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Residents of Little Green Street celebrate the council’s decision to deny developers the use of the Georgian terrace as a lorry route |
Victory in the battle of Little Green Street
THE future of Little Green Street, one of the oldest roads in Kentish Town, was safeguarded this week after councillors threw out a plan to use it to bring lorries on to the site.
At a highly-charged planning meeting on Thursday night at the Town Hall, developers’ plans to use the historic Georgian terrace to remove earth and rubble and transport building materials to an abandoned former railway workers’ club were thrown out.
They had received planning permission in 2003 to build 30 homes and an underground car park on the site but now had to convince councillors they had a workable plan to build the homes.
Their plans would have seen eight truck journeys an hour for four years along the narrow cobbled lane, which runs from Highgate Road through to the Ingestre Road housing estate.
At a meeting which saw the Town Hall’s public galleries packed with protesters, Little Green Street resident Nick Goodall – who lives in the street with his young family – pleaded with councillors to dismiss the plans.
In a passionate speech, Mr Goodall explained how his young family would not be able to open their front door without the say-so of a builder. He told councillors: “This plan will turn Little Green Street into a truck route for four years and thereafter into a driveway for a gated development.
“Little Green Street is utterly unsuitable for pretty much any vehicular traffic, let alone construction vehicles.
“My two older children will never again be able to come home from school without the permission of a man in a fluorescent jacket. My two younger children will not be able even to visit next door, let alone cross the road to visit their friends without the developers’ permission.”
Barrister Anthony Porton, representing Euro-Investments, accused residents of running a scare campaign.
He said: “Any objections are misplaced. This site is an eyesore.
“It will be brought back into use, and to do so it will have to be done through Little Green Street.
“This is a public thoroughfare and there is not an alternative route.”
He added the developers faced a massive increase in costs to make sure the work was done sensitively.
But councillors, who took advice from Town Hall legal officers to work out how they could refuse the application, voted unaminously to kick out the plans on the grounds that they were dangerous and could damage grade-II listed homes.
Actor Tom Conti, who watched the drama unfold, told the New Journal: “It was a silly scheme. Our gratitude is immeasurable – the councillors looked past all the bulls***.”
Architect Satish Patel, working for owners Euro-Investments, declined to confirm whether they would appeal against the decision afterwards. He said: “We shall think about what our next move is.”
But if they do, they will have to act quickly – the planning permission for the site runs out in mid-June, and with an average five month wait for appeals to be heard, developers may have to start from scratch.
After the result, Little Green Street resident Peter Thomas, who has lived there for 12 years and who has two young children, spoke of the toll the issue had taken.
He said: “It has been a traumatic period for all of us.” |
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