Forum Topic

The case against a Conservation Area for Northfields

Currently the Council is consulting on the introduction of a Conservation Area (CA) in the Northfields area in south/central Ealing where I live. The CA will cover 7,000 properties that are spread over the Walpole and Northfield Wards to the south of Uxbridge Road down to Little Ealing Lane. The proposed CA straddles Northfield Avenue which runs from the north to south in the area.  Following pressure from a very small number of local residents the Council held an informal consultation in 2022 asking local people if they wished to see a CA introduced in our area. No recognised residents’ association was consulted about the proposal. 181 residents responded to the consultation representing just 2% of households in the area. Despite this limited response (and not all respondents were in favour) the Council pressed ahead with the current  statutory consultation exercise asking the 7,000 affected households for their views on Northfields becoming a CA. https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201164/local_plan/3125/new_local_planNorthfields - where I have lived for over 40 years - is pleasant enough. But it is nothing special. There are thousands of suburban neighbourhoods up and down the country just like Northfields. Indeed the area should have been classed as a CA 120 years ago when it was a relatively coherent urban form made up of Edwardian terraced and semi-detached housing. But not now. In any case the buildings that have some architectural merit in Northfields are already listed under current planning legislation and, in effect, cannot be altered in any significant way. The two most significant buildings in this respect are the Underground station itself and, almost due opposite, the 1930s Moorish style cinema now used by the Ealing Christian Centre. Many residential and commercial properties in Northfields have had extensions of all kinds and the exterior of many properties has changed beyond recognition – front walls have been rebuilt, porches have been added, windows have been replaced and some front gardens have been dug up and turned into hard standings for car parking (and the charging of electric vehicles these days).  Quite frankly, the area has ‘been and gone’ and cannot be judged as anything exceptional. It certainly ain’t no Brentham Estate or Bedford Park, existing CAs in Ealing.  I also fear that the declaration of a CA would stymie any new building in the area. There are one or two sites in the locality that could provide much needed housing but a developer would find it near impossible to build on those sites if a CA was declared. Furthermore loft extensions would require full planning permission before they could proceed. An expensive and time-consuming process. Most loft extensions are now allowed under permitted development rights. Also the construction of bungalows in garden land that run alongside our side streets would become (in effect) a thing of the past. So the supply of additional housing units/bedrooms/living space could be significantly curtailed by the creation of the CA. What’s more the CA might – depending on the consequent changes to permitted development rights – see household efforts to improve the energy efficiency of their homes thwarted. The installation of solar panels and external wall insulation might fall foul of the new regulations. Bin covers in front gardens would undoubtedly need planning permission as would cycle sheds. Permission would also be needed for some tree pruning. I kid you not. And who would police this new CA? Ealing’s Planning service is already under severe pressure as are many others in London and beyond. Would the Council really be able to recruit the staff needed to deal with all the additional work associated with the creation of the CA? And where would the funding come from? Councillors too would get caught up in endless disputes about the application of the new planning rules. Is that what they really wanted to do when putting themselves up to serve our local community? The London Plan calls for Ealing to facilitate the building of over 21,570 homes in the ten years to 2028/29 , many on small infill sites in neighbourhoods like Northfields. If a CA is declared in Northfields that task would become that much more difficult. In a city like London where density levels are one seventh those in Paris, we should add to our housing stock in a sensitive way in areas like Northfields. We also have most of the infrastructure to support incremental increases in our housing stock (although the electricity grid could be upgraded and we could do with more GP surgeries). But this is not just a parochial issue affecting me and where I live. I am afraid if conservation interests in other urban communities in London and elsewhere call for the creation of CAs the opportunities to increase housing supply will become ever harder. As population increases through rises in net migration and for other reasons too, this can only lead to more homelessness, more overcrowding and higher rents and house prices. CAs are needed in sensitive urban settings that contain buildings of significant architectural value. But please not in Northfields.

