The Heath and Hampstead Society

by Gordon Maclean

The committee continues to be preoccupied with the major Planning issue of the day; the impact of basement construction in Hampstead.  But there have also been other issues to keep us on our toes.

Basements

We continue to present a professionally prepared case on the clear hazards inseparable from deep and/or extensive basement excavations in Hampstead, why this needs control, and why this justifies urgent action. The hydrogeological and legal facts are plain.  Our Planners do not, it seems, accept this, and continue with what to us is a complaisant stance on dealing with applications for basement excavations.This is puzzling to us, especially in view of the new Planning policies set out by Camden themselves - with our support - in their new Planning Policy document, the Local Development Framework (LDF), now going through its ratification process with the Ministry. As we have explained previously, these new policies present a reasonable control system on basements, which will prevent at least the more outrageous proposals we are now seeing.  But Camden will not take account of these policies, and say they won’t until the last i has been dotted and t crossed in the Ministry ratification process, despite legal opinion insisting that these so-called “emerging” policies must be considered.However, we must emphasise that all is not universally black on the basement front.  It is becoming clear that our Councillors, particularly in the form of the Council’s  Development Control Committee, do not always see eye to eye with their officers.  Two recent decisions, in respect of potentially extremely damaging applications for basements in South Hill Park, close to one of the Heath ponds, and in Kidderpore Avenue, have resulted in refusals.  This has pleased us considerably - but one has already gone to Appeal.  We will be presenting our evidence to the Inspectorate.