Showing posts with label Wembley high Road. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wembley high Road. Show all posts

Wednesday 13 December 2023

The inexorable march of tall towers down Wembley High Road to continue at Planning Committee tonight

 

The view from down Wembley High Road - emerging developments are the thin blue lines in he distance including the former Copland School site

 

Brent planners are recommending that the Planning Committee tonight approve two new towers on Wembley High Road wedged between the Chiltern railway line and the existing buildings at 390-408 High Road (also due to be redeveloped).

 


The two towers are 20 and 22 storeys high (up from a previous application of 13 and 17 storeys in May 2023) and will provide 639  student beds.  None will be available but Brent planners suggest settling for £3.98 million in lieu (c£6,2050 per bed) :

No affordable student accommodation is proposed. Instead, the applicant is proposing a £3.958 million cash payment in lieu towards the borough’s affordable housing programme. Absence of affordable student accommodation is contrary to London Plan Policy H15. However, a payment in lieu would enable the scheme to contribute towards addressing the need for low cost rent affordable housing, for which there is a great need at a local and strategic level. Further clarification and discussion is required to confirm how the payment would be spent to ensure net additional affordable housing as well as the expected delivery timescales. GLA officers are scrutinising the applicant’s Financial Viability Assessment  to ensure that the cash payment represents the maximum viable financial contribution that the scheme can support.

 The applicant claims to have consulted widely but the consultation resulted in only 6 written comments:

A newsletter was sent to c.2, 400 residents and businesses, inviting them to two organised public exhibition events (held nearby at Patidar House on 5th and 8th July). The events were also publicised in theBrent and Kilburn Times, to ensure maximum visibility and a dedicated on-line community hub was launched at wembleygreenway.co.uk, to enable interested parties to view the proposals and leave feedback online. Freepost and project email addresses have also been publicised to facilitate options for further feedback. Six written responses were received from residents and local businesses, with a summary of their comments contained within the Statement of Community Involvement. (SCI)

 

The Brent Planning Portal does a little better with 8 objections, including this one:


I strongly object to proposed 2 storey block of Student Housing on Wembley High Road.


The proposed development will bring no additional benefit to local residents. There is already an extreme lack of affordable housing and this proposed development will do nothing to alleviate the problem. Instead this will exacerbate it, as well as put a significant strain on already over stretched local services, traffic and primary health care, council services as well the water & sewage network.


Wembley High Road is in the 91st percentile for High Air pollution with the WHO limited exceeded on PM 2.5, PM 10 and NO2 (source: https://addresspollution.org/results/66e0177a-b70b-4179-8e76-8b78463618e2). This proposed development will only increase the levels with no mitigations in place to reduce the traffic, air, dust and noise pollution for local residents whilst these works are due to take place.


This development does not address:


1. Affordable and secure housing for residents of Brent.


2. Traffic management and impact to clean air. Action to reduce air, dust and noise pollution. When construction is taking place there are no mitigations in place to actively reduce the affect on air pollution.


3. Mitigations to overstretched local services such as schools, GPs, Dentists, Youth services and sports clubs, Council services etc.


4. Ensuring that disruption is kept to a minimum. Maintaining footpaths, roads, bus stops so that local residents can go about their daily business safely and without it being impeded by works.

Building works in such a tight spot, off a very busy road,  are likely to be a nightmare and over a considerable amount of time as building commences on that site and the buildings fronting the street. The developer intends that most deliveries to the students units from a High Road bay rather than to the building itself.

 

There is a gesture towards greening in the provision of a Green Way from the Uncle Building to the site:

 

How long will the trees to the right of the site survive?

Planning officers are keen to prove the necessity of student accommodation to meet growing needs and their report is full of detailed statistics.  LINK. Together with the other site there will be 988 student bedrooms in this small area.

Concerns over tall buildings and densification are dismissed as this is a designated tall building zone (Local Plan) in an urban environment. Reduction in daylight is to be expected in such circumstances and sufficient separation between the buildings is claimed.

