Heath and Hampstead Society's funding appeal to fight basements
Published: 23 September, 2010
by DAN CARRIER
A FIGHTING fund of £30,000 needs to be raised by the Heath and Hampstead Society within weeks to pay for expensive legal experts at a public enquiry into building basements.
The Society this week issued a fund-raising plea to its members to help bring in the cash that will pay for barristers at the hearings scheduled for next month.
Hampstead has seen hundreds of applications by rich homeowners in the past four years to carve out gyms, swimming pools, servants’ quarters, games rooms, wine cellars and even dedicated temperature-controlled cigar rooms from the land beneath their homes.
And while neighbours claim the works cause flooding, subsidence, and many months of disruption due to heavy construction work, Camden Council’s planning officers have waved through many large excavations – to the horror of the Society.
Chairman Tony Hillier said: “Big developers are making a fashion of trying to bury local protest with money by adopting this type of extremely expensive appeal procedure.
“They are about to try it on with Athlone House. This is another case where the Society will take financial exposure.
“The developers of Witanhurst [in Highgate] recently successfully appealed for a substantial development including a mega-basement, prevailing over a group of private protesters in Highgate, who simply could not afford to match costs for witness cross-examination.”
The Society claim they are monitoring 20 other basement projects that they feel present real dangers to neighbours’ homes, and are keeping a record of cases that could be used as evidence for future applications. They hope any legal ruling will help clarify planning law and pressure the government to strengthen planners’ hands to dismiss potentially damaging basements being passed.