Agenda item

The Superintendent of Hampstead Heath to be heard on Hampstead Heath matters.

Planning – The Water House

The Superintendent of Hampstead Heath noted that he had attended an unsatisfactory meeting with Camden planning officers at which it had been apparent that there had been a poor level of information-sharing regarding The Water House planning application. He added that he had since received a response to his concerns from Camden planning officers and that Councillor Sally Gimson had also been looking into the issue. He expressed hope that the issue would be resolved now that it had been escalated to the attention of a Camden elected-member. He noted that the City of London objected to the planning application, broadly, due to what was regarded as an inappropriate proposal to use Millfield Lane for construction traffic.

Planning – Athlone House

The Superintendent noted that a planning application had been submitted to Camden proposing a reduced footprint for the proposed building on the site. Whilst he felt that the application would be refused, he warned the Committee that it was likely the applicant would seek to appeal such a refusal. He noted that both the City of London and English Heritage had submitted detailed objections.

Hampstead Heath Ponds Project

The Superintendent noted that a lot of work had gone into the ongoing Information Sharing and Non-Statutory Consultation process, with over 80,000 informational postcards issued to local residents before Christmas. He took the opportunity to thank those members present for their attendance at the All-Member visit to the Heath on 20 January. He then went on to note that even strident visitors to the consultation centre at Parliament Hill Fields tended to concur, following their visit, that the proposals envisaged by the City of London Corporation were not as invasive or inappropriate as was being argued by some critics of the project. He added that over 3,000 visits to the consultation centres had been logged since the consultation process started in November 2013. He concluded by adding that online representations concerning the project proposals had increased since the Dam Nonsense campaign had made its opposition to the project clear in recent press and campaign material.

Southern Counties Cross-Country Championships – 25 January 2014

The Superintendent informed the Committee that these championships had taken place the previous weekend and had seen over 3,000 runners compete. He noted that the numbers involved had inevitably meant there had been some surface damage to the Heath and that this had attracted some criticism from the local community. He added however that the surface scarring caused by the runners would both be repaired and would also regenerate naturally. Overall the temporary surface damage did not detract from what was a very successful event.