Planning application to replace the Di Lieto bakery with a block of flats

From The Albert Square and St Stephen's Association:

The long-awaited planning application to demolish Di Lieto's former bakery in Aldebert Terrace and replace it with a block of flats has now arrived. Please make sure your neighbours know about this.

The Council put up the usual site notice about the proposal on an adjacent lamp-post on Friday 22nd August, but it had been removed by lunchtime on Saturday 23rd. I have asked the Council to replace it. The Albert Square and St Stephen's Association considered the application before it had been validated by the Council and resolved to oppose it.

The Application Number is DC/08/02490/FUL/DC_KHU. The Case Officer is Miss Kate Hughes, 020-7926-1249, email KHughes@lambeth.gov.uk; she is on holiday until 1 September. You can object in writing to Development Control, Phoenix House, 10 Wandsworth Road, SW8 2LL, or you can email an objection to the case officer, but if you do so, you must give your residential address, not just your email address.

The formal description of the proposal is:

"change of use of part basement level and part ground floor level from bakery (Class A1) to residential (Class C3), together with the conversion of existing residential units on upper floors and the demolition of existing outbuilding and erection of a three storey rear extension with the formation of roof terraces at first and second floor levels to the side elevation to provide nine self contained units (5 x 1 beds and 4 x 2 bed units) including alterations to existing shopfront on ground floor level and installation of two lightwells one to the rear and one to the side elevation. [Town Planning and Conservation Area Consent]"

You can look at the full application in the Tate Library, or view it on-line by going to www.lambeth.gov.uk/services/housingplanning/planning; click on "Public Access for Planning" under "Useful Information" on the right of the window; click on "Public Access for Planning Database"; click on "Application Search"; type in the application number.

I will be putting in an objection on behalf of the Association. I will also ask for an extension of the period for comment because the application has come in the middle of the summer holiday period and because the site notice was removed; I will also ask our local councillors to call the application in for committee decision if there is any danger of it being approved by officers under delegated powers. However, first impressions are always important in influencing the view of a Case Officer, so it would be good if there was a substantial collection of objections awaiting her return from holiday on 1st September. (You can always send a quick objection and follow it up with further thoughts later.)

The Association's objections will include:

• loss of the historic bakery, which has been a useful modest source of local employment, and a highly valued local service (the applicant describes it as "a dilapidated storage area which detracts from the buildings of Aldebert Terrace - omitting to mention that it contains modern baking equipment in use until Easter)
• loss of two family dwellings with gardens
• serious detraction from the spacious feel which is such a key characteristic of this Conservation Area. Quote the Inspector on the Royal Albert Garden site who said how important the spaces between buildings are in this Conservation Area.
• inappropriateness of the design (e.g. proposed timber cladding!, balconies on the street)
• excessive density, overlooking, stress on parking ..

It will not be easy to prevent the bakery being replaced by some residential development in the long run - but we should do our best, and certainly begin by fighting this first monstrosity hard.