Walker Cricket building: Conservation Area Status

Hi
I have been rereading the email that Denise Ghandi of the Southgate Green Association sent out last September and one point in particular is of interest. It is concerning the fact that the Cricket building is in a conservation area:
----------------
When a proposal entails demolition of an existing building or structure, or part building and a replacement is proposed, there are two aspects to the scheme: Demolition and New Build. In a conservation area, developers are required to submit a 'CONSERVATION AREA CONSENT' request - CAC - requesting permission to demolish whatever it is they seek to replace. Such permission is considered concurrently with the proposals for what comes after the demolition, but they are TWO separate aspects.

When SGA commented in July, we said that the application was incomplete. There were numerous omissions in terms of drawings and permissions, surveys.etc. Residents would have normally received notification of demolition (CACxxx) and replacement (TPxxx) together, but this didn't happen.

Requests for demolition have different criteria for judging whether they should be allowed. I don't have all of them to hand but from memory, it runs like this: you are allowed to demolish structures (or part of) in a conservation area where the building is 1) unfit or unsuitable for its current use, 2) cannot be rehabilitated, or 3) the replacement provides an overall enhancement to the conservation area such that it overrides the previous. In this case, it is not only the building which matters but the current use and users. If the replacement scheme does not represent an overall enhancement to the existing use and users, demolition cannot go ahead.
---------------------------
My feeling is that the current plans certainly do not constitute an enhancement of existing (i.e. Cricket, Squash, children’s football etc.) use but instead is being developed to cater for a NEW use, namely a Health Club. If we could contact the Cricket clubs that use the grounds and seek there opinion I think this would be a good avenue to pursue.

Its tricky as in my opinion we cannot be seen to be against development per se, bar complaining about the scale of the build - which we have done and which they have attempted to address - but we CAN object to the change of use. The CAC will certainly help this argument.