Do you want the future of Blackhorse Rd to be tonnes of high-rise concrete and more congestion?

The 23-STOREY, 230 FEET HIGH BLOCK is part of a planned ‘super-density’ housing development near the station, with OVER 400 FLATS for up to 1,000 people in 10 TOWER BLOCKS, squeezed into only 1.7 hectares (thats less than two football pitches).

The huge buildings are far higher than any other in the area (mostly two storey Victorian terraces) and will create a precedent for more tower blocks in Walthamstow. It will also add hundreds more people to the rush hour crushes in cars, buses, tubes and trains. There’s also a much larger development planned for the area north of Forest Road, adding even more people and cars to the Blackhorse Rd bottleneck.

TO STOP A 23 STOREY TOWER BLOCK BEING BUILT AT BLACKHORSE ROAD WE NEED LOCAL PEOPLE TO SUBMIT THEIR VIEWS, ALONG WITH THEIR NAME AND EITHER AN EMAIL OR HOUSE ADDRESS. WE CAN THEN PROVE TO COUNCIL PLANNERS THAT THE LOCAL COMMUNITY WANTS MORE THAN JUST HUGE TOWER BLOCKS.
WE WILL NOT CLOG UP YOUR EMAIL OR DOOR MAT WITH JUNK!  ALTERNATIVELY BECOME A MEMBER OF BAG HERE.

BAG WANTS THE DEVELOPMENT TO BE….
…on a smaller scale; less dense; better designed; sustainable; sympathetic to the area; with community spaces, facilities and services; meeting the needs of residents.

WHERE WILL IT BE?

WHY IS IT PLANNED?
The council wants to build 2,000 flats in the Blackhorse Lane area. Over 400 of these are earmarked for the site next to the tube station. Many more flats are planned on the north side of Forest Road.

WHEN IS THE BUILDING DUE?
After an inadequate public ‘consultation’, planning permission may be applied for in summer 08 and building could start as early as autumn 08.

THE OWNER & DEVELOPER
Government agency English Partnerships owns the land. The developer is the Key London Alliance, which is private house-builders Barratt Homes and Inspace, and housing associations Circle Anglia and Notting Hill Housing Group.

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO SAY NO TO THE ‘CONCRETE AND CONGESTION’ PLAN AT BLACKHORSE RD

1. TOO HIGH
Developers haven’t learnt from the anti-social, alienating high-rises of the 1960s and 70s. If this 23-storey block gets consent, it creates a precedent for more in the area.
The tower block contradicts what the council has said about taller buildings being: “out of keeping with the character of the area” and “particularly inappropriate”* when they’re close to greenbelt land like the Lea Valley Special Protection Area right next to it!

2. TOO DENSE
Over 2,000 new flats are planned for the Blackhorse Lane area. Over 400 of these are proposed for a small area of 1.7 hectares next to the tube station.  This is much denser than other local housing, and has no significant open spaces.

The proposal is…
3. TOO RESTRICTED
The proposal only includes housing. There are no shops, businesses, communal facilities or usable open spaces for people. This is a recipe for social alienation and anti-social behaviour.
The development will add more traffic to the jams at the Blackhorse Road cross-roads, and swell the crowds on our pressured tube, buses and trains.

4. ADDS TO OVERCROWDED TRANSPORT

The development will add more traffic to the jams at the Blackhorse Road cross-roads, and swell the crowds on our pressured tube, buses and trains.

5. POORLY DESIGNED
The height and bulk of the buildings will tower over the area and local housing. At ground level it will be walled in and used mainly by vehicles rather than as landscaped open space. There are no shop fronts, communal and work spaces, services or other facilities to bring the place alive for local people.

6. SPOILING THE AREA
This is a super-dense bunker. It will dominate the existing two-storey homes nearby and damage the character of the nearby streets.

7. UNSUSTAINABLE
The design is to a minimal level of sustainability for energy efficiency, water/ waste management and countering climate change. This level of sustainability is well below what owner English Partnerships champions on other sites.

*Waltham Forest council’s Unitary Development Plan, March 2006

The Blackhorse Action Group (BAG) is the residents association for the Blackhorse Rd area. We are not a party political group.

OTHER POSTS ON THIS SUBJECT (CLICK BELOW)
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A government amendment to the Planning Bill could see planning powers transferred from local authorities to Regional Development Agencies(RDAs).

The amendment, tabled by local government minister John Healy, would see RDAs, quangos whose members are appointed by the government and are accountable to the communities secretary, take the final decision on green belt developments.

Eric Pickles, shadow communities secretary, said: “This will put the fate of thousands of acres of green belt into the hands of quangos that are likely to say ‘Yes’.”

Read the whole article here.

Read the article here.

Since the Council has put the rebuilding of Willowfield School on green belt land back on the agenda, we thought that a reminder of the actual flood risk would be a good idea.

Remember, the Council’s argument is based on the idea that the Douglas Eyre Playing Fields are not as much at risk of flood as had been previously thought; this view is based on historical records, despite warnings from various agencies that flood risk assessments should be revised upwards to take global warming into account.

Take a look at the Environment Agency’s flood map, here.

The following has appeared on the council’s website, tucked away in the “schools/BSF bulletins” section: http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/bsfmonthly_bullentin_sept-oct07.pdf

“Willowfield School Governing Body and the Council met on 14th October to discuss the effects of recent further changes in the nature of restrictions round building on the Douglas Eyre Playing Field. These changes have opened up again the possibility of using the DEPF as new site for Willowfield School, with all the advantages that offers both to school, pupils and he local community…Further work will be carried out over the next few months to test out the feasibility of the approach, most particularly round the need to secure planning permission.“

The council was well aware of local residents concern over these proposals the last time they were on the agenda – so when was it planning on telling us about this? If you look at the official communications on the ‘blackhorse regeneration’ pages of the website, the last mention of Willowfield school is in June where it is stated that “Waltham Forest Council has decided not to proceed with plans to move Willowfield School to the Douglas Eyre Playing Fields following advice about flood risks.” Further updates were published in October and December – but they say nothing about the change of plan for Willowfield.

Chris Robbins, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said in June (in regard to the search for a site for Willowfield school), “We will consult with the community on any new proposals.” But this seems to have slipped his mind. Perhaps he has been too busy meeting Bouygues, the huge French conglomerate who have won the privatised building schools contract for LBWF?

You would have hoped, though, that the officers running the overall regeneration scheme might have told residents what is going on, otherwise what is the point of their updates?

Blackhorse Action Group has written to the regeneration officers asking what is the nature of the ‘changes in the nature of the restrictions’ and whether this plan is really back on the agenda. We are extremely surprised that the council would try and get round what seemed to be clear restrictions on flood plain building – particularly given that only last week, a report into this summer’s flooding said that such restrictions must be strengthened even further.

Does anyone have any further information? We would particularly like to hear from anyone with children at Willowfield school, to see if we can work together on this. We understand that the school was told that the council had failed to find any other site, so would have to re-build Willowfield on its existing site. We understand that after that, it told the school that doing so would be more difficult than originally anticipated.

We are also curious as to whether the proposed waste disposal facilities in Blackhorse Lane, which the council is being less than clear about, might have something to do with the changes of plan.

If you would like to help, feel free to email the Blackhorse regeneration officers at blackhorselane@walthamforest.gov.uk