01/11/2022 More about the O2 Development

We have recently sent out an email to our members as below:

Dear NDF member,

This is to let you know how you can comment on the revised application for the redevelopment of the O2 car park, Homebase & Shopping Centre.

Although the deadline for online comments has passed, Camden Council say that you can still give your views by emailing planning@camden.gov.uk.

The revised application, submitted last month, makes minor changes to the design of new buildings along Finchley Road, but very little else has changed since the main planning application submitted in January. The development still falls far short of national standards for green open space, and the Council’s standards for affordable housing.

Crucially, there is still no firm commitment from Landsec (the developers), Transport for London, or Camden Council, to do anything to improve access to West Hampstead tube station. With tube numbers increasing again post-pandemic, and the new interchange onto the Elizabeth Line at Bond Street, West Hampstead tube station desperately needs a lift, and a wider entrance.

You can find details of both the original application and the revised application on Camden Council website by searching for planning applications and using reference number 2022/0528/P. The best document to look at is "O2 Masterplan DAS 16-09022 (Design and Access Statement)".

If you submitted comments on the original application, Camden assure us that they will still be taken into account.

It's possible the plans will be considered by Camden's Planning Committee at their December meeting, but it's more likely to be the New Year.

We will be in touch again when we have more details.

Objection to O2 Centre, carpark and other sites between West End Lane and Finchley Road

The NDF and and other local groups* have been very active preparing a strong objection to the plans for the O2 Centre. The final report prepared by a planning consultant can be seen here.

* The "other local groups" who have participated are:

• Belsize Society,
• CRASH (the Combined Residents' Associations of South Hampstead),
• Fortune Green and West Hampstead Neighbourhood Forum,
• GARA (Gondar and Agamemnon Residents' Association,
• MARA (Menelik area Residents' Association),
• MILAM (Maygrove, Iverson, Loveridge, Ariel, Medley),
• Netherhall Neighbourhood Association,
• Redington Frognal Neighbourhood Forum,
• Redington Frognal Association,
• RMRG (Rosemont Mews Residents' Group),
• WHAT (West Hampstead Amenity & Transport),
• WHGARA (West Hampstead Gardens and Residents' Association)
  

O2 Centre, carpark and other sites between West End Lane and Finchley Road

There has been a lot of activity around this site over that last few months. Many of you will have seen our newsletters about various consultations. Land Securities was consulting about their initial proposals for the site and Camden was consulting on a Supplementary Planning Document covering the same area. The NDF has responded as a body to Camden which you can see here. There have also been Zooms arranged by us and Land Securities at which many people asked questions and made comments.

New ACV for The Alliance Pub - Approved
LB Camden has approved our application for an ACV for the Alliance Pub

New ACV for The Alliance Pub - Your help is needed again
You may recall that back in 2016 the Alliance in Mill Lane was for sale and the NDF instigated an application for an Asset of Community Value. (ACV). This was successful and we have had the comfort of some level of protection for the pub for the past five years but the registration only lasts five years, so we need to make a new application.

A major part of our application was a survey of local people to show how people used and valued the pub as a local asset. We are now asking you to do the survey (again, please even if you did it in 2016). It's quite quick to do. The open questions at the end where you can say why you think the pub gives more than just being an ordinary pub are especially valuable. They might take a little thought, but do please try to say something about its community value. Please tell your friends and family too.

To do the survey, please go to :www.savethealliance.org where there is a link to the survey on the front page. The website also gives a bit more background information.

Or you can go directly to the survey via google docs here

There is currently no obvious risk to the pub, apart from Covid, in fact the current freeholder is keen on the pub, but we should try to continue the protection afforded by the ACV.

Proposed changes to the planning system and impact on West Hampstead

You can see the comments we made on the Government's White Paper on Planning here

We wrote to members of the NDF on 27th September about the government's plans for an almost complete replacement of the town and country planning system, known as "Planning for the Future". You can see that email again by clicking here.
In that email we also said that the West Hampstead NDF, in conjunction with WHAT (West Hampstead Amenity and Transport), would be holding a joint Zoom meeting on Tuesday 13th October at 7.30pm, at which an officer from Camden Council would speak and take questions. The aim of the meeting is to help you understand the proposals and how they might affect Camden in general and West Hampstead in particular.
We now have more details of that meeting, including a Zoom link. If you wish to join the meeting and didn't get an email about it, please contact us ndpwesthampstead@gmail.com

Fortune Green and West Hampstead Neighbourhood Development Forum Response to West Hampstead Councillors' Statement on Thameslink Bridge Murals
 

Minutes of the AGM held on 24 February 2020 are available here. And the slides (B&Q, Interchange are, and current developments are here.

We recently sent comments to Camden on their Proposed 2020 Site Allocation. They are here.
 

Camden's consultation documents on where the Council thinks development should be focused has been published. The consulation for West Hampstead is on-line at https://westhampsteadsalp.commonplace.is/ Other Sites within the NDF Area are : Gondar Gardens

A first draft on planning guidance for the O2 carpark and other sites on Blackburn Road has been prepared by LB Camden.         

MORE GOOD NEWS, the appeal against the rejection of the very large Gondar Gardens planning application has been refused. There is still potential for the previously approved application for the frontage to go ahead but at least we will not have the horrendous inconvenience, disruption and destruction caused by the full scheme and the ongoing, overbearing size of the finished monstrosity, and the developers will have to jump through a few hoops before they can go ahead with the earlier scheme. You can read the decision report at https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/ViewCase.aspx?caseid=3198746