Beulah Hill Demo planned

COUNCIL PLANNERS ARE LETTING US DOWN! PIECEMEAL AND
SPECULATIVE DEVELOPMENT, OVER-DEVELOPMENT AND POOR POLICING OF PLANNING REGULATIONS ARE BLIGHTING THE BEULAH HILL AREA.

The time has come to say ‘enough is enough’!

As the Council considers a third development application for 66-70 Beulah Hill, help us show them how strongly local residents feel about the blighting of Beulah Hill. Join a public protest called by Croydon Greens on:

DATE: Thursday 24th August

PLACE: Outside 66-70 Beulah Hill

TIME: 3pm

We’re aiming for major coverage in the local media so bring your banners and make your voice heard!


WHY WE NEED ACTION TO PROTECT BEULAH HILL

HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS

Planning permission has already been granted for three housing developments and Barnfield Homes are pushing hard to build a fourth (of 15 houses and nine flats) on the site of 66-70 Beulah Hill.

If this is approved it will lead to a variety of problems:

· Residents in the immediate vicinity will lose their outlook and their privacy due to the number, size and proximity of new houses as well as the loss trees and shrubs on the boundary.
· In the wider area, traffic will increase leading to more air and noise pollution as well as more traffic accidents. Beulah Hill is already a major black spot for traffic accidents: the new developments will only exacerbate this situation. Air quality in Croydon is already at dangerously high levels; increased traffic will trigger an even greater incidence of respiratory disease amongst young and old alike.

· The Barnfield Homes proposal requires the felling of 21 mature trees – adding to the loss of 30 trees and various shrubs in the Ellery Road and Founders Gardens areas last year. This will represent yet another deterioration of the streetscape and will further reduce wildlife habitat.

· The overall character of the area will be undermined even further as existing housing stock is being demolished or neglected in the rush to build speculative developments. For example, as well as the proposal to demolish the houses at 68–70 Beulah Hill, another development already approved by Council involves the purchase and demolition of two bungalows, a house and the Norfolk Court Hotel. Meanwhile, potentially usable empty properties such as Ormsby Court are left vacant. This sets a dangerous precedent for speculative developers.


WHAT ARE WE CALLING FOR?


1) A FULL, INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS

Despite the fact that many of these developments conflict with Croydon Council’s current Unitary Development Plan and the Second Deposit Draft Replacement Unitary Development Plan, Council officers continue to take a piecemeal approach.

For example, they currently adhere to the view that individual developments falling below the ‘guideline’ of 32 units require no traffic impact assessment. So, despite the fact that four separate proposed developments would result in an additional 50 units of housing being built within a space of less than 500 metres, no impact assessment will be made.

2) BETTER USE OF EXISTING HOUSING STOCK

On Beulah Hill, Ormsby Court currently lies empty and neglected. Across London, more than 100,000 homes lie empty. Before approving speculative developments that merely destroy the character and amenity of an area, the Council should first seek to ensure that existing housing stock is better used.

3) PROPER POLICING OF EXISTING PLANNING POLICIES

Well over a year after the destruction of more than 30 mature trees along Beulah Hill, the Council has still failed to take action to have the area restored or the perpetrators prosecuted. Once again, this failure to act is symptomatic of the piecemeal and short-term thinking that currently seems to hold sway with Council planners. The area cannot afford to lose more trees and more green spaces - they must be given proper protection.

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Tags croydon, greenparty