10 July 2000
Planning Application No:TW/00/01480/CAC/RCC
Location:Conservation Area Consent
- Demolition of Telephone House, Church Road, T Wells
Applicant:Crest Homes / Southgate Development
Dear Mrs Chambers
Thank you for giving me notice of the above mentioned planning application.
It is very good news that the BT office monstrosity is going to vanish, and I hope it will be demolished soon.
I understand that the demolition will be governed by the demolition rules for a conservation site. As I do not know these rules I list below the concerns I have and I feel need addressing:
-Method of Demolition
-Asbestos
-Access to Demolition Site
-Demolition Traffic
-Endangering Adjacent Houses
-Inconvenience to Adjacent Housing
-Working Hours
-Spraying of Site
-Safeguarding of Site
-Demolition Timetable
1 Method of Demolition
By
1.1 explosion
1.2 bashing the building with an iron sphere
1.3 dismantling it
I would expect Telephone House to be cocooned and dismantled from within, not using methods 1 and 2.
I feel that the following conditions need to govern the demolition so that the least possible number of people and buildings are adversely affected.
2 Possibly Extant Asbestos in Telephone House
This is a very grave concern as no resident in the area wants to have to breathe in asbestos particles carried in the air and end up suffering with asbestosis.
Would you please ascertain that
2.1 the building is checked for asbestos by an expert appointed by the Council
2.2 any asbestos is clearly identified before any demolition starts
2.3 the asbestos is removed in accordance with the most stringent existent guidelines and under supervision by the Council.
3 Access to Demolition Site
3.1.1 Large Forecourt
Telephone House itself is situated on Church Road, a two-way street, and at the same time set back from Church Road by 14 metres with a frontage of 36 metres. This pre-destines the road it is sited on to be the access and exit road for all demolition traffic.
3.1.2 Forecourt allows Fast Demolition Traffic in both Directions out of Town without Snaring up Traffic in Town Centre
The 36 metre frontage with a depth of 14 metres guarantees that big trucks can turn round in the forecourt and take the quickest way out of town down Church Road going west or east to the dump used.
3.1.3 Business Premises and their Parking
Church Road does not have parking on either side of the road. It is primarily a street of business premises which have their own off-street parking in the large forecourts they enjoy.
Using Church Road as the demolition route in no way affects the parking there.
3.1.4 A Designated Highway
Demolition traffic in Church Road to be restricted to times outside morning and evening rush hours.
3.1.5 Minimising Damage
3.1.5.1 To Cars
Demolition traffic moving through Church Road would minimise demolition damage to parked cars as there is no car parking in Church Road itself.
3.1.5.2 To Buildings
And equally to buildings, as with very few exceptions at the western end of Church Road all buildings are well set back from the road. In York Road, the majority come almost up to the pavement.
3.1.6 Accountability for Damages
There would be scant damages arising out of the demolition from Church Road.
York Road is a one-way, narrow street and not constructed to support multi-tonne demolition trucks. Moreover, York Road is particularly uneven and not recently maintained, therefore maximising the potential for damage.
3.2.1 Town Traffic Flow
Trucks going via York Road would have to exit either
3.2.1.1 into Monson Road and go via the traffic lights either down Camden Road or choose their way out of town at the Calverley Road roundabout,
or
3.2.1.2 into Mount Pleasant to turn right at the traffic lights to exit town via Church Road, doing a totally unnecessary loop, holding up traffic unnecessarily. Using York Road for site access would create more unnecessary traffic in town by not allowing the trucks to take the shortest und therefore quickest routes out of town.
3.2.2 Residential Parking
York Road has residential parking on the north side of this very narrow road and on both sides at night and at weekends. Residents rely on this already over-subscribed residential parking system. They cannot be expected to bear the impact of the demolition of a building sited on another road by having their parking permits temporarily suspended or revoked completely.
Furthermore, residents cannot be expected to park on the building site, at the risk of damage to their vehicles, tyres and suspension.
Where would they put their cars during the demolition period?
3.2.3 Original Period York Stone Paving Slabs
York Road still has in place original York stone paving slabs coeval with the listed buildings (now in the process of being included in the listing), a single slab covering the full width of the pavement. A group of eleven slabs, 30 metres long by 2 metres wide, constitutes the pavement between house numbers 6 to 14; there are also slabs in front of numbers 58 to 60. In the event of damage these slabs are irreplaceable as they are an original feature of this conservation area. Furthermore, original iron railings are set into these slabs, precluding their replacement. These paving slabs would not stand up to heavy demolition traffic.
3.2.4 Cellars Beneath Pavements
The Victorian terraces in York Road have cellars underneath the pavements: these would suffer badly if York Road were to be used by heavy demolition trucks carrying tons of rubble. Moreover, we all know that demolition trucks do not observe the niceties of keeping to the road. They drive on anything that is flat.
There is no such cellars-beneath-pavement problem in Church Road.
3.2.5 Accountability for Damages
The potential for structural damage inflicted by the demolition to pavements, walkways and private property is very high in York Road. (In a worst-case scenario, it would be the responsibility of the Council to see that this eventuality is covered by prior agreement in any potential demolition consent.)
This potential for damage would be minimal in Church Road for the reasons given above.
4 Minimising Pollution to Adjacent Housing
(in the broadest sense)
Demolition causes a lot of fine dust to permeate everything. The applicant must agree to sprinkle the site as often as is necessary and certainly when the building is being dismantled. Would the Planning Office please stipulate the necessary and regular hosing of the site and spraying of residual dust. Residual dust, for health as well as environmental reasons, must be kept to an absolute minimum.
I would like to point out that after refusal of the first planning application, many York Road buildings were repainted externally. Any demolition filth deposited on houses - easily recognisable from the red or dark brick of Telephone House - is to be made good by the applicant. Please imagine what the houses would look like with reddy-brown streaks running down their newly painted surfaces.
5 Special Care - Listed Houses
Special care should be taken that Listed Houses in the vicinity are not endangered in any way.
The use of York Road for demolition traffic would practically guarantee to cause structural damage to local property, not least because many of the houses sit almost directly at street level. Furthermore, York Road was not constructed with a view to providing for the physical impact of a modern demolition site. It is narrow, maintains one flow of traffic and is poorly maintained.
6 Minimising Inconvenience to Adjacent Housing
(in the broadest sense)
7 Deterioration of the Site
The site of Telephone House has not been used as a proper car park for close to five years and Telephone House has stood empty for a number of years. It is now being used by children as a dangerous playground where they have set fire to some equipment - the fire brigade needed to be called out - and broken into the empty building. It is also used as a dumping ground for waste and is quickly having a negative impact on the entire neighbourhood in this conservation area. The fence has fallen down and the gate it no longer secured. It is turning into a slum.
This cannot be tolerated as BT has a duty of care to maintain the building and the site whilst the former is not yet demolished.
8 Safeguarding the Site
9 Demolition Timetable
The demolition should go ahead as soon as possible with all the above-mentioned concerns addressed and duly incorporated.
I look forward to hearing from you and receiving your positive reply.
Yours sincerely