Overview of Planning Policies for Community Objections

The A2 Dominion proposals presented to West Hampstead residents by their PR firm, Instinctif, since June 2015 breach guidelines at all levels of the planning heirarchy, including many of those outlined in the following planning frameworks:
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• The National Planning Policy Framework
• The London Plan
• Local Development Framework (LDF): The Camden document, Camden Local Development Framework Index, provides a good overview of which Camden policies and guidance are relevant to specific planning issues and areas and includes:
  • Camden Core Strategy
  • Camden Development Policies
  • Camden Site Allocations Development Plan
  • Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs): For 156 West End Lane, SPDs of interest include: 
    • West End Green Conservation Area Appraisal & Management Strategy
    • South Hampstead Conservation Area Character Appraisal & Management Strategy
  • Fortune Green & West Hampstead Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP)​
  • London Borough of Camden Employment Land Review [PDF]

West Hampstead Overview: 156 West End Lane in Context

West Hampstead is fortunate enough to have three train stations within close proximity of each other.  ​The combination of Jubilee Line underground, West Hampstead overground and West Hampstead Thameslink stations are referred to as the West Hampstead Interchange.  

​​As with many areas featuring good transport links, the links are already well used to the point of being dangerously over-crowded.  Passengers changing between stations at West Hampstead have to contend with over-congested pavements and roads as well as dangerously narrow pavements that mean moving between stations is perilous at the best of times. 

Owing to its excellent rail links, West Hampstead was identified in the Mayor's London Plan as an "Area for Intensification", with targets set of 800 new homes and 100 new jobs as part of the forced intensification process.  With a recent development at Liddell Road, no homes are yet completed and 150 jobs have been lost.

​To date, around 600 new homes have been or are being created on developments at 187-199 West End Lane, Maygrove Road, Liddell Road, Iverson Road and Blackburn Road, most of which are still under construction and some way from being fully populated with the extra hundreds of individuals, couples and families they will eventually house.

West Hampstead residents are already very familiar with two-week waits for GP appointments, a lack of school places, over-congested roads and pavements, and an overly busy transport interchange.  As new developments begin to be populated the strain on local infrastructure will become dramatically worse.