On 15 June 2011 Ealing Council's Planning Committee approved an application to develop a 446-place Catholic nursery and primary school on the disused bowling green and tennis courts behind the Church of the Holy Family on Vale Lane. Only two councillors voted against, despite strong representations from both this Residents Association and Hanger Hill East (covering the Haymills Estate) and their respective Conservation Panels for further consultation to take place about the scheme.
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The image above shows a panorama of the proposed site, taken from the rear of Princes Gardens. That below is a visualisation of what the new building will look like.
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With assistance from Cllr Benjamin Dennehy, the Association has finally been given an appointment with the Transport department to discuss the school on 12 December 2011. We are still waiting to meet the Planning Officer to discuss the external finishes to the school, as requested by the Planning Committee.
HGHERA learns from an article in the parish newsletter (click here) that two reception classes will open in September 2012 in the present Church hall. Residents may wish to note that meetings are being held for prospective parents on 16 December and 9 January. Closing date for applications is 15 January 2012.
A further consultation by the Education department was launched following Planning Committee, with a deadline for comments by Friday 5 August. The Residents Association had already sent comments in detail to the Education Department but resubmitted these under this stage of the consultation process. Many residents are known to have responded individually -- the department's own summary of responses to the previous consultation shows how effective this can be in terms of numbers.
Ealing Council Planning Committee discussed the proposal on 15 June. In the absence of Bill Bailey, HHGERA Chairman, Nim Maradas spoke against the proposal on behalf of the Association, and Hanger Hill ward Councillor Nigel Sumner also addressed the Committee on our behalf. Cllr Benjamin Dennehy, another local councillor and Planning Committee member, tried to get the application deferred for further consultation, but received only one vote in support. Other members appeared frankly contemptuous of our objections. On the plus side, the Committee did ask the Planning Department to look again at the possibility of a set-down and pick-up arrangement to ease traffic concerns; and the developers are also supposed to consult the two Conservation Panels about the use of cladding materials for the school. The Ealing Council website has now been updated to show approval with conditions, though there are no details what those conditions may be. The Association is considering what grounds exist for an appeal.
Planning Committee members made a site visit on Saturday 11 June. A handful of residents were there to meet them and explain some of our concerns.
Data protection alert: It has been drawn to our attention that personal data of HHGERA residents and their responses to the pre-consultation questionnaire (21 October 2010) were placed on Ealing Council's Planning website, in apparent breach of the Data Protection Act. The documents have since been removed from public view but it is the Association's contention that this apparently illegal action may invalidate the planning consultation. A number of residents have made formal complaints about this and a notice has been placed on the council's Planning home page to say the matter is being reviewed. Updates will be posted as available.
After repeated attempts to meet the planners, Bill Bailey and his opposite number from Haymills finally met Council officials on 2 June. By then (though we did not know it at the time) invitations had already been sent to objectors to speak at the Planning Committee on 15 June. Rosemarie Wakelin, Principal Conservation Officer, said she had worked closely with the Applicant to ensure the plans were "harmonious" with the Estate. Residents' representatives disagreed and pressed strongly for the Planning Committee consideration to be postponed until our views had been fully taken into account. This was ignored.
Residents Association letter of objection to the planning application
Ealing Council website - application reference no. is P/2011/1469 - scroll down and click through to the comment form and links to full supporting documentation, including plans and drawings, traffic and school catchment area assessments.
The Residents Association has grave concerns about the proposal's impact on the conservation area's unique environment. A questionnaire circulated to all residents, following Ealing Council's 'pre-consultation', revealed 88% opposed the plans with 12% in favour (and even those in favour often had reservations). Now the formal application has been submitted, the Association has objected on behalf of residents and is seeking a meeting with the Planning Department in co-ordination with the Hanger Hill East (Haymills) Residents Association. However, all residents are also encouraged to make their views known directly.
Full details of the proposals can be found on the Ealing Council website - click here for the relevant page. If you scroll down, this includes a comment form and lots of further documentation which you can access if you click where it says 'click here for any related documents', including ground plans and panoramas. For ease of access, there are links directly to selected documents below (NB the server does sometimes crash at busy times).
The formal deadline for comments on the planning application has now passed but if you are contacting the Council about this, you should quote the application number (P/2011/1469) and address (Church of the Holy Family, Vale Lane, London W3 0DY).
More documents:
Planning application - formal letter to residents
Residents Association response to pre-consultation letter - views co-ordinated with our opposite numbers on the Haymills Estate
Pre-consultation letter - not a formal planning consultation at this stage but another chance for individuals to make their views known
Consultants' response - no point in meeting because formal planning submission is imminent
Email to planning consultants summarising questionnaire responses and suggesting a meeting
Results of questionnaire - 88% against the development, 12% in favour but often with reservations
Questionnaire distributed to all residents
Minutes of the residents association committee meeting on 1 November 2010.
Circular to selected residents ahead of 21 October pre-pre-consultation.
Map of site as it is now.
This page will be updated regularly and the Forum (see navigation left) is available to residents to air their views. In the meantime, click the links below for detailed drawings of what is proposed and other documents (nb links go direct to Ealing Council website, which is prone to crashes - some of the documents are quite large and may take time to download):
Expected catchment area
Proposed ground floor plan
Proposed first floor plan
Proposed roof plan
Elevations, including proposed view from church side
Elevations, including view from Masons Green Lane side
Elevations, including view from Vale Lane
'Draft Green Travel Plan'