Last night I met with a number of concerned residents who have learnt about Notting Hill Housing Trust’s (NHHT) ambitions to build a new office complex at the bottom of Hammersmith Grove.NHHT apparently wants to demolish its current building (see pics) and my constituents fear that H&F Council will agree that they can replace it with something bigger and not in tune with their residential area. It has also come to light that H&F Council has actually been involved in confidential talks with NHHT for many months but no plans have been made public as yet.
In fact, H&F Council will meet with large property development companies and have its officers advise how their proposals fit with the borough’s planning requirements. Residents are therefore concerned that this process can sideline their hopes and wants for their neighbourhood in preference for the needs of developers.Meanwhile, readers will recall the outcry when the NCP Armadillo building (opposite the proposed NHHT building) was given planning permission by Cllr. Lucy Ivimy (Con) and the Conservative members of her committee last October. Concerns have been further agitated after Cllr. Mark Loveday (Con) flew to the South of France to apparently offer up Hammersmith and Fulham as a “borough of opportunity” at the world’s biggest property developers’ conference.
I understand that some residents are meeting with NHHT next week. I hope NHHT will be able to address all concerns to their satisfaction. Meanwhile, please email me here if you would like to be kept in touch with any meetings arranged about this proposed new building.
2 comments:
I hope I may comment on the photographs here? The first photograph of the NHHT building is from Hammersmith Grove, and the second photograph is taken from the back of a house in Overstone Rd on the east side.
The back of the NHHT building is quite prepossessing, being white, stepped and terraced, and sympathetically aligned so it doesn't overwhelm its residential neighbours in Overstone Road.
From the back the NHHT
building looks like a liner, a very 1930s' look and an attractive one at that.
Ealing Times
Woman slams housing trust
9:40am Sunday 19th October 2008
A DISABLED woman has accused Notting Hill Housing Trust of neglecting her living conditions which has left her feeling
"suicidal" and "victimised”.
Toni Todd, 43, of Shalimar Gardens, Acton, said Notting Hill Housing Trust has not done enough to protect her from nuisance neighbours, dodgy workmen, and on-going problems with her flat.
Ms Todd, who suffers from Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD), said: "I hate it. I'd be better off living at Battersea Dogs' Home."
Recently, Ms Todd was left without a ceiling or light in her kitchen for six weeks after water flooded in from the flat above.
She said when workmen came to fix the problems, they "left the place in a shambles", adding that dust and debris from the repair work has aggravated her son’s asthma.
Problems with her neighbours have included urine seeping through her ceiling, and she has even seen dog faeces being thrown out of the window from the flat above.
Ms Todd claims that the problems with her home have caused her health to deteriorate seriously and she is now being treated for depression.
She said: "I'm scared to go out because I don't know what I will find when I come home."
She has contacted solicitors, but there is little they can do while the housing association commits to undertaking repair work.
Phil Dunkley, a spokesman for the housing association, said steps have been taken to try and prevent the flooding happening again.
He said: “I have investigated the situation at the above address and there has been a problem with frequent water leaks coming from the flat above Ms Todd.
“We are working with the support officer of the person living above Ms Todd to try and stop the leaks occurring again.
“One measure that we will shortly be taking is to fit the flat above with special taps which prevent water over-flowing.
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