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Farewell to the vulgar Wedge?
• ONCE again, with grateful thanks to the council planning committee, local residents have defeated yet another application (the sixth) by developer Gary Hodes to erect a vulgar, peculiar and wholly inappropriate structure – The Wedge – in the Mansfield Conservation Area.
Why is it that developers are allowed to appeal against planning refusals over and over again, soaking up the council planning department’s resources paid for with public money – especially when such appeals are clearly intended to wear out local opposition?
The serial battles against the Wedge and its predecessor have fully occupied the residents affected, local associations such as the Mansfield Neighbourhood Association (MNA) and the Mansfield Conservation Area Advisory Committee, supported by ward councillors, for more than nine months.
One major side effect of this distraction has been that the MNA was unable to find the additional organisational resources for its annual street party.
So we see that the greed of out-of-area developers not only rides roughshod over the quality of the environment, but also cuts into the genuine life of the community.
At the same time, we hope that other communities faced with similar challenges may be encouraged by this example of the effectiveness of partnership between local associations, residents and councillors.
Chris Fagg
Chair
Mansfield Neighbourhood Association, Rona Road, NW3
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