Application Ref:  2007/4036/P

Please ask for: Bridin O'Connor 020 7974 2219

Town and Country Planning Acts 1990 (as amended) NOTIFICATION OF AN APPEAL
Address : Railway Club, College Lane, London, NW5 1BJ

I am writing to let you know that the Council has been notified of an appeal which has been made to the Planning Inspectorate of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The appeal concerns an application for; Details of a construction methodology statement (revised 7th August 2007) pursuant to condition 5 of planning permission dated 23/06/03 (Reg. No. PEX0100663R2) for the erection of 20 houses arranged in terraces of two and three storeys with lower ground levels and a block of 10 flats comprising studio, 2 and 3 bedroom units.

The appeal is to be decided by an Inspector from the Planning Inspectorate on the basis of an exchange of written statements between the people who have made the appeal and the Council, followed by a site visit.

If you sent any written comments to the Council about the original application for planning permission, these will be copied and forwarded to the Planning Inspectorate and the people who have made the appeal. These comments will be taken into account by the Inspector in deciding the appeal.

If you wish to make any comments about the appeal, please send 3 copies of your letter to the Planning Inspectorate. They will then distribute copies to the Council and to the person making the appeal. Please do not send your
comments directly to the Council.   

Any letters should be sent by 12 June 2008 to;

Planning Inspectorate

Room 3/19, Eagle Wing, Temple Quay House       
2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6PN;  

You should also write to this address to request a copy of the appeal decision letter.

Please make sure that any letters to the Planning Inspectorate quote the Planning Inspectorate Appeal reference number below;

PINS REFERENCE: APP/X5210/A08/2071753

You can also view details of the case and submit comments online using the Planning Casework Service. Go to www.planningportal.gov.uk/pcs and click on "Comment on an appeal online" in the navigation box on the left of the screen.

If there is any aspect of this case that you would like to discuss, please contact the above named officer.

If you need any further information on the procedure for the appeal or if you require a copy of the booklet 'Guide to taking part in planning appeals' please ring the Senior Appeals Admin Officer on 020 7974 2219.

Apparently, the Inspector will be sent copies of everything that went to the Council meeting in February. We'll be deploying our hunter-killer legal team and probably another letter, but we're not asking you to do anything else at this stage, apart from  pray (if that's your way) or simply wish us good fortune.

However, if you haven't been told directly within a few days, let us know by emailing littlegreenstreet@gmail.com. We wouldn't rule out further bad decisions, or dubious processes, even at this stage.

Also, the other two conditions are in and need to be resisted. Insert  2008/1828/P  and also 2008/1615/P

You know the form now. Thank you!

Why exactly they are bothering at this late stage is not clear as the site can not be developed until they have met all of the inspector's conditions, of which the construction methodology (ibid.) remains the show-stopper, so we are assuming that its either tactical in a way that seems worthwhile to them, or just the latest example of their class-leading incompetence.

Anyway, it needs to be resisted, but they're playing a funny game as it appears to be submitted and withdrawn more often than an anxious teenager stalking the condom rack at Superdrug. We're currently trying to find out if its on or off. You're welcome to join in and talk to Camden's tree man, Kevin Fisher on 020 7974 5616.

Developers have also filed the critical (this is sarcasm, sorry) 'building materials' condition application which is the usual over-bulky 'other people's brochures' affair, presumably hoping to bore officers into agreement.

Camden are really trying to keep quiet about all of this, not posting the public notification anywhere near Little Green Street, but one street away.

 If you'd like to talk to a real person at Camden, Joanna Ecclestone is the case officer. The switchboard number is 020 7278 4444.

Perhaps the developers are hoping to secure approval of these relatively minor conditions to help to to pull the wool over the eyes of prospective purchaser ("Yes, only one minor condition left to secure - bargain prime site, as you can see - look at the cobbles... etc") they can only hope will do even less due diligence than they did when they first bought the site more than seven years ago.

You can't blame them. Who wouldn't want to be off-loading it, with onerous mortgage repayments like theirs? A whole new class of sub-prime this. A D'oh! mortgage. (Doomed, or hopeless). 

Well, if you're thinking of taking it on, caveat emptor.

Carry on harrying!

If you were one of the 164 or so who wrote to Camden with additional evidence ahead of the development control meeting, in the event that an appeal is lodged, you will be notified directly by the planning inspectorate. Please check back here so we can ensure that we coordinate a robust rebuttal.

Something is continuing to go on in the background though, if the level of interest in this site by other developers popping in to visit the sites (both internet and railway club) is any measure. Academics and politicans also continue to enquire, which is nice. If you're writing your doctorate or whatever about us, do get in touch.

Apparently, we were recently held up as an example at a developers' conference as an example of "a savvy residents' group". Actually, it is the power of people, many people, standing up and saying "This is daft"  that secured the Council's direction to reject. Not politics, just permission to do the bleedin' obvious and point out the stupidity of even thinking that it would be alright to drive monster trucks down a tiny colbbled street. Madness.

To finish March on a smile, here's the 'Thank you' note published  in the CNJ a few weeks back.

This is a real picture. These are the roof tops of LGS and it is a train full of cars passing nearby. The suggestion that this might be the developer's workaround is clearly fictional, if not out of character for ill-thought through ideas.

 http://littlegreenstreet.squarespace.com/journal/2007/9/30/a-message-from-bob.html