Planning Applications PDF 1 MB - Meetings, agendas and minutes

- Large facility surrounded by 3m fencing cannot be seen as environmental
improvement
- Local people cannot afford to pay to use facility; proposed facility is therefore
incongruous with locality
- Demographic of the facility does not represent demographic of local area; will
reinforce inequality, no benefit to local community
- Other options for restoring the all-weather pitch that will not involve loss of a third
of the park to public access
- Consultation with local residents has been inadequate
- Applicant has singled out some of the current users and offered them preferred
status for the community pitches in return for their support in the planning process;
others who have asked for binding agreements have not been given this preferred
status.
2.16 Andy Slaughter MP has written with the following objections:
- Loss of 1/3 of Hammersmith Park's green space to open access; particularly given the
lower than average acreage of green space in Hammersmith and Fulham
- Loss of trees; replacements must be sought
- Segregation of amenities between park users and Playfootball customers
- Object to the creation of parking spaces on park land
- Impact of noise, light and opening hours on neighbouring residents
2.17 Councillors Wesley Harcourt, Colin Aherne, Mercy Umeh and Max Schmid have
asked for the application to be heard by the Planning Applications Committee, due to
the potential for noise and other issues affecting local residents.
2.18 The White City Community Association and the White City Neighbourhood Forum
were also notified of the proposals; but have not commented.
2.19 Stanhope - The developers of the BBC TV Centre have written to say that
PlayFootball have been working with them to address their concerns on the lighting and
noise impacts for the potential residents, and are pleased to see the commitment to
defensive planting around the boundaries with their site. They request, though, that the
hours of opening for the pitches should be limited to 9.30pm. PlayFootball have
responded that this would not make their business model viable and could not support
the opening hours for the pitches being limited to any earlier than 10pm. Hours of use
are discussed in the report below.
3.0 PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS
3.1 The main planning issues are considered to be the acceptability of the proposal in
land use terms including the development on existing open space; the design and
appearance of the proposal (including impact on the park, the nature conservation area
and the Wood Lane Conservation Area) and its relationship with the adjoining open
space; the impact on the residential amenity of surrounding residents; the impact on
traffic and parking; and environmental matters including energy and sustainability, flood
risk, and the presence of contaminated land.
LAND USE AND OPEN SPACE
3.2 The existing site is in use as a sports and leisure facility, comprising a floodlit allweather
football/games pitch, a disused children's playground, a bowling green and