Roger Jarman ● 255d27 Comments

And your point is?If you look at how CAs are structured you will find that it depends on the category of the CA. Or simple local authorities policy on planning and aesthetics.The picture shows just how nice an area can look irrespective of architectural merit if unspoiled and maintained. And the fact it is very sought after to live in shows that most appreciate it.  But as long as the aesthetics are visually correct, then the material - and the benefits of modern materials certainly have a place.  With advances in manufacture and far better matching possible, manufacturers and suppliers now compete for a growing market and that has levelled costs. ( Not that any are cheap except for real tat that won't last a decade )( Ealing did have quite good standards and guidance advice many moons ago which were applied in all areas irrespective of any listings or CAs.  It's why quite a lot is still unspoiled.). The ' Heritage Quarter' much lauded in other parts of the UK as a rather good halfway measure has not really been enhanced or reinforced in a few areas, but things were in place it's just not followed up and ignorance prevails with the endless turnover of planning people who simply don't know the areas they are dealing with well enough. Or is it many cooks and external vested influencersThe Categories as proposed are very unlikely to be as strict as Brentham or Bedford Park. More likely to be along the lines of St Paul's/ Griffin Park area of Brentford - and as someone else pointed out, you only have to look around the rest of Brentford to see how that degree of protection is so needed.

Raymond Havelock ● 200d

https://www.putneysw15.com/default.asp?section=info&page=conplanning041upvc.htm

Philippa Bond ● 201d

It's called Labour Hypocrisy, a very common and well known affliction.And anyone who's fool enough to actually believe that the Planning Committee and LBE Planning are "independent", well .........🤣

Rosco White ● 224d

It's interesting that they council are looking to introduce CA's when they don't care about the existing ones. They allow developers to ignore CA rules when they approve their developments. We live in a conservation area and we adhere to the guidelines as we want to preserve our CA, only for the council to ignore it all to benefit a developer.

Nadia Shaw ● 224d

Well, you’ll get your chance in three years time, Rosco. Don’t hold your breath though.

Simon Hayes ● 232d

We also still desperately need an immediate change of regime at The Ealing Kremlin.........

Rosco White ● 232d

It comes from the Govt via the London Plan which the Mayor of London has to prepare but which goes back and forth to the Minister of Housing until that Minister signs it off.Planning in this country is very expensive and Govt changed things reducing regulations but that has been a disaster especially where the high rises are concerned.My comments in the post above are about what is ALREADY available but which may not and should be being used to try to stop cowboy builders making poor conversions which will devalue homes by making them difficult to live in and will cause anti-social behaviour not to mention the fact that without the proper fire separation between flats will be dangerous.I think lots of houses have rooms in the loft which is a useful way of making more space in buildings - many people will have worked at home during the pandemic.  They will also be useful for family visiting.  However there are Building Regulations that have to be taken into account even when Planning Permission is not needed.  These are for safety.In other countries people seem to manage to expand and contract the amount of their home that they use for their family as their family changes.  There are many people who cannot afford all the homes that are being built.  What is needed is more social housing to replace what has been sold off.The buildings that developers want to build are often not what is needed in an area.  If they don't think they will make enough money on a development they will not want to build it.  Bigger developments cost more.We still need green spaces.

Philippa Bond ● 233d

It's not Ealing Council....entirely. The Mayor of London and under not just this incumbent but his predecessors have been complicit in engineering a climate of overdensification and played London, inner and outer into a huge toy for developers creating demand that is insatiable and will exceed supply.This Mayor is on record claiming he would put a stop to overseas investment sales and limit luxury hi rise developments for overseas sales. All a big part of his nomination for Mayor Campaign - along with his "Son of a Bus driver' which it turns out he thoroughly resented ...until it became a useful election tool.Ealing though does have a lot to answer for in its 'deals' with A2 Dominion amongst others and that has never been brought to book.Maybe with the fallout of the Post Office cover up this might one day come out in the wash.  But as we see the perpetrators have still to be brought to task

Raymond Havelock ● 233d

I'm all for ANYTHING that will stop Ealing Council Labour from trashing Ealing Borough.You'd think they just don't care wouldn't you? 😉

Rosco White ● 234d

That has nothing to do with Conservation Areas Phillippa.It is about the environs and appearance and protecting against unbalanced developments.What people do inside or with their property ie renting etc is a complelety different issue.

