Meeting with Nigel Lomax re: Pruden Close development

Thanks to all who attended the Neighbourhood Watch meeting on Monday, it was good to y’all. Assuming no major catastrophes happen in the meantime (such as our houses being compulsory purchased to make way for a huge car park etc.) then the next meeting will be in September, speakers, venue and date to be confirmed nearer the time.

Nigel Lomax from Acton Housing Association kindly attended as promised to explain the proposed Pruden Close development, which encompasses the flaming Garages (pun intended). He produced a copy of the plans and walked us through the development proposals. He also answered a number of questions fired at him and the key points are as follows:

1. The plans are proposals only, Enfield Planning department must approve them before they can be ratified and therefore some changes may occur during this process. If it goes ahead work is due to start around the end of this year.

2. The existing garages will be demolished with a block of flats and two houses built on the area.

3. The designated places for the refuse bins WILL be moved in response to our concerns.

4. Key workers (teachers, nurses etc.) under a shared ownership scheme will occupy the flats. There are strict conditions in place with regard to re-selling their share of the property, to ensure that only key workers are able to purchase such a sale. The exception is if the original key worker has subsequently bought out the association’s share of the property to own the property outright, where no such clauses will be applicable. However Nigel felt that this was pretty rare.

5. In response to a request for us to see the terms of the lease Nigel promised to send a copy to myself. I now have a copy so for those that are interested please contact me and I will forward a copy on to you.

6. The car parking spaces have been calculated as one per apartment. Nigel stated that this was in line with planning policy and that in general most key workers will not own cars, preferring to use the tube and buses etc.

7. The actual density of development (the overall footprint of the buildings and number of residents they can accommodate) has been set at a very conservative level with emphasis on maintaining greenery where possible in comparison to other similar sites in London. This in large part was an attempt to better integrate the site with Mayfield Avenue, which is a traditional, leafy, quiet suburban avenue.

8. One tree is to be removed as it was deemed to be in a dangerous condition. I have asked Nigel to forward a copy of the tree analysis and will post the contents once I have received this.

9. Two three-bedroomed houses are also to be developed, which will be occupied by council tenants. I am unsure why this was imposed but assume this was part of the deal for Enfield council to agree to the project.

10. The building phase is going to disrupt daily life in Mayfield Avenue, which as it is a quiet residential area with both elderly residents and families with young children is of course a real concern. Nigel assured us that through the Neighbourhood Watch vehicle we would be notified in advance of major deliveries of raw materials and that the site foreman would coordinate with us to avoid constant streams of traffic. In an earlier meeting a possibility was also raised of limiting evening work, avoiding weekend work, making good any inadvertent damage to verges etc. This subject is obviously bigger than this synopsis but I suggest we hold our concerns until such time as we know whether this project is to go ahead or not. If it passes the planning stage we can hold a meeting to specifically discuss this issue.

Clearly there will be other questions that you will want answered that weren’t covered in the meeting. Can I ask though that to avoid bombarding Nigel with gazillions of emails and calls any queries be directed to myself. I will group together our concerns and forward them on to Nigel and will report back his response as soon as I get them.

Thanks again for all those that attended and for those that could not make it I hope the above answers some of your queries.