Bird sanctuary ‘under threat’ from super-size house planned for Hampstead Heath
‘My client is hurt and surprised to be accused of not caring about the environment’ – architect
Published: 18 February 2010
by DAN CARRIER
IT is home to the richest array of wildlife found on Hampstead Heath – but now a pond that has been a human-free zone for more than 50 years could be under threat from a super-size house development.
According to a raft of objections sent to council planners, the bird sanctuary, found between the Highgate ponds and the Ladies Pond, is under threat from a developer who wants to knock down a 1950s house in Fitzroy Park and replace it with a home that they say is twice the size.
The new house would boast a double storey basement with swimming pool under an ultra-modern five storey home with five bedrooms, a cinema, wine cellar, solarium, sauna, gym and what the architect describes as an “au pair studio”.
It is just yards from the boundary of the sanctuary, which is home to many bird species, including grey herons and kingfishers.
Other fears include the mess caused by a project that will take a minimum of 18 months to complete, with heavy lorries using the quiet, picturesque cul de sac to remove hundreds of tons of soil and rubble.
The current home will be demolished and plans seen by the New Journal show it will be replaced by one that is deeper and taller.
The application sent to Camden Council is one of just a number in recent years on the Fitzroy stretch of the fringes of the Heath – a plan to demolish the nearby Water House and to build a faux-Georgian replacement stalled last year because of fears of how the work would be carried out.
The sanctuary is not the only wildlife haven threatened. Objectors claim an adjacent pond – a favoured picnicking spot for the poets John Keats and Samuel Coleridge, according to local legend – is also under threat. One hydrology report claims that it could drain into the foundations of the new basement and disappear completely.
The Fitzroy Park Residents Association have commissioned research report by Oxford University expert Dr Nick Haycock – and the association’s Karen Beare said the findings were “scary”. She said: “Dr Haycock’s findings are gobsmacking.
“Building a basement of that size would have serious effects on water flowing into the ponds.”
But architect Glyn Emrys said he had lengthy discussions with people living in Fitzroy Park and said he was “surprised – and my client is somewhat hurt – that we’ve been accused of not consulting or caring about the environment.”
Mr Emrys said after a meeting in October with the Fitzroy Park Residents Association, they commissioned their own hydrology report and reduced the depth of the basement.
He added that the home currently there was “tired and run down”.
Mr Emrys said he had not seen the separate hydrology report but added he would like to read it.
He said: “I cannot comment on its accuracy or contents, but would welcome receipt so that we may read it in full.”
The architect said: “It is understandable that the complainants do not want building works in their street, but we believe that we’ve produced a sensitive design and construction plan that accommodates their concerns.”