Raymond Havelock ● 234d

You already need Planning Permission to divide houses into flats. Nobody should ever presume that anyone doing any building has already got Planning AND Building Regulations approval. (You need both otherwise you will get unsafe and unsanitary buildings which may also be difficult to rent as they may not have fire and sound insulation between floors.  Poor sound insulation can cause a lot of aggravation between residents.)There are ALSO ALREADY in place rules about Houses in Multiple Occupation in Ealing.  They need to be registered.https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201086/housing_and_council_tax/2201/private_rented_property_licensing These can also cause a lot of unneighbourly behaviour as without proper oversight there tends to be a lack of coordinated behaviour over the care of the building.

Philippa Bond ● 236d

Absolutely agree with all you say. If people read my earlier comment they can see what happens in areas that SHOULD be CA's but sadly NOT.

Beryl Bashford ● 245d

As the person who initiated the idea of making Northfields a conservation area, I would just like to point out the following:– No-one has pressurised the Council. I simply put forward this proposal to the external consultant conducting a review of all Ealing’s CAs and it was accepted for consultation on its merits.– With regard to the lack of consultation with recognised residents’ associations, I have been in touch with EFRA, the residents’ association of which Roger is Chair, on multiple occasions about the CA since the first public consultation in early 2022, and spoke at their AGM on the subject last year. – EFRA represents only a fraction of all households in the area (which, incidentally, are nearer 4,000 than 7,000. I know. I’ve leafleted them all twice!) By contrast, every household in the affected area has been notified about this consultation by the Council. – Contrary to Roger’s view that the area has ‘been and gone’ and cannot be judged as anything exceptional’, Historic England and the Victorian Society have supported the CA proposal, and that is not something that they do lightly. – It is simply not true that ‘the declaration of a CA would stymie any new building in the area’ or stop people making changes to their homes, including improving energy efficiency. This looks like scaremongering. CA designation will mean that more substantial changes to houses would be subject to greater scrutiny to ensure that they are sympathetic to their surroundings. – Roger says that ‘we should add to our housing stock in a sensitive way in areas like Northfields’. I would wholeheartedly agree, but anyone who has followed the developments springing up across the borough knows that we cannot rely on developers to build sensitively, e.g. Waitrose. I encourage everyone to respond to the consultation by emailing localplan@ealing.gov.uk (or by writing to the Strategic Planning Team, Ealing Council, Perceval House, 14-16 Uxbridge Road, Ealing, London W5 2HL). The consultation ends on Wednesday, 31 January 2024.

Kay Garmeson ● 245d

If you live in a Conservation area when a house is sold it cannot be made into multiple flats when sold . Sadly in our area lovely 3 /4 bed. family homes have been changed into three , some four,  three bedroom flats. .One at this very moment is being turned into five flats.  Sawed down a mature elm tree and oaktree and taken all the back garden to do this.

Beryl Bashford ● 245d

I return to Roger Jarman's post. He's looking to increase density. My neighbours rushed to extend with loft conversions.most now seem to be unoccupied...children gone ,too may stairs etc. Did it increase density? No. Will the sewers take more? I've recently cleared two supercharged induced drain blockages....blockages come up from the sewer not to do with the household. As I said before a CONSERVATION AREA will stop greedy people ruining our area and won't stop anything sensible we really feel the need to do to our houses.

