FORA public meeting over St Andrew's site
The Mayor of Waltham Forest, Farooq Qureshi, has promised to oppose the new plan to build flats on the site of St Andrew's old church hall if the majority of local residents are against it. He was speaking at a public meeting organised by FORA to discuss the application by Newlon Housing Trust to erect nine flats on the landmark site in the Leytonstone Conservation Area. About 70 people attended the meeting in St Andrew's new hall on August 15.Speaking from the audience, Councillor Qureshi recalled that he had supported residents and had spoken out against the Council's own plan to build flats on the same site, which was rejected by its Planning Committee last year. He said the site had later been sold to Newlon without the knowledge of himself and some other councillors.
A panel of speakers gave their reasons for saying the new scheme should be rejected. Peter Leighton, of the Parochial Church Council, said St Andrew's was of great architectural value and now had Grade II listed building status. Its most glorious part was the stained-glass east window, the existing public view of which would be blocked by the proposed flats.
Mr Leighton, a lawyer, told the audience that the House of Lords had said a local authority should not sanction any development in a Conservation Area if it did not preserve or enhance it. This scheme did not do this. He said Waltham Forest Council had committed a great breach of faith by failing to consult local people about the site after its own building application was rejected -- as residents had been given to understand would happen.
Another panel member,Chris Hartiss, an architect who lives locally, was critical of the design of the Newlon scheme. Mr Hartiss, who stressed he was only giving his personal view, said it was out of character with the area. Newlon had correctly identified terraced family housing --not flats -- as the prevalent building form. But it had ignored this context and proposed a single volume building more suggestive of a barn or medieval hall than terraced housing.
He also took issue with another aspect of Newlon's design statement. This said "traditional form and materials have been employed throughout" the proposed building. However, Mr Hartiss pointed out that the application drawings showed that the windows are to be "polyester power-coated", the window and door heads will be "reconstituted stone" and the elevations will partly comprise "cream self-coloured render"
Colin Gourley, a local resident on the panel, made an impassioned call for the audience to individually object to the application and defeat it. He said the previous speakers had demonstrated why it did not fit in with the Conservation Area. He had been involved in the campaign against the Council's previous application, and this new one was almost identical in concept. It did nothing for the Conservation Area, which local people must campaign to preserve. He also warned that it appeared from the terms of the sale of the site to Newlon that the scheme could start off with 9 flats and end up with far more.
One resident in the audience spoke strongly in support of Newlon's role in building affordable homes. She said there was a great need for them in Waltham Forest, and people should not take a "not in my backyard" approach. She said residents should work with Newlon. Other residents said they were not against affordable homes, but this was not an appropriate site for the flats.
The audience was told how to send in objections to the scheme, which have to reach the Council's Planning Department by August 24.
BELOW
A group of residents demonstrate their opposition a few days earlier