Hammersmith Town Hall Extension report PDF - Greater London ...

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square, reinstatement of the Town Hall, new pedestrian footbridge over the A4, new civic offices and new shopping facilities. 49 The policy test is clear; the applicant must demonstrate through submission of financial appraisal that the maximum reasonable amount of affordable housing is being provided. At this stage the applicant has provided a viability submission, albeit not in the form of a three dragons appraisal. The Council has commissioned an independent valuer to scrutinise the submission. There is a lack of clear cost information regarding the development, in particular the construction costs. The Council has agreed to share the findings of the independent review with the GLA. Whilst the GLA has not been involved in the procurement of the independent valuer, or the brief and requirements issued to the independent valuer, the findings will be reported to the Mayor as they become available. The matter of zero affordable housing will therefore require further consideration and discussion, before the case is considered by the Mayor at the final determination stage. Thomas Pocklington Trust units 50 As part of the regeneration a number of buildings require demolition. Part of the strategy requires the removal of 54 units currently owned by the Thomas Pocklington Trust. The Trust is a registered charity which helps the visually impaired to find accommodation. The applicant indicates that the properties on Cromwell Avenue do not fit within the Trusts portfolio of housing for visually impaired tenants as both are not of a high enough quality to easily accommodate such tenants. The Trust has however used Cromwell Avenue and Cromwell Mansions as ‘overflow’ capacity to house seven visually impaired tenants who could not be accommodated in more suitable accommodation elsewhere. A strategy for re-housing is being put forward by the applicant which sets out a number of support mechanisms. Regulated Tenants (26 units) There will be a dedicated property manager as a single point of contact. Advice will be given of the tenant’s right to legal advice funded by the applicant as required. A full packing service will be offered for the packing and moving of the tenants belongings. Financial compensation will be given or options for re-housing in an area to be agreed by them anywhere in the UK. As a gesture of goodwill an offer has been made to pay the cost of new carpets and curtains in the tenant’s new accommodation. Assured Short Hold Tenants (Open Market Rented 24 units) There will be a dedicated property manager as a single point of contact. Letting department will be used to assist in finding suitable alternative accommodation. The tenants will be allowed to give one week’s notice of termination of their contract rather than two months, conversely 12 months rather than the two months notice will be given to tenants to end the tenancy agreement page 10
51 There are also three Assured Periodic Tenancies and one vacant unit. Whilst the above are welcome measures, the re-provision of new accommodation to meet the Trusts requirements should be considered at this design stage. The applicant has provided details of the tenure breakdown, however it is unclear if any of these are subsidised in the form of an affordable housing product and therefore meet the definition of affordable housing as set out in the London Plan and PPS3. In such a case London Plan policy 3A.15 Loss of housing and affordable housing applies. The London Plan requires no net loss of affordable housing. The status of these units requires clarification. Whilst retention of the units during construction to fit within the phasing plan appears to be limited, the future provision should be considered as part of the regeneration and in line with London Plan policy 3A.13, 3A.15, 3A.5 and having regard to policy 3A.10. Further discussion between the applicant, the Council, the Trust and the GLA is required before this is reported back to the Mayor for final determination. Density 52 London Plan Policy 3A.3 outlines the need for development proposals to achieve the highest possible intensity of use compatible with the local context, the design principles within Policy 4B.1 and public transport capacity. Table 3A.2 of the London Plan provides guidelines on density in support of policies 3A.3 and 4B.1. The draft replacement plan moves away from maximising site capacity to optimising development potential with a stronger focus on local context in particular. 53 The residential density has been re-calculated further to discussions with the applicant. It is based on 841 habitable rooms on an area of the site less some of the commercial uses. The calculation includes the total site area of 2.4 hectares (20,415 sq.m.) less the following areas: 1,650 sq.m. for the civic office space 3,750 sq.m. for the bridge link and Furnival Gardens 3,000 sq.m. for the public square 54 This provides a site area of 1.2 hectares (12,015 sq.m.). The density on this basis is 701 habitable rooms per hectare. The applicant should also account for the non-residential uses in the vertically mixed used buildings (i.e. those with ground floor commercial uses). This should be calculated as a proportion of the building, which should then apply to the proportion of land take area. This is unlikely to significantly affect the overall density calculation but should be undertaken to reflect the true residential density of the site. Notwithstanding this point, the site is in a central location and has a public transport accessibly level of 5. The London Plan guides a density range in this type of location between 650-1100 habitable rooms per hectare. The proposed density of 701 is therefore within the guidance set out within the London Plan. Housing mix 55 The housing mix caters for market accommodation only. Both the quantum of affordable housing and the re-provision of the Thomas Pocklington Trust accommodation require further discussion. The housing mix discussion should run in parallel with these matters. Climate change mitigation Energy efficiency 56 A range of passive design features and demand reduction measures are proposed to reduce the carbon emissions of the proposed development. Both air permeability and heat loss parameters will be improved beyond the minimum backstop values required by building page 11
Page 1 and 2: planning report PDU/1011/01 22 Dece
Page 3 and 4: Network (ORN). The site has a publi
Page 5 and 6: 18 The proposal includes, 3,612 sq.
Page 7 and 8: space provided by Furnival Gardens
Page 9: 41 The applicant has committed to l
Page 13 and 14: 66 The applicant should provide an
Page 15 and 16: addition of extra residential cycle
Page 17 and 18: this present stage for the Mayor to

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