Theresa Villiers has issued a call to action to constituents asking for their help to save our station car parks. The Mayor of London and TfL have proposed building over many suburban tube car parks including High Barnet, Cockfosters, Arnos Grove and Finchley Central. A planning application has just been submitted to build four tower blocks over the car park at Cockfoster tube station.
Theresa is contacting thousands of her constituents to urge them to get involved and have their say before the consultation on the planning application closes on 2nd August.
She is sending the following information on how to object:
Call to action from Theresa Villiers MP - Save Cockfosters!
Transport for London want to build tower blocks there of up to 14 storeys. This would amount to a massive urbanisation of the area, changing its character forever. Cramming 351 flats into the site, with no parking provided for new residents, would leave neighbouring streets packed with overspill parking.
TfL’s plans would also mean the loss of a vitally important park-and-ride facility at the end of the Piccadilly Line. This will deter people from using public transport. Residents with impaired mobility will be especially hard hit because cycling and walking alternatives may not be viable for them. Women worried about their security would also lose out if they can no longer leave their cars at the station, particularly if they do shift work.
Whilst the development is over the borough boundary in Enfield, I know that many of my constituents would be negatively affected by what TfL want to do. I am campaigning against these plans and I would encourage you to oppose them as well.
The deadline for making your voice heard is Wednesday 11th August. Please send your objections to Enfield Council TODAY! Details of how to do this are set out below.
All the best
Theresa
How to submit an objection to Enfield Council about the Cockfosters car park development
You can send in your views in one of three ways:
- By filling in the forms online at https://new.enfield.gov.uk/services/planning/the-planning-register/ using the reference 21/02517/FUL.
- By emailing [email protected]. Please put the reference 21/02517/FUL in the subject field and include your name and postal address in the text of the email.
- By writing to Planning, PO Box 30, Civic Centre, Enfield EN1 3XA including the reference 21/02517/FUL as well as your name and postal address in your letter.
Key reasons for objecting to the application
Objections have the greatest impact if they are individually written by members of the public, but when you submitting your views, you may wish to refer to the following points on some of the strongest reasons in planning law why the development should be rejected
- The height, bulk, massing and density of the buildings proposed are completely inappropriate for an outer suburb. The development would lead to a significant urbanisation of Cockfosters, seriously damaging the character of the area, contrary to longstanding and well-established Enfield planning rules.
- The four tower blocks would be massive: one is 14 storeys, two are 13, and one is 10 storeys. All four of them are much taller, even, than the existing Blackhorse Tower. Buildings on this scale are far too high for a neighbourhood of this kind, much of which is predominantly made up of one and two storey homes.
- Construction of 351 flats, as proposed, would involve a housing density over seven times the norm for an outer suburb.
- The site lies in Trent Park Conservation Area and is close to important heritage assets that would be irreparably harmed. That includes the Charles Holden designed 1930s station buildings.
- The development is right on the edge of the green belt and would dominate views from Trent Park and beyond. Trent Country Park is one of the last remaining elements of the historic Enfield Chase and these new tower blocks would loom over it. They would also have a visually intrusive impact on the view of the Cockfosters ridgeline, visible for miles around.
- The development does not address Enfield’s main housing need. This is for three-bed family houses but less than a tenth of the flats would be family-sized homes. Amenity space for residents and the public is inadequate.
- The car park provides an essential ‘Park & Ride’ facility. Losing it would harm many local residents trying to get to work, or who want to travel into London to see friends or family. But the impact would be particularly keenly felt by people with impaired mobility, for whom alternative ways to travel to the station such as cycling and walking, are not realistic. This scheme therefore contravenes equality rules.
- Local infrastructure, such as schools, GP surgeries and hospitals, is already under pressure and does not have sufficient capacity for the scale of the population increase that would result from this new development.
- It is unrealistic to expect tenants in the development not to have cars. Failing to provide any off-street parking for these new residents would lead to greatly increased parking in already crowded local streets.
Further information can be found on the Save Cockfosters campaign website here.
Remember the deadline for objecting to this planning application is Wednesday 11th August. So you only have a few more days to have your say. Please send your objections to Enfield Council TODAY!