Planning officers conclude (my highlinghting):

The proposed development would make efficient use of the land in a sustainable location, in line with the NPPF, and is an appropriate form of development within Wembley Town Centre and Wembley Growth Area, consistent with the aims of the site allocation policy. This is identified as an appropriate location in the Borough where tall buildings can be located, and the proposed scale, massing and appearance of the buildings would relate well to the existing and emerging context. As the report acknowledges, owing to the constrained nature of the site and dense urban pattern of development in the locality, both existing and emerging, there is expected to be some adverse impacts on daylight and sunlight conditions to some existing residential properties, as well as others coming forward in the immediate vicinity. 

 

As the report acknowledges these adverse effects would be noticeable in some cases, but commensurate with development of this form within the high density urban environment that is both existing and emerging in the locality, and such impacts which are to be expected, as well as other planning harm identified (i.e. net loss of trees) must be balanced against the overall planning benefits of the proposal. Whilst the proposal is not in accordance with London Plan policy H15, due to the absence of affordable student accommodation on site, the payment in lieu that will be secured (£3.958m) which is agreed as the maximum viable, and which is to be utilised for the delivery of additional C3 affordable homes in the Borough, for which there is the greatest need at a local and strategic level, offers greater public benefit to the Borough.

 

Overall, and on balance, the impacts identified that are to be associated with the proposed development would it is considered be clearly outweighed by the overall planning benefits that would follow, including the provision of student accommodation to meet identified demand and this contributing positively towards the housing targets within the Borough, wider economic benefits, provision of the new east to west pedestrian route (as per the site allocation policy), new public realm, urban greening measures, sustainable drainage, sustainable transport contributions and biodiversity net gain (including off-site contribution)

 


Thursday 23 November 2023

High Road, Wembley, resurfacing works by March 2024

 The other evening I found it quicker to walk from Alperton to Wembley Park as the traffic was so snarled up along the High Road.  The condition of the High Road is poor and badly in need of resurfacing and fresh road markings, but such work is bound to be disruptive.

There are two sections of the High Road that are currently being considered for works.  The A404 High Road Wembley from Park Lane to Ealing Road is on Brent Council's 2023-24 resurfacing programme and due to be completed by the end of the financial year (March 2024).

Detailed investigations of underlying issues of the Park Lane to Wembey Triangle section are underway and there are some design risks to be mitigated before 'substantial' remedial works can start. Brent Council says these works have not yet been scheduled and will need to be done at a favourable time of the year, probably summertime.

Meanwhile the High Road is inspected each month and any intervention level defects identified for repair according to priority.

Put on your walking shoes!

Monday 13 November 2023

Can Wembley High Road support yet another chicken chicken shop

Guest blog post by Wembley Central resident Jaine Lunn

 

 

Yes it can, by all accounts. On Thursday  Popeye's Famous Louisiana Chicken (formerly Superdrug store)  opened in the High Road to a fanfare.   Its  planned big expansion into the UK is well on its way, along with one in Kilburn which opened last month.

 

The Wembley branch boasts a restaurant with 86 covers, making it much larger than KFC, MacDonalds and Nando's all put together.  It was certainly very busy at 12 noon today, whilst KFC was empty and not a delivery driver in sight.  Offering an extensive menu, consisting of Chicken Wraps, Burgers, Fries, Deserts and Shakes, it markets itself as a premium brand and slightly more expensive than what is currently on offer in the rest of the high road.

 

 

I did try the Saver menu which consisted of 2 x Tender Strips and Fries, which cost £2.99, the outside has a very tasty crunch, the tender strips were juicy and cooked to perfection. The fries were some of the best I’ve tasted for reconstituted potatoes. This was opening day however, and we all know that consistency is the key.  Once these big brands are franchised the quality drops off.  This is clearly noticeable with MacDonalds and KFC which are both represented in the High Road are franchise owned and their offerings look nothing like the pictures in the shop in store or on TV adverts.  I also didn't see a sign claiming the chicken was Halal, like some other stores.

 

 

 


On a serious note, there are additionally 3 shops offering pizza: Pizza Hut, Dominoes, and an Independent, 2 offers of Doner Kebabs:,the Doner, German Doner Kebab plus Amigo's which offers Chicken, Burgers, Hot Dogs, etc.  Wembley High Road is awash with ultra-processed fast foods which leads me to the latest figures relating to Brent Residents.

