John Scott dots the "i's" against a Planning betrayal

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John Scott's public address to the Planning Committee Meeting

John Scott was one of the three people allowed to address the RBKC Planning Committee Meeting regarding the All Saints shop front. John's short and sharp address reflects accurately how so many of us feel about the process that brought about that large shop floor: a tale of public deception, lack of proper consultation, complete disregard for the character of the Portobello Road Market and consequent public outrage.

What follows is John Scott's address to the Planning Committee Meeting:

RE: 282-292 WESTBOURNE GROVE W11 2PS

This development has a long history starting in 2003; and still not yet complete.

In its early stage, an application was made for a single large shop with the loss of individual shops and market stalls.

The council reported a large volume of objection because of the loss of the individual shops and market stalls. The applicant then advised the council he would revise his application and include individual shops and market stalls.

At the next stage the applicant submitted the attached plan (see note below) which very clearly shows 6 shops with market stalls. In addition, separate doors for the shops are shown on the Westbourne Grove frontage and a large area of solid wall on the Portobello side. This plan was stamped as approved by the council on 16th April 2009. The many interested parties felt great relief that no material change of ground floor and basements was proposed. We all believed what we saw on the plan.

A short while ago, the builder's close boarding was removed and a megastore of some 16,000 sq. ft. was revealed to the utter dismay of neighbouring businesses, residents and very many others. In addition, the front elevations and Portobello wall were not in accordance with approved plans and the whole aspect of the development was felt hostile to the character of this historic area.

Approved plans of this project are and were so fundamentally misleading and inaccurate that I now call for the planning consent to be set aside and revoked.

Now that this megastore is revealed, the total effect of its outrageous size and location cannot be in doubt. It has a most damaging large-scale appearance and is an overdevelopment of the site. The impact on the surrounding area is negative in the extreme and the character of the Conservation Area is greatly diminished.

For all those reasons this application must be refused.

John Scott

Note - We searched the Council's Planning Decisions but could not find the Proposed Ground Floor Plan drawings approved on the 16/06/09. In any case, the plan has 6 retail units, under each it clearly states 'Market Stalls'

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