Northfield Councillor outlines his objections to scheme

Northfield Ward Councillor, David Millican, has outline his objections into the planning appeal to build 275 homes at Reynard Mills, Windmill Road on the border of Brentford and South Ealing.

Councillor Millican said:

"I represent the Ealing residents, who live right by this site, and so many have written to me objecting.

"I have consistently opposed this development and will do so again before the government planning inspector.  Its too big, and will generate too much extra traffic on the already congested Windmill Road; and rat running along residential roads.  As there wouldn't be enough car parking on site then neighbouring roads will be clogged with the extra cars trying to park.

"The site is already largely derelict and I accept that it needs to be developed and I accept the need for more housing. But not this many.  It needs to be scaled back."

The Inquiry which ends tomorrow is being conducted by a senior planning Inspector, who will prepare a detailed report with recommendations.

The final decision will be taken by a government minister after referring to the Inspector’s report and recommendations.

Cllr Millican's Objections in Full

Public Inquiry into planning application for Reynard Mills Business Park
20 November 2012

Councillor David Millican
Representing Northfield Ward
Ealing Conservative Group Leader

I object to this appeal

Lived in Northfields for 30 years and represented Northfield Ward from 1990 – 1994 and since 2006.

Trustee director of local charities, which embrace both Ealing and Brentford

I represent something over 1,800 residents in Northfield Ward, who live within a few hundred yards of the development, and some directly opposite, in
Windmill Road – 331 electors, excluding children
Darwin Road – 366 electors, excluding children
Carlyle Road – 383 electors, excluding children
Murray Road – 476 electors, excluding children
Ealing Park Gardens – 207 electors, excluding children
Junction Road – 105 electors, excluding children

Many individual residents have written to me and fellow ward councillors
Discussed animatedly at the recent Northfield Ward Forum, held on Carlyle Road

Typical comments, relating to this application:

“Although we generally support the development of new housing in the area we have objections to the density of housing proposed for the Reynard Mills site.

As residents of Murray road we are already concerned about the volume of traffic and parking on the residential roads. The fact that the developer is proposing to provide less parking spaces than the number of dwellings is likely to result in Reynard Mills residents parking in nearby residential roads.

Also the additional traffic on the single file residential roads is going to add to the congestion.

The proposed plan seems too ambitious for the size of the site and is likely to have significant impact on residents, services and amenities in the surrounding area.”

Principal concerns

Parking
• Development will provide over 275 units with only 211 spaces, which is 64 spaces less than the maximum allowable. There has been a steady increase in the number of households with two or more cars.
• Parking displacement into Ealing's roads is a major issue. Local residents and my own observations are that occupancy rates of over 90% in Murray Road, Carlyle Road and Darwin Road, show clear indication of parking congestion.
• Obstructive parking at junction corners is common in these roads.
• The surrounding area has a low PTAL score, the proposed level of parking provision is considered inadequate.
• In consultation in 2008/9 clear majority of residents across Darwin, Murray and Carlyle Roads did not want a CPZ. Parking pressures would make a CPZ inevitable if this scheme were to go ahead, against their wishes

Road Safety
• 9 accidents (8 slight and 1 serious) in the section of Windmill Road between Swyncombe Avenue and the borough boundary in the last 3 years.
• Vehicle trip generation from the development will increase traffic flows on Windmill Road and thus add to any potential road safety risks.
• Terrible accident to well-loved street cleaner, Nadia, by driver attempting to avoid traffic jam on Windmill Road

Traffic Congestion
• Windmill Road is a classified road, served by E2 buses, scheduled every 7/8 minutes in each direction and used as a through route by heavy goods vehicles.
• Windmill Road is too narrow for buses and lorries to pass each other easily
• Long tailbacks up Windmill Road as traffic enter/cross the Great West Road.
• Ealing introduced waiting restrictions a couple of years ago in response to complaints from bus operators of delays to services due to bottlenecks on Windmill Road near Ealing Park Gardens. The new restrictions operate on weekdays mainly.
• On weekends, you still get a build up of traffic where parking creates a bottleneck neck in the road.
• Additional trip generation from the development can only make this worse.
• In creased traffic congestion will cause inevitable rat-running along such routes as
o Radbourne Avenue – Junction Road – Enfield Road – Eastbourne Terrace = drivers avoiding the increased bottleneck of Windmill Road/Swyncombe Ave and Windmill Road/Great West Road
o Darwin Road – South Ealing Road = for Reynard Mills residents travelling north
o Carlyle Road – South Ealing Road = for Reynard Mills residents travelling north
Residential density
the proposal at appeal represents a density of 115 units per hectare and 368 habitable rooms per hectare.

London Plan, Policy 3.4, states a ‘suburban’ site (which this is considered to be) with a Public Transport Accessibility Level (PTAL) of 2 indicates that developments should provide between 50 and 95 units per hectare and between 150 and 250 habitable rooms per hectare in such locations.

Other pressures
• Demand for primary school places means that children in Darwin, Carlyle, Junction and Murray Roads cannot usually be placed in the nearest school, namely Little Ealing Primary. Albeit a problem for Hounslow Council, many parents may well choose an Ealing school and be unsuccessful
• Pressure for school places could be eased if some of the site were made available for a school

Summary
• The site is largely derelict and needs to be developed
• I accept that there is a need for more housing
• The pressures are a direct consequence of the scale of the development.
• Pressures would be reduced if the scheme was more in keeping with the surrounding residential community

22nd November 2012