Good call to cut housing numbers (From Your Local Guardian)

Good call to cut housing numbers

8:25am Thursday 24th March 2011 in Your Say

Developers hope to build nearly eight hundred homes on the old Felnex estate off London Road in a project which was once hailed as 'Sustainable Hackbridge'.

But most of the 'units' as they are called, will be high-rise flats and the smaller number of townhouses will have gardens one fifth smaller than the recommended size while homes will back onto each other by 18 metres instead of the nationally recommended 20 metres.

Seven story flats will tower over small terrace houses in London Road. While Wandle Road homes will be overlooked by four-story flats.

Councillors at the planning meeting at the Civic Hall last week were not convinced by the density and scale of the developers' plan, comparing it to the infamous Hulme estate in Manchester.

Fortunately they asked them to come back in May with revisions, cutting out about 100 of the homes.

One councillor estimated that we could expect about 400 children would be living on the private estate while another doubted the borough could provide school places for even 150.

I noticed the whole issue of environmental sustainability had been lost from the developer's presentation with just a nod to a Combined Heat and Power Unit at some stage in the future but little detail on this.

A 4,000 square metre supermarket was presented as sustainable for its potential to reduce shopping traffic to Sutton. But local residents in the Hackbridge Forums had asked for small independent quality shops such as bakers and grocers.

The opportunity to set up an outlet for the Wallington Community Farm which could provide fresh local produce without flying it in from the other side of the world seems too good to miss but didn't get a mention.

Unfortunately the council run Hackbridge Forums set up to plan the sustainable venture, despite being well attended, have become so infrequent that residents will not be able to inform the debate. Our next meeting will be after the planning meeting in May.

Although it's good that Sutton have told the developers to think again, there seem to be some missed opportunities for a greener human-scale local development.

Yours JIM DUFFY
68, Birchwood Ave
Wallington
SM6 7EN