Basement swimming pool plan for house in Hampstead is thrown out by councillors
Thursday February 11, 2010
By DAN CARRIER
A DOSSIER on underground streams beneath Hampstead Heath muddied the waters for a home owner who wanted to build a basement swimming pool in their South End Green home.
Camden Council’s planning committee dismissed an application on Thursday for the back garden which overlooks a pond on Hampstead Heath.
Councillors heard how a report commissioned by Heath managers The City of London on the waterflow beneath property in South Hill Park contradicted a case put forward by the home owners that said there was no risk of flooding or subsidence.
Heath and Hampstead Society chairman Tony Hillier, who has spearheaded a campaign to toughen up planning rules over basements, said that while he was relieved councillors threw out the plans, he was worried by the advice they had been given by the Town Hall’s planning officers who recommended the scheme on the basis of the hydrological report commissioned by the home owner.
He said: “We are pleased councillors saw sense, but the advice given by officers was disturbing.”
Mr Hillier’s fears were echoed by the South End Green Association and the South Hill Park Conservation Area Advisory Committee. Other objections included fears that the work would disturb wildfowl living on the pond.
Lawyer David Bouchier, who lives in Hampstead, has been monitoring basement applications and spoke at the meeting against the scheme. He said: “People are absolutely sick of this. The City’s report showed clearly that the report given to officers by the applicant was suspect.
The application had received more than 50 objections, but the home owner, who declined to comment, was not completely disappointed – a tandem application to build an extension above ground was passed.