STEVE WHITESIDE with an update on how the council’s planners and planning enforcement teams continue to fail the borough’s residents, while turning a blind eye to developers ignoring conditions
Going…: 158 Purley Downs has been demolished despite planning conditions laid down by the council not being met
Last month, I wrote about the sad saga of 158 Purley Downs Road in Sanderstead, where the demolition of a family house by a developer keen to replace it with seven money-spinning new homes has gone ahead without key conditions laid down by the borough’s planning committee being met – or even close to being met.
It is a prime example of how the council’s professional planners seem to go out of their way to assist some development firms.
In the past few days, the applicant – which was originally developers New Place Associates and HTA Design, both of whom have well-documented links to senior members of the Croydon Council planning staff – finally disclosed a topographical survey of the site, including levels to the land adjacent.
It is dated August 2021.
What this suggests is that the inaccurate streetscenes produced by architects Harp and Harp, and relied upon entirely by the planners in their assessment of the impact on the character of the area, on adjoining properties and on the promised step-free access were produced without the benefit of a proper survey.
Council-approved: the letter sent by Nicola Townsend last week
What the survey shows is that since August 2021, Harp and Harp have (or should have) known that the “red line” boundary to the development as had been approved by the council’s planning committee was inaccurate. They (or New Place Associates, or HTA Design) had ample opportunity to advise the council of this before Nicola Townsend approved the application (21/01619/FUL) in February 2022.
If they did, perhaps they could tell us when?
With regard to “sustainable drainage”, the now-approved surface water drainage strategy does not comply with the adopted development policies, as was anticipated in earlier objections from residents and residents’ associations.
There will be, at best, only very limited infiltration of water into the ground. The over-development of the site does not leave adequate space for the necessary underground tanks. This is a recurring issue on the redevelopment of these “small sites”, where gardens, front and back, are being concreted over as developers seek to maximise the number of homes they build, and therefore their profits.
As an aside, the now-approved “Proposed Surface Water Drainage Layout” (8454/501A) is based on a site layout that still shows steps up to the corner unit. The developer clearly has no intention of complying with planning policy in this regard either.
Meanwhile, planning enforcement have taken no action and are once again failing to deliver.
Read more: Demolition shows how council’s planners have no ‘red lines’
Read more: How the council’s planners help developers dodge conditions
Read more: Suspicions over secrecy surrounding Slominski’s return
Read more: Council in cover-up over planning’s husband and wife act
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