Arthur Breens ● 248d

That includes street Trees which, as council had abandoned stage by stage full and proper maintenance cycles on both street and park trees almost half a century ago, resulting in road, pavement , services and foundation problems but also removal of very mature trees results in subsidence and water table issues to properties.Given the double standards, there are seldom issues with tree permits for basic maintenance.

Raymond Havelock ● 250d

What you will find with a conservation area is the difficulty associated with any remedial work on, or removal of, trees that might be growing in your garden. All will be protected and the amount of hoop jumping required is tedious in the extreme.Best to cut down anything close to the house now to save yourselves expense and inconvenience in future!

Simon Hayes ● 252d

My mate says that I live in a lovely house in a lovely area. It was built before modern planning laws. What could go wrong into the future? Well consider greed. You buy two houses knock em down and build 7 flats,build up and over-shadow neighbours and built right up to boundary and thus no gardens. Oh and the street tree better come down. profit £1,500,000. Residents of my road joined together and put pressure on the councillor visit (we had them in those days) and the plan was turned down. PLanning Inspectorate appeal followed and again turned down.Hopefully greed and developers maybe just maybe put off this sort of development by a CA. Insulation keeps being raised. Maybe I am an old fool but in winter my family hunkered down to listen to the Goon Show in the winter in one warm room. Easy to convert easy on the planet and easy on the wallet. Heat pumps ? not a problem round the back. Porches..modern draught-proofing of existing doors cheap and easy. Hey there are lots of spivs in the building industry trying to sell you anything...anything to make a quick buck. Not for your benefit. Not for your neighbours benefit. Solar panels yes I have few but that sort of money could have been better spent on other energy saving items that in turn may have done more to save the planet and my wallet. But you don't know till you try.Hey I have spent most of my working life in the construction industry and a few qualifications too.

Arthur Breens ● 253d

It has to be said that if Planning and previous planning management was adhered to properly, and was clear and precise about what is and is not acceptable, there would not be need for a conservation area.But with developers and opportunists a plenty. It's become like the wild west.The risk of overdevelopment and inappropriate poor aesthetic design & builds becoming too common and the visual damage is there for all to see.This borough had a Style Guide book on what was acceptable and expected for non conservation areas and differing types of dwellings and then an officer for the stricter CAs.Somewhere, in the lat 12 years that has vanished. Just for once a level of protection of a Conservation Area is of a benefit for all those who have taken the trouble to maintain and enhance properties with care and maintain the aesthetics. Which looking around is far more prevalent than it was 30-40 years ago.The fad for stone cladding was rife then. Now most have been restored to the original fascias. - Without a Conservation Order.  Aluminium Louvre windows almost forgotten yet very common. Replaced with Double glazed box sales in UPVC or wood now so good they are indistingushable from the draft originals.And it adds to a homes value as well as the live in benefits.Solar panels only work at their most efficient if on roofs facing certain directions.When we tried for the Mayor of London's initiative having jumped through all the hoops it was refused as the main roof was not large enough and at the wrong direction to be of viable efficiency.  Also the risk of the roof being lifted by prevailing winds meant ££££s extra in reinforcing and the loss of 7) of the attic room.  With older housing this has to be anticipated and accepted that there are limits.A CA will not impede insulation or improvements. They will simply have to be in keeping with the environs and style of the property.A CA does not imply LTNs or other politically trending stuff.

Raymond Havelock ● 253d

A new conservation officer was supposed to have been appointed last year, after five years without one. The ‘government cuts’ were blamed for the post being scrapped, although the whacking great increases in councillor allowances and the salary and benefit increases for senior officers after the last local election rather undermined that argument.Ealing council hasn’t updated its local plan for years. Like many things it’s more to do with ‘administrative apathy’ than anything else. Of more concern was the failure to provide annual monitoring reports for housing targets for five years(despite being a statutory requirement for all local authorities). That’s why developers have successfully appealed against refusals of permission in recent years. Somebody in Perceval House has a job which includes producing these reports, yet nobody has been reprimanded for not doing them.Of course, a cynic might suggest that it suited the council (and its developer friends) to overlook the production of the reports.As for Northfields Conservation Area. It’s another nonsense from a local authority looking to divert from its appalling planning record.

