We’ve now lodged detailed grounds and all the necessary papers with the Planning Court and are waiting for the City and Taylor Wimpey to file a reply before the court makes a decision whether the Judicial Review can proceed. If permission is refused we need funds to renew our application at a Court hearing.
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| Bowater House draped with protest banners Spectres of Modernism |
Our main arguments, in summary, are:
· The planners should not have agreed to Taylor Wimpey paying only £4.5million towards off-site “affordable” homes which is less than half what the City’s published housing policy requires. If Taylor Wimpey claims it can’t now meet those planning requirements, because it paid the City too much for the site, then that was their risk and the community should not lose out on affordable homes.
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| Savill's Hong Kong are advertising Denizen Apartments price at £695,000-£2,375,000, the block includes marble flooring and a private cinema and TW say they can't afford to pay the correct 'affordable' homes contribution. |
· The planners failed to properly assess the damage which The Denizen will cause to the heritage of the area, particularly the Grade II listed buildings and landscape of the Golden Lane Estate and to the Grade II Cripplegate Institute and the Jewin Welsh Church.
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| The proposed building will loom over the Jewin Welsh Church and overshadow Prior Weston School, Fortune Street Park and Bowater House, as well as all the other surrounding buildings. |
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| View from one Bowater Maisonette . Bowater House is set back from the pavement to allow further developments opposite without blocking out sunlight. Bernard Morgan House was designed to complement the Golden Lane Maisonettes and allow sunlight to heat and light the GLE flats. |
· The planners completely ignored its policy regarding minimizing CO2 emission and climate change when it considered The Denizen’s overshadowing effect on local homes. The Golden Lane estate’s homes were designed to benefit from solar energy but some homes will lose up to 62% of their winter sunlight and will have to burn additional energy for heating and lighting.
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| The Golden Lane Maisonettes were designed with large windows to be heated by the winter sun. In the summer the overhangs stop the flats from overheating. |
· The planners wrongly accepted Taylor Wimpey’s claims that, although the height and mass of The Denizen will admittedly permanently reduce many local homes to below standards for minimum sunlight and daylight, the “major” cause of that is that the homes are “bad neighbours” because of their “unusual” design – namely balconies which cause partial summer shade to windows. (That design is not unusual - it’s common across the entire Golden Lane Estate and The Barbican!)
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| Bowater House is built back from its boundary line and is a ‘good neighbour’ allowing fair development of BMH which was built later. |
The planners failed to provide us with accurate information about Taylor
Wimpey’s overshadowing calculations before the planning committee meeting. We
later received clarification, and an apology, and have commissioned a second
independent report. This has revealed more serious overshadowing than had been
reported to the Planning Committee. It appears that windows which would not be
affected had been included in the Taylor Wimpey calculations which created the
misleading impression that the overshadowing effect would be less than in fact
it will be.
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| Bowater's small north facing rear windows are not overshadowed by the Denizen, so why were they included in TW's overshadowing report? |
· The planners ignored the consultation objections from Prior Weston School and Friends of Fortune Park which informed them that the facilities were heavily used at the times when the afternoon overshadowing would be worst. Instead the City only considered the earlier periods when it decided the effect would be “minor adverse”.
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| Children playing in Fortune Street Park after school |
Our solicitor has also had yet another hand delivered threatening letter from Taylor Wimpey’s solicitors, Dentons, telling us that our complaints are “totally without merit”, that we will face legal costs penalties and that Taylor Wimpey refuse to agree not to demolish Bernard Morgan House before our complaints are decided by the Court. However we refuse to be brow beaten by expensive City lawyers.
We have invited the planners, once again, to agree to nullify Taylor Wimpey’s planning permission before even greater public expense is incurred. We are now awaiting the City and Taylor Wimpey’s formal response to our Court application.
If the Court grant us permission this could be a long and expensive battle and we need all the financial support possible to protect our community from this gross, venal and unnecessary block of luxury flats. Please support this campaign and donate on the Crowd Justice page.
More press coverage
The Daily Mail Community battle developers
ITN London Golden Lane Residents furious at tower block plans
City Matters City Residents Blast Mark Boleat
City Matters Viability ‘loophole’ costs City £24.5m in affordable housing funds
The Guardian Developers are using culture as a Trojan horse in their planning battles
Islington Tribune Turner Prize Artists Join Backlash Against Zombie Investors
Islington Gazette Campaigners hang banners protesting luxury block being marketed in HK
Here are pictures of buildings around the area which all have overhang or recessed balconies – and which are part of their Grade II listed designs. Taylor Wimpey alleges, and the City agreed, that such designs make them “bad neighbours” (because the balconies cause some shade to the rooms below). The Denizen will reduce the natural light within homes to below minimum standards. TW argue that the ”major cause” of that is their design and not the height, mass and proximity of Taylor Wimpey’s development. They are blaming the loss of light Bowater House and Barbican flats will suffer on Chamberlin, Powell and Bon's designs of these world famous listed buildings.
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| The Barbican Towers overhanging balconies |
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| Breton House overhanging balconies |
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| Basterfield House, Golden Lane Estate, overhanging balconies |
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| Bowater House overhanging balconies |
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| St Mary's Tower recessed balconies |
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| Peabody Buildings recessed balconies |
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| Bernard Morgan House overhanging balconies |
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| And even the Denizen has overhanging balconies, but not as elegantly designed as these other balconies |