 

 


 

In November 2022, reported by Brent Council, 58.8% of residents were Overweight, Obese or having a BMI of over 25.

 

In August 2021, it was reported that 1 in 3 children leaving Primary School (year 6) approximately 24% were considered Overweight or Obese by the age of 11.  With Brent's planning department more concerned about expanding their housing quota, building in parks and reducing our green space that should be available for exercise these results are not surprising.  Whatever happened to them reducing the number of takeaways etc near schools?

 


 

On much lighter note, I did ask what appeared to be a Senior Rep from Popeye, why it was called Popeye Chicken ( as my only recollection of anyone called Popeye was the Sailor who ate Spinach and his very skinny girlfriend Olive Oyl who clearly never ate anything close to Fried Chicken lol.)  He informed me that the owner of Popeye chose the name after Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle from the film "The French Connection" played by Gene Hackman in the film of which he was a big fan apparently.  

 

So now you know.

 


 

 Jaine Lunn





Tuesday 20 June 2023

Henry Construction (builders of the Wembley Link) no longer trading - 40 staff made redundant. Status of Wembley Link site being investigated.


The two Wembley Link towers behind the High Road at an earlier stage

 Update from the Construction Index (LINK)

As previously reported, Geoff Rowley and David Hudson of specialist business advisory firm FRP were appointed as joint administrators to Henry Construction Projects Limited on Thursday 8th June 2023.

Since the appointment, the administrators have been assessing the position of the business with support from sector professional advisors.

The business is no longer trading and most of its 40 staff have been made redundant. A small number has been retained to assist the administrators in their duties.

Gateley Vinden, the property and construction consultancy, is supporting the administrators as they contact developers across sites in progress along with Hilco Valuation Services, the asset valuation, advisory and sales practice of Hilco Global, which is assisting with the asset recovery and disposal strategy.

Mark Henry’s own personal property portfolio is understood to be unaffected by the collapse.

David Hudson, partner at FRP and joint administrator of Henry Construction Projects Limited, said: 

Henry Construction was a significant player of scale in the UK market. Unfortunately, given its financial position, it was not able to continue trading and so all operations have ceased. Regrettably, the majority of staff have been made redundant and we are supporting them in making the appropriate claims to the Redundancy Payments Office.

We continue our work to gather information about the assets and liabilities of the business and understand the events leading up to the insolvency. As part of that process, we are engaging with developers regarding the status of each site.

Tuesday 15 November 2022

349 student bedroom accommodation in 13,16 & 17 storey building in Wembley High Road likely to be approved tomorrow

 

The present buildings, Pitman House and Fairgate House, 390-402, 402-408 High Road Wembley


The replacement building

The plans for a massive student accommodation block to replace Pitman House and Fairgate House on Wembley High Road, comes to Plannning Committee tomorrow.

Thge plans are for a party 13, part 16 and part-17 storey buildng housing 349 student bedrooms and a range of communcal spaces, along with three commercial units at ground floor level. 

Following other high-rise buildings on the High Road this is consider acceptable by officers. The building would almost face the controversial Cecil Avenue/Copland site where Brent Council is proposing a high density 9 storey building and close to the 17 and 19 storey Wembley Link (416 - 44 High Road) and the 27-storey Twin Towers (Uncle building) that replaced Chesterfield House.

The mock-tudor shops wedged between will begin to look very much out of place.

 Figures indicate the number of storeys

The land behind the development, between it and the railway line, is also likely to be  developed as a continuation of the Wembley Link concept:



The planning application has attracted few comments and only two objections.That is quite surpising given its size and potential impact. The Brent Trees Officer regrets the loss of trees in the development and is pessimistic about the survival chances of new trees to be planted in a shaded space.

