Community spirit wins the day against Cobbold Mews development
The campaign to stop a sizeable development behind Chiswick's Greenend Road was a success in more ways than one according the road's residents.
When faced with the prospect of having a large block of flat built, a number of community minded locals came together and held a meeting.
It was agreed the best form of action would be to speak to all the addresses that had been written to by Ealing Council's planning department to advise of the true impact.
Architects, surveyors and planners were consulted on the correct terminology of the concerns of the residents and also for advice on how to approach the matter. A letter was drafted and local councillors were approached.
One resident told ChiswickW4.com, "A local businessman did 350 copies of a letter to the council and a covering letter to all residents. An email address was set up for residents to contact the group should they require an electronic copy of the letter. Then the roads for letter drops were divided up and the group went out and either knocked on doors and spoke to people or just dropped the letters off. The letter could be just addressed and signed from the individual or they could amend it as they wanted to and send it off. To our knowledge over 130 letters and emails were sent to the council."
Other residents were delighted with what the group had done as well as being horrified at the extent the proposed development would have affected them.
"Many people hadn't logged on to the Ealing council website to review the endless pages of information and drawings...and who can blame them?!"
When news arrived that the development had been rejected the group door dropped another letter to let the residents know. Moving forward the local residents are to join forces with a local residents' association.
"I think this is a fantastic example of community spirit. I know many of the residents have met new neighbours following this and and are all ready for the next battle with the developers!"
Speaking after the plans were rejected, Southfield Ward Councillor Gary Malcolm said, “The plan to build a development this tall is clearly not in keeping with the area. Many residents in Greenend Road would not be able to enjoy the privacy of their gardens if it had been allowed to go ahead. I am glad so many residents felt so strongly about the issue.”
He added, “Because of the strange way the planning system works it seems likely that the developer many put in new plans for a similar building. If so this is one battle won and another we will have to fight in the future.”
September 29, 2009