retail development is required in this position then it will need to be single story.  There is abundant opportunity for higher rise building within the development area without adversely affecting existing surrounding residential buildings.  Any planning proposal for the building as proposed will meet strenuous opposition from local residents.

Thank you for your comment John.

We appreciate your concern and can assure you that we have already commissioned extensive daylight and sunlight testing of the scheme by a specialist consultancy.

They have concluded that the four storey building you refer to would have no adverse impacts upon the daylight and sunlight currently enjoyed by the properties on the western side of Empress Place.

Thank you for your response.  However it is hard to see how any survey could draw this conclusion.  Would it be possible to have sight of the survey referred to please.

Regards
Jon Halse

Dear Editor,

Could I please have a response to my request of 29th March for sight of the survey referred to.  The planning application is approaching and we need to be sure that the concerns of the immediate local residents affected by the proximity of proposed buildings on existing ones are taken into account.  I know other local residents affected for example in Philbech Gardens have the same concerns.

Dear John

Many thanks for getting in touch. I would just like to clarify that the building you refer to is only retail on the ground floor and the rest is residential.

In response to your comment and your concerns, our masterplanner took another look at the impact of the buildings at the southern entrance to The Broadway in relation to overshadowing, and reduced their heights.

The building on the left of the Broadway has been reduced to 4 storeys, going up to 5 storeys as it fronts onto Lillie Road. The building on the right is only 3 storeys, stepping down to 2 storeys on its western edge as it faces the gardens of Empress Place.

Thank you for your response nad for the Masterplanner taking another look at this issue.  On the face of it the reductions appear to address it adaquately. 

I understand that the Planning Application has been filed with RBKC but am not sure when and if the appropriate application for the area we’re talking about is being made.  We will need to look at the detail of that to be satisfied that the proposal does not affect the west side of Empress Place as at first feared.

Can you advise on that matter please ?

Thanks for your comment John.

Planning applications were submitted to RBKC and LBHF on 22nd June.

Both councils will validate them soon, at which time all planning documents will be published on this website for a 6-week public consultation period. I will announce the validations and publication of these documents on this website.

I see from the plans submitted that the maximum height of the proposed buildings on the site concerned seem to be between 13.3 and 16.3 meters.  Can you equate that to story height for me as it sounds rather higher than the two storey building you mention in your reply.  Could you also confirm whether there is a space proposed between the existing boundary wall and the new building.  If so how would it be accessed and secured ?

Thanks for you enquiry John.

I have checked the planning application and the current parameters for the building on this plot range between 5 storeys on the corner of Lille Road and Broadway South (19.3 AOD) to 4 storeys (16.3 AOD) stepping down to 3 storeys at the rear (13.3 AOD).

The parameters do not currently propose a space between the existing boundary wall and the new building.

Thank you for your response.  However, the information is contrary to that of your response dated 14th June which said that the buildings in question stepped down from 3 stories to 2 when at the rear of the gardens of Empress Place.

This issue will have to be resolved before the application is approved.

I am in agreement with John that the proposed buildings on broadway south will overshadow the gardens that exist at the moment on the east side of the empress place.  i also own one of the properties (in fact the corner property against which the new developments will be added) and would like exact details of the dimensions of the proposed construction in this area.

Yours

Liam