No. 39 CHELSEA SOCIETY NEWSLETTER www.chelseasociety.org.uk charity no. 276264 May 2014 Chelsea Under Pressure DAMIAN GREENISH Chelsea has never been dull but famous old road, but will we have a station housing) on the south side of the river. rarely have we faced such an array of and if so, where? Beyond there will be a forest of tall challenges as we do at the moment. There has been much recent talk about buildings dominating the eastern skyline There is no part of Chelsea that is likely to “buy to leave” and the loss of affordable of Vauxhall. be left untouched. housing, which is changing the character Your Society will meet these challenges. Basement excavation has been the bane of the area. Chelsea has a proud history Our voice will continue to be heard as of many a resident’s life in recent years. of providing affordable housing; Sutton, we seek to ensure that the traditional The Council’s revised policy to limit these Peabody and Guinness (to name but character of Chelsea is preserved, whilst its excavations does not go as far as we a few) all having estates in Chelsea. amenities are improved for all those who wanted, but it is certainly a strong move However, the Royal Brompton Hospital’s live and work here. With the sad demise in the right direction. However, opposition current plans have no room to keep their of the Kensington and Chelsea Chronicle from developers and contractors is fierce HMOs and Sutton are planning wholesale our role in keeping people informed about and there is no guarantee that the new redevelopment of their estate in Cale what is going on becomes ever more vital. policy will be adopted. Street. With your support, we can achieve our King’s Road, the commercial and cultural The Royal Brompton wants to expand, aims, as our contribution to the success of hub of Chelsea, faces many challenges. financed by selling off its hospital the recent campaigns to save the pubs of Both the current cinema sites are subject buildings, such as the Fulham Wing which Chelsea has demonstrated. The higher our to schemes for redevelopment. The Royal the Royal Marsden needs for its expansion. membership, the greater our influence, Brompton Hospital has development plans We want both hospitals to expand. so please encourage others to join us. We for its buildings that front the King’s Road. These challenges extend beyond Chelsea. now need to redouble our efforts to meet New proposals for the Old Postal Sorting Whatever is done at Chelsea Barracks will these challenges. Office and the neighbouring Bank are also impact on us, as will the plans for Battersea being produced. Crossrail 2 will eventually Power Station, a massive mixed-use give us an underground line beneath the development (with minimal affordable CONTENTS PLANNING .........................................................2 Progress on the Local Plan ..........................2 Empty housing – buy to leave ...................3 Planning reports .............................................5 Tall buildings ....................................................7 Picture: Hayes Davidson Hayes Picture: Pubs update .....................................................8 LOCAL ELECTIONS ....................................... 10 CHELSEA IN THE NEWS .............................. 11 CHELSEA SOCIETY EVENTS....................... 12 Exhibition ....................................................... 12 Your Society need you ............................... 14 Winter Lectures ............................................ 15 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY ........................... 16 View to Vauxhall in 2025 1 THE CHELSEA SOCIETY Planning Progress on the Local Plan MICHAEL BACH In February the Council consulted on the • the existing dwelling or commercial been “generalised” to an extent that they “final” versions of the revised Basements property to which the basement no longer specifically refer to issues that and Conservation and Design sections of relates is adapted to a high level of concern neighbours and which new the Local Plan. This time respondents had performance in relation to energy, planning officers and developers will no to say whether they thought the revised waste and water; for construction longer recognise as a matter of concern. documents were “sound” – “positively impacts to be considered at the The new plan needs to be written for the prepared”, “justified” and “effective” – and beginning of the process; benefit of all users. consistent with national policy. If you • be designed to safeguard the The next steps for both policies, wanted a different or stronger policy, you structural stability of the application following the Council Meeting on 16 had to say that the policy was “unsound”. building, nearby buildings and other April, will be to send these revised All this terminology was a bit confusing, infrastructure, including London documents and all comments to the but residents wanting more than was on Underground tunnels and the Planning Inspectorate by the end of the