Rt Hon Mark Field MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA12 December 2017
Dear Mark,
Site of the former Richard Cloudesley School
Thank you for coming to meet with us yesterday. We are writing regarding the planning application for the new residential tower and school on the site of the former Richard Cloudesley School (RCS) in Golden Lane. This is currently in for planning in both Islington and the City and will go to committee early in the New Year.
The proposals that the City have submitted grossly exceed planning policy on height, density, noise, public open space and daylight. They include a tower block with a single escape staircase and no external space around it. Building regulations for these kind of towers are the subject of an urgent review by Dame Judith Hackitt. The argument put forward by the City is that whilst the development may breach policy, the benefits of social housing outweigh the harms caused.
Residents were consulted, but only after the design had been fixed. Our experience with Bernard Morgan House is that, despite not meeting planning policy and over 180 objections, local residents were ignored. As you pointed out, it should no longer be acceptable post-Grenfell to disregard local communities in this way.
We believe that the approach of putting families into a single staircase tower block on this site, with access balconies running past bedrooms and no wheelchair parking, will not integrate coherently with the estate and will lead to social isolation. The local community in both Islington and the City are united in calling for social housing on the site that does not breach planning and is of a decent standard. From our studies we consider that there are options that would achieve these aims with the same accommodation on the site at less cost and we attach plans for reference.
We would like the current planning application to be suspended and a new, less damaging design brought forward and we would welcome your support in this aim, particularly by highlighting the level of local concern to John Barradell, Catherine McGuiness and Emily Thornberry.
Yours sincerely,
Charles Humphries
Golden Lane Estate Residents Association
alternative proposals
