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Dear Sadiq
Re: Stage 2 referral for GLA/2019/5001/S1/S1 Development Site at Tesco Extra 822 High Road
Concerned constituents have contacted me regarding the approval by Redbridge Council for Planning Application 4309/19:
Demolition of all existing buildings including petrol filling station. Redevelopment of the site to provide a replacement food retail store (use class A1), a series of apartment blocks ranging between 4 and 23 storeys in height to provide 1,280 residential units (use class C3), flexible use floorspace for commercial/community uses (within use classes A1/A2/A3/B1/D1), a 3-form entry primary school (use class D1), public open space, car and cycle parking, associated landscaping and infrastructure works, and provision of pedestrian and vehicular access.
It was approved by Redbridge Council on 27 May 2021 and will be referred to you for Stage 2 approval.
For the following reasons, I would urge you either to direct the refusal of the application or to become the local planning authority for the application.
1. Lack of affordable housing
In your Stage 1 report to Redbridge Council you advise them that the application does not yet comply with the London Plan and the Intend to Publish London Plan, for the reasons set out in paragraph 94: [1]
35% (hab room) made up of 45% London Affordable Rent, 15% Shared Ownership and 40% Discounted Market Sale (DMS). DMS is not a preferred intermediate tenure and the applicant is strongly advised to provide more shared ownership or London Living Rent, and fewer DMS units. Any DMS should be secured in accordance with the NPPF definition and the London Plan Annual Monitoring Report criteria.
In figures, this tenure mix comprised:
However, in the Application that was approved by Redbridge Council Planning Committee, the housing consists of: [2]
the following residential mix and tenure with 35.02% (by habitable room) affordable housing with a tenure split of 40.84% affordable rent (of which 100% is genuinely affordable rent – London Affordable Rent), 29.22% London Shared Ownership, and 29.94% Discount Market Sale as follows:
While your Stage 1 response said “the applicant is strongly advised to provide more shared ownership or London Living Rent, and fewer DMS units” they have used this as an opportunity to reduce both DMS and LAR homes. The latter have been cut by four per cent. I cannot believe you expected the developer to rework the tenure mix to offer just 12 per cent LAR.
2. Excessive parking provision
In the conclusion in your Stage 1 response, you advised the applicant:
Car parking provision should be significantly reduced from the 742 spaces proposed; cycle parking increased.
However, in the final application, your direction has for the most part being ignored, as the development approved by Redbridge Council still includes 420 retail, 240 residential and 1 school parking spaces, giving a total of 661. In my view, a reduction of 81 spaces is not a significant reduction, nor is increasing the cycle parking from 2,500 to 2,600 spaces sufficient.
Therefore, based on the non-compliance of this application with your Stage 1 report, I strongly urge you to direct to refuse or become the local planning authority for the application.
Yours sincerely,
Sian Berry
Green Party Member of the London Assembly
[1] Planning report GLA/5001/01 13 January 2020 Site at Tesco Extra, 822 High Road, Goodmayes, Planning Application: 2019/5001/S1 (force.com)
[2] Planning Committee 27/5/21 Public Pack, (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Planning Committee, 27/05/2021 19:15 (redbridge.gov.uk)