offer, had to say so. highway; and April. The Examination in Public will take • they be protected from sewer flooding place in July or August, which means Basements through the installation of a suitable that the new policy, if found sound by The Council’s revised policy for pumped device. the Inspector, will not be adopted before basements proposes: The Society considers that most of the the end of the year. • reducing the maximum extent of Council’s policy is sound, but should be basements to 50% of each garden and more restrictive, namely: Housing and no more than one storey; exceptionally • basement excavation should be Enterprise Policies they might permit more flexibility in confined to the footprint of the Both these policies will be submitted to terms of extent of coverage of the building, as in Hammersmith and the Planning Inspectorate in December. garden and depth for large sites; Fulham The Housing paper will attempt to deal • clarifying the depth of basements, • no excavation should be allowed with the size of the super-prime units, with the general height of a single under listed buildings or their gardens but will still allow up to a quarter of the storey defined as 3-4m floor-to-ceiling • based on experience of Sloane House floorspace to be for large units. Both height, with a small extra allowance for and Sloane Lodge, no exceptions policies are likely to go to examination a swimming pool; should be made for properties with in March/April 2015 and be adopted by • not adding further basement bigger gardens – bigger basements summer 2015. floors where one exists or planning means more nuisance. The Enterprise chapter, which will permission for a basement has been The Society is particularly concerned include a variety of business uses, implemented or one has been built that basements under gardens will lead will need to build on the Council’s through the exercise of permitted to the gradual loss of Chelsea’s natural exemption from the freedom for offices development rights; green character. to be converted to housing which • not excavating underneath a listed applies in most of the rest of England, building and demonstrating there is Conservation and except Central London. The policy will no harm to the listed building when Design need to be strengthened to recognise proposed in the garden; the importance of retaining premises for • the visual impact of the external The object here was to consolidate the small firms. The Borough is one of the elements of basements to be content of the existing 2010 Local Plan few local planning authorities that resists considered on the character or and the detailed “Saved” policies from the the loss of small offices to housing. appearance of the building, garden or 2005 UDP, whilst thinning the text down Given the loss of offices in the last ten wider area; considerably. For the most part this has years, greater clarity is needed about • including sustainable urban been successfully achieved, although what should be protected, such as first drainage system (SUDs), including some of the previous UDP policies floor offices in main shopping streets 1m of permeable soil on top of the appear to have been lost or insufficiently and the Lots Road Employment Zone. basement; reflected in the new policies which have THE CHELSEA SOCIETY 2 Planning Empty Housing – Buy to Leave – Nothing New in Chelsea MICHAEL BACH On 21 March the Evening Standard ran an article on Knightsbridge “Ghost Town of the Super Rich”, highlighting the fact that large parts of it are “empty” judging from the fact that there are no lights on at Michael Bach Picture: night and associating this with the latest Government figures for empty homes which put Kensington and Chelsea with one of highest vacancy rates in the country and with an increase of nearly 500 on the previous year’s figures. On 28 March Councillor Nicholas Paget- Brown, Leader of the Council and local ward councillor for Hans Town, responded acknowledging the decline in the number of people living in the Former Power House (Native Land) area and a growing problem with empty homes, some of which was due to This Newsletter first mentioned it into 16 flats, the largest of which sold overseas investors leaving them empty following the Society’s “Vision for at a then new world record price of £27 – now commonly known as the “buy-to- Chelsea” conference in 1998, starting million in 2004. This was one of the earliest leave” phenomenon. with the Marjohn site (552 King’s Road), Candy and Candy schemes, followed by but anticipating Chelsea Barracks and 21 Chesham Place (Belgravia telephone But there is nothing new about empty Lots Road Power Station. By 2001 the exchange) in 2004, One Hyde Park (the homes in Knightsbridge, although in the 21 Manresa Road scheme came to our definitive “buy-to-leave” development), past the owners had their main home attention, a Victorian building converted Chelsea Barracks and, more recently, elsewhere in Britain. Now, if indeed they have a main home, it will be abroad.