Simon Hayes ● 254d

LOL The 'We all need trees.' was supposed to be the last sentence!

Philippa Bond ● 254d

People should look at the London Plan as well as the Local Plan as this is where the requirements for the new housing comes from.  The Draft London Plan goes backwards and forwards until the Govt approves it.  Work on a new Local Plan seems to start way before the old one runs out which since planning can take years to get slows down the amount of new housing achieved and greatly increases the costs as all areas have to be taken account of.  We all need trees.As I understand it it was the lack of a Local Plan which allowed some towers to get planning permission because decisions are made on what is allowable eg kind of building and density under the Local Plan. Pay attention to these Plans and make sure the Council has these plans! Since the Council does not have a lot of staff and hasn't had a Conservation Officer for years I am at a loss as to  how they think that they will both staff and deal with an increasing number of applications for changes to homes and pruning of trees.I am worried that we will as a result lose a lot of trees as people are far too money minded.  With climate change we need to treasure our trees and it would be good if people got together to 'chip in' to pay for any pruning rather than for the owner to cut a tree down.

Philippa Bond ● 254d

And what about the insulation that just about all of our buildings need?  It isn't so easy with brick and wood buildings because there can be a problem with thermal bridging despite some of the assertions that you will find on the internet.  We should be putting photovoltaics on where we can to reduce our use energy use heating and cooling our homes.  There are different sorts of photovoltaics - they don't all look the same.A great deal of the problems come from buildings being rented out by absent landlords without enough space being allocated for bins.  Houses in Multiple Occupancy aren't always registered.

Philippa Bond ● 254d

Apologies.  No idea why CA changed to WA and GA in parts my post. CA is the abbreviation for Conservation Area and not some other reference.

Raymond Havelock ● 254d

I think there is reasons there enough there to have a CA in this area.It is just largely unspoiled but the onset of some wholly inappropriate loft developments totally out of keeping with the existing environs are making the place look a mish mash.  Oddly, planners have insisted on use of correct materials and details to harmonise with the neighbouring environs without a CA. But this in recent years seems to have gone out the window.If you are advocating overdensfication - which is highly likely without a CA and all that entails, then just go and take a look at what has and is happening in local areas where there is no chance of a CA.  Then take a look at what WAs are like.WAs are not exclusive to big posh high cost homes, and listed building are a completely different tranche.There are Council Estates and modest districts of mixed demographics.And the CAs have them places to be proud to live in. It's a shame so many places are not.There are modest terraced streets in Brentford which are in GAs. The area is full of upgraded homes that were beginning to look a mess and over the past 25 years the district looks better than it did in the 1970s.There are clear parameters on aesthetics and use of materials and what can and cannot be done which protects neighbours. There are different levels of CA and the proposed one for this area is not like Brentham. This will be flexible. But it will reign in those developments which damage other peoples homes, which upset the largely unspoiled harmony of buildings and will prevent complete developments.This won't stop what you do inside. Only protect the exteriors and those rear extensions that impact neighbouring homes and environs.This is no longer a low cost district. People pay a premium to reside here.All around there are huge developments. All around there are once smart streets that look truly awful. Some of the suburban streets of Bordering boroughs look really awful as a result of permitted developments being taken the the nth degree.As has been said before by others why move here and want to completely alter the appearance.Leave it any longer and the district will start to slip the same way as others.

Raymond Havelock ● 254d

I live in a Conservation Area and struggle to see the point of them.

Susan Kelly ● 254d

I agree, I would not support a CA being established. I'm sure many of those who are behind the campaign and support it have good intentions but I don't think nostalgia for a bygone era is helpful, and it's generally a good thing to encourage our local areas to evolve and become more diverse.

Kevin Wilson ● 255d