Goldhawk Road marathon meeting
Tuesday December 22, 2009
Plans to build 66 flats in Hammersmith have been approved at a Hammersmith & Fulham planning meeting after four and a half hours of debate.
A group of protesters gathered outside Hammersmith Town Hall where the planning applications committee was meeting on December 16 to voice their opinions on the scheme at 282 Goldhawk Road.
Councillors debated the application before deciding to grant permission to Places for People to build 66 new homes.
The former care home and a block of one dozen bed-sits will be demolished before the development, which has been named Ashchurch Place, is built. The homes include a mix of one, two and three-bedroom houses and flats, made up of 17 supported housing units, four social rented homes and 22 intermediate homes.
Pre-application discussions started over two years ago and residents were consulted on the scheme at the beginning of the planning process, when models of the houses and detailed proposals went on display at several public exhibitions earlier this year. They included one at Hammersmith Town Hall, in May, where 59 per cent of residents found the Places for People proposals either ‘very favourable’ or ‘favourable’ when compared to four other developers’ proposals, and another at Greenside Primary School in June.
However, after listening to residents’ feedback, Places for People made changes to the original scheme before putting in their application. There was a reduction in the number of flats, changes to the design of the homes and landscaping, and the original shop and workshop were removed to make the site purely residential.
Councillor Alex Chalk, chairman of the committee, said: “This was a difficult decision which required the most careful consideration. The committee only approved this scheme after detailed scrutiny of the proposals, taking into account all comments and representations from residents.
“Ultimately, the development fitted all necessary planning requirements and there were insufficient grounds properly to justify refusal."
