Update on the NCP site, Hammersmith Grove, Hammersmith, London, W6

In 2007 Development Securities were granted planning permission to build on the site of the old NCP car park at the bottom of Hammersmith Grove. At the time there was much suspicion and anger surrounding the relationship between the developer and the council and much concern about the size and type of development proposed and the impact it would have on residents of Hammersmith Grove.

Since that time and due to the economic climate, Development Securities have revised their plans for this site. This new proposal was presented at a planning forum meeting on 23^rd March 2010 and Sarah Bynoe and I attended a meeting with The London Planning Practice and the architects BFLS last week. Attached you will find a copy of the letter that I sent to them following this meeting.

Although quite changed in terms of it’s design and finish, unfortunately they have not addressed enough of the issues that will affect us as residents. Those are:

• The scheme is still too big, dwarfing the George Building at the end of Hammersmith Grove.
• Most of the proposed development comprises office space, do we really need much more when the George Building and the Triangle Building have never been full since they were opened?
• The size of the proposal will have a massive impact on our quality of life.
• Up to 3000 extra people every day will be pouring into the south end of Hammersmith Grove and Lyric Square.
• Approx 500 extra vehicles every day will be visiting/servicing this new building, most of them driving up and down Hammersmith Grove.This will be a 24/7 operation so many of these vehicles will be arriving and leaving in early mornings, late at night and at weekends.
• 300 existing parking spaces will lost and 10 will be put back, putting lots of extra pressure on parking in Hammersmith Grove.
• Air conditioning will be required 24/7, to add to the noise we already suffer from the George building.
• The cinema from the original scheme has been ditched and there is absolutely nothing planned for the residents and the community.

In short we, the residents will bear the brunt of the noise, the crowds and the parking problems but we shall see no benefits whatsoever, in fact this development could reduce the value of our properties.

There is no doubt that this site is overdue for development however this must be a scheme that is sympathetic to the residential nature of it’s position, sensible about the limitations of the existing infrastructure and contributes something to the community that lives around it.

There is to be a presentation of the proposal in Lyric Square on the 7^th and 8^th July and the final proposal is being submitted to the council at the end of July.

Please do contact me using the details below, register your interest and please say if you would be interested in coming to a Hammersmith Grove Neighbours Group meeting so that we can talk about how we can tackle this very important issue. Alternatively please do contact Ellen Whitchurch, head of planning at Hammersmith and Fulham Council and register your concerns.

We have an opportunity to influence the nature of this development and the stronger the group the more influence we will have.

Here is the text of the letter sent to Development Securities

Dear Jon and David

Thank you for the presentation and your time at our meeting last week. I have been away for a few days so forgive the delay in getting back to you but I just wanted to confirm the points that were raised at our meeting.

We were surprised and disappointed to hear that our names were not on the list of suggested consultees, when you first started this latest round of consultation regarding the NCP development at the very beginning of this year. Especially in view of the fact that were were extremely active during the last round of forums and meetings in 2007. This is something that we will be taking up with the planning department at Hammersmith and Fulham Council.

We understand that this NCP site falls within the UDP for Hammersmith Town Centre and as such is viewed as desirable for commercial development. We were surprised to hear that there is no margin within this UDP to allow for a buffer zone to protect residents from the impact of these large developments however as this is not within your power to change, this is something that we will have to take up elsewhere.

As you are aware, residents of Hammersmith are very concerned about the impact of the development that is proposed on the site of the NCP car park in Hammersmith and particularly those of us that live in Hammersmith Grove. There are a number of issues that are cause for concern and we would urge you to do everything that you can to mitigate this impact. We discussed these issues in some detail at our meeting but just as an aide memoire;-

The design of the development is a very personal issue, some will like the concept and some will not however there seems to be a concensus that whatever the design, the proposed buildings are just too big. Even given that the most recent proposal reduces the size by one floor in each building, in our opinion the scale of the new proposal still dwarfs the adjacent George Building which already feels monumental. If the overall scale of the buildings could be further reduced, perhaps by sacrificing the central open leisure area, then so much the better.

Although the inclusion of the community space is a welcome one, we do not feel there has been enough thought concerning the contribution to the local community, particularly as the cinema idea has now been scrapped. We will bear the brunt of the impact of this development without any advantage to ourselves.

This will be a 24/7 operation and this will bring 24/7 problems.

Traffic. We understand that the reception and service entrances will both be on Hammersmith Grove. Given this and the one way system on Beadon Road/Hammersmith Broadway, it is safe to say that a great deal of traffic will be accessing this building via Hammersmith Grove. Tenants, their visitors, mini cabs, motorbike messengers, delivery vans, waste and recycling trucks etc will all be driving down Hammersmith Grove, often at night and in the early hours to avoid traffic. Ideally the reception and service entrances and egresses could be relocated to Beadon Road. Failing that, maintaining a one way system on Hammersmith Grove from just North of these entrances would help and also we are seeking a restriction on the access hours for certain vehicles like waste, recycling, commercial deliveries etc.

Parking. We understand that 300 parking places will be lost when the car park is no more and that only 10 will be provided. Although it is hoped that the majority of the daily 3000 visitors to this building will use public transport, there is no doubt that parking will be affected. Although this may not be in your remit, we would be seeking some consideration of this issue as a condition of the proposal and an undertaking that parking restrictions in Hammersmith Grove and maybe in some of the adjacent streets, are adjusted to reflect this new issue and also that the King's Mall car park is addressed in terms of it's appearance, service, access and signage.

Air Conditioning. In our experience, most modern air-conditioning is un-detectable against the ambient noise of planes, trains and automobiles during the day however early in the morning, late evenings and during the night the high pitch hum can be plainly heard and can be very disturbing indeed. The suggestion that we may have recourse to a nuisance complaints procedure via the environment department of our local council is not a process that we have much faith in, should the air-conditioning prove to be a problem. We are seeking reassurance that the specification is of the very highest, that any comparative ambient noise readings against which the proposed plant has ben spec'd have also been taken at night and that there will be a restriction on the running times at night and at weekends.

Construction is also a big issue and we would be seeking restrictions on working hours and practices and a reasonable time table. The idea that one building would be built before the other is a cause of great concern. If they are built as one development then one set of trucks is delivering for both buildings. Constructing them separately means just as we are getting over the misery of living with the construction of the first, it may be that we have to brace ourselves all over again for a second round of construction.

There is no doubt that the NCP is an eyesore but at the moment a benevolent one. The residents of Hammersmith and particularly the Grove deserve to be protected from the worst of the negative impact that developments such as this can have, protected by our council to whom we pay our taxes and also by responsible developers who recognise the issues and act to resolve them to everyone's benefit.