Student accommodation and its suitability for the area and any potential problems are not directly addressed but Officers have this to say about that aspect of the proposal:

…Student housing contributes to Brent’s housing targets, at a rate of 2.5 bedspaces to one conventional housing unit, and the provision of accommodation for 349 students would equate to 139.6 new homes, which would contribute towards the wider target of 650 dwellings within the whole of the site allocation. To date within the wider site allocation, planning permission has been secured for 256 homes within Wembley Link scheme (18/3111) and outline consent secured for 5000sqm of residential floorspace (upto 54 homes) within Ujima House (19/3092).


The accommodation would be secured by condition for occupation by full time students enrolled on UK accredited and based further education courses during term time (for not less than 39 weeks of the year). The remaining time, (outside term time,) the Council is content that the units may be rented out on short-term lets, perhaps assisting tourism within the summer vacation period. This will apply to all of the student rooms. The majority of the units (51% of bedrooms) would be provided through a nominations agreement with one or more higher education providers, through the s106 agreement. This demonstrates that the accommodation would meet a specific London need, in line with policy H15 of London Plan and policy BH7 of Brent’s Local Plan.

A draft student management plan has been submitted, setting out how the development would be managed through an on-site staff presence providing a point of contact for students but also for local residents who might be concerned about any incidents of anti-social behaviour. Management and maintenance of communal facilities, emergencies and security measures are also addressed. An updated document would be required as a condition prior to occupation, and would provide a dedicated contact for local residents.

Officers recommend approval of the application subject to conditions and a Section106 Plan.

Friday 3 June 2022

Wembley Place in the High Road - beyond a joke!

New developments and regeneration in Wembley Park, Alperton and South Kilburn get a lot of attention but Wembley High Road is also being steadily redeveloped.  In this guest blog a local  resident looks at some disturbing issues in a new development on the High Road.

 

Perhaps whilst everyone is banging on about parking etc let’s look at Wembley High Road. Wembley Place was built by Henley Homes  the very same contractor that closed the High Road for months having pumped 25 metres of concrete into the sewer when piling) now operated by Genesis Notting Hill.  I believe they are responsible for the social housing (45) flats above Sainsbury's and shared ownership above Costa Coffee.  Not sure who operates the remainder which is private, block is at the back overlooking Copland Fields.

 

Since complaining that the gates were never open to the service areas when everyone and their mother is parking in Ecclestone Place opposite  to facilitate their deliveries, it would now appear that said gate is now broken and hasn't been closed for months.  

 

 

This results in a theoretical "Car Free Development" where the  majority of residents who own cars are now freely parking along the service road.  I counted approximately 18 vehicles when I took the photographs for this article.  

 

 

When I saw people moving I asked if they were residents – the answer was,  “Yes, the gate doesn't work and it's easy to park here without any problem.”

 

 

I also noted that the disabled bays of which there are 20 were also nearly full, and have it on good authority from a resident of the private block which is above it that only about 4/5 have permits and it is rumoured some residents are using their relatives and friends to gain a space.  This area has now been reduced due to scaffolding, which brings me on to my next item.

 


Since shortly after completion in Easter of 2020 and the retail units being fitted out and leased to Costa and Sainsburys, scaffolding went up around the ground level of all the three blocks.  You will note it's under every section where there are greyish oblong bricks.  

 

Now from when it went up, well over 18 months ago, nobody has been seen working on it.  The only person I have spoken to is the guy that comes and puts up the permits and checks the security of it.  I asked the scaffolders as to what is happening and they informed me that these bricks/cladding has been installed incorrectly and there is fear that they may fall off and injure someone.  As the scaffolding is at low level there does not seem to be anyone in a rush to repair it/remove/remedy the situation.  

 

 

But the best joke is, outside Costa on the area where they have installed seating on the "Piazza" adjacent to where our "Water Feature" was supposed to be installed but never happened.  There is no scaffolding and scaffolders have not been told to erect there, so god help the fans and patrons of Costa who may be injured if one falls off!

 



You might also observe the Heras Fencing which has been there forever, along with the security gates to enter the development. None of this was shown in the artist’s impression of the development.

 

 

As for the play area, it is unusable for the kids as it's full of scaffolding and despite the fact it was 20% down on the recommended amenity space in the first place. Coplands Fields still remain locked off to everyone, despite being "public land". We were told it only required 10% of the space to build the new school but they have given St Josephs RC School and Elsley Primary some to expand to for forms of entry - the rest remains fenced off to the public.  

