Bad advice from professionals

Published: 13 May, 2010

• CAMDEN councillors are to be congratulated on their rejection of the developers’ plan to rebuild the Chappelow house in Downshire Hill with a swimming pool and gym dug out underneath.
Over the past two years London-wide disapproval, both public and professional, has been making itself felt over grandiose schemes that eviscerate and undermine old houses, especially in hilly sites such as this one.
This is by no means the first time that the planning committee have been faced with “advice” from the full-time planning officers to accept schemes that run directly counter to council’s own declared principles and to best practice.
The most notorious case in recent years has been that concerning Little Green Street, NW5.
In the course of a protracted wrangle (still not finally resolved) the planning committee at one point stood up to considerable pressure from the officers to pass a scheme for a block of flats in College Lane that would turn Little Green Street into vehicular access for a garage under the proposed block for 30-odd cars.
This, in the face of massive public protest at the scheme, and a well-established Camden principle that facilitating off-street parking was the folly of a by-gone era and that these days conservation of the environment takes precedence over cars.
We take a certain amount of trouble choosing our local councillors.
Perhaps more trouble and care needs to be taken in the selection of the paid staff of the planning department.
GILLIAN TINDALL
NW5'