Unison Tower – Update

At a planning committee meeting on 28th February 2008, London Borough of Camden Planning Committee approved the plans for a ten storey tower block on the site of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson hospital for women.

You are strongly urged to object to the plans in writing to the Government Office for London. This is the only organisation we can contact to request an inquiry into the plans.

As part of the planning application process, a representative from the Planning Department at the London Borough of Camden must prepare a report for the Planning Committee to consider. In the report for the EGA site, the planning officer has lied. Here we paste the exact paragraph which is contended:

7.5.3.  Overlooking/privacy issuesThere are no significant overlooking issues arising between the development and flats at Grafton Chambers, Wellesley House, Seymour House and Somerton House. As far as Somerton House is concerned, the distance between it and the proposed Block A office tower would be 38m at their closest points. Furthermore they would be separated by a busy traffic route and there would be no facing habitable rooms.

Residents will be able to see several inaccuracies and misdirections with this paragraph:

 

  • It states that no habitable rooms will be facing the development. Since 1964, SIXTEEN habitable rooms have been located opposite the proposed building site, and would be affected greatly – not least by losing their privacy!
  • The paragraph states the distance between the Block A Office Tower (the ten storey Unison tower) and Somerton House. Planning guidelines state that this distance should be the closest two points of the sites, which has not been provided in the Planning Committee’s report.
  • The paragraph also states that a busy road lies between the EGA site and Somerton House. This is an irrelevant misdirection on behalf of the council employee. It would not matter whether there was a river between the two buildings – at six storeys and higher the traffic is not a concern.

You can write to the Government Office for London,  requesting that a Planning Inquiry be held, on the above grounds. This is, unfortunately, a matter where the more support the Government Office receives, the more notice it will take. Spend five minutes writing your letter today and post it to:

Government Office For London
Riverwalk House
157-161 Millbank
London
SW1P 4RR

View the Report to the Planning Committee

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