 

I really need Carolyn Downs to answer an FOI as to why this is so.  I have ear-ached Muhammed Butt and Krupa Sheth to no avail, and cannot get a sensible answer from either of them.............something is not right.

 

 

Friday 8 April 2022

If you care about Wembley Central get along to this exhibition on Saturday and make your views known

 

Fairgate House today

 
The building that will replace it
 
EXHIBITION SATURDAY APRIL 9th 10AM-1PM
 
 4TH FLOOR, UJIMA HOUSE
388 HIGH ROAD, HA9 6AR
 
A handful of locals attended the first exhibition of the proposals for the redevelopment of Fairgate House and Pitman House in High Road, Wembley . In the unlikely surroundings of Stonebridge Boxing Club (punchbags may come in  handy) in Ujima House, a few easels displayed panels outlining the proposals that are still at an early stage.
 
There have been pre-application meetings between the developer Regal  and Brent planners but the PR agency insisted that there was still much to play for.

They encountered a sceptical audience who had seen their area transformed by concrete blocks with little benefit to long-term residents. Residents were particularly concerned that early promise of community facilities at the 'Twin Towers' on the Chesterfield House site, now marketed as 'Uncle' did not come to fruition and the Bowling Club pavilion in King Eddie's park is not available to the community. 'How can you build a community when there is nowhere for the community to meet?'
 
 
 
The agency said that this was a need that they could convery to Regal but there were doubts over the potential for shared student-community. The company that took managment of the building of the building may not be sympathetic even if the developer was. 


Roof terrace
 
Other developers' promises of accessible outdoor space had come to nothing with the spaces provided scrappy, litter strewn and inaccessible to the public.  Would the roof garden survive into the final stages of planning?
 
Clearly the current Fairgate House has little or no architectural merit but will it's replacement really make most of the opportunity offered by its demolition?

 

 Distribution of student accommodation
 
Residents also questioned the building's function as student accommodation asking what the area offered to students compared with the Quintain development in Wembley Park.  The agency was unable to provide evidence  there and then of the demand for such accommodation in Wembley Central but said that the developer must have done some research to establish the viability of the proposal.  There was scepticism over the ease of student travel into central London given the poor quality of service and frequency of the ageing Bakerloo line compared with the Jubilee.
 
The  context of the development is important as it is part of an 'intensification corridor 'and close to the the 'tall building zones' designated in Brent's new Local Plan. There is a continuous ribbon of new development starting at the massive Quintain, Wembley Park,  site reaching down to Wembley Stadium station and along High Road to the Twin Towers with additional buildings  further along around Wembley Central station. Then Ealing Road leads to the very dense high rise developments in Alperton.

Any opposition gains are likely to be limited to tweaks in plans rather than outright rejection.


The large bulky yellow building in the above image is to be built on the former Copland school site and will face the proposed Fairgate House development. Together the two sides of the High Road will present a sort of concrete canyon with less distance between the two sides of the road than you find on a European boulevard.

I pointed out at the exhibition the 3 storey buildings that line the High Road on the left side of the picture and wondered how  long they would survive. As you can see the blue high rises being built next to the Chiltern railway line tower over the low rise on that side of the road.


This image would make more sense if you could also see the heights of the buildings on the  west side of the High Road.
 
What was obvious from our vantage on the 4th Floor of Ujima House was the loss of vegetation on the  High Road side of the Chiltern Line compared with the suburban side. The High Road side has lost much of what was a 'green corridor' and more is likely to go with the developments in the pipeline despite promises of a 'linear park'.
 

 Between the railway and High Road


The view across to the other side of the railway line, trees and shrubs still intact on the bank
 
Opposite Ujima and Fairgate House is the huge ex-Copland School site where the yellow building in the above 'Emerging Context' illustration will be built - a prime example of densification along with the nearby Brent House development.


The ex-Copland School site
 
On leaving the area I was struck by two of the children's paintings that adorn the green hoarding around the Copland site.
 
They rather neatly sum up the different views of Wembley's future.