The Lots Road Neighbourhood Forum has now officially submitted the attached objections to the RBKC/Mount Anvil scheme for developing Lots Road South.
In summary the Forum argues that:
– The proposed development does not comply with the requirements of RBKC’s New Local Plan, which was only adopted in July 2024 and was the subject of wide public debate, the close scrutiny of the Government’s Planning Inspectorate and significant Council expenditure. In this respect, it’s a failure because there are too many homes, the buildings are too high, and there is too little space provided for new jobs, given that this is the area’s only Employment Zone.
– The height of the buildings on Lots Road and the narrow pavement will lead to the ‘canyonisation’ of Lots Road. The height of Blocks D and E should therefore be lowered and the pavement widened, both of which could be done without impacting the financial viability of the development.
– Given the existing traffic congestion in the area, all parking, deliveries and servicing of the development should take place within the development and not on Lots Road.
– The community should be involved now in design choices, such as brick colours and balcony designs, rather than this being left to closed-door discussions with officials further down the line.
– A rigorous and enforceable Construction Traffic Management Plan should be agreed before the grant of planning permission, learning from past mistakes and problems of Chelsea Waterfront and The Chelsea Academy that have blighted the lives of local residents for the past 25 years.
– Mount Anvil should look again at the way they intend to build the development, finding creative solutions to reduce noise, dust, pollution and traffic.
In submitting the objections, Richard Jacques, the LRNF Chairman said:
“After years of discussion, we get to see Mount Anvil’s final plan, and it is still too high, with too many homes and insufficient space to generate much-needed employment in the area.
It is disappointing that Mount Anvil’s illustrations appear to conceal the scale of the development. To counter such disingenuous images, we have produced our own drawings so residents can see the true scale of the buildings proposed along Lots Road.
We argued hard throughout the New Local Plan process for a development that was employment-led and respected the needs of the local area. This was accepted by the Planning Inspector, which makes it so disappointing to see a scheme that drives a coach and horses through the Planning Inspector’s final decision for our area.
As a community, we have always supported building an extra care facility, but not at the cost of local residents and their quality of life.
After 25 years of near-continuous building works and disruption with Chelsea Waterfront and the Chelsea Academy, we believe people deserve more consideration, particularly regarding Mount Anvil’s questionable and inadequate construction management plans.
We have put forward proposals in five areas that we believe improve the design of the development, reduce the negative impact on the Lots Village Conservation Area and improve the lives of residents and businesses during the construction process. Our proposals should have little or no impact on the finances of the development.
We should not forget that our own Council is the sponsor of this development, and along with Mount Anvil, they should be working with the community to find solutions to the problems we are raising. This requires political will and creative thinking.”
A great many local residents have also submitted their objections to the scheme, and the Forum urges both RBKC and Mount Anvil to agree to meaningful changes when this development goes before the Planning Applications Committee later in the year.