Petition details
Planning Construction on Gill Street
Enter any more details and reasoning you feel will be helpful to understand your ePetition.
This Petition ran from 22/09/2020 to 03/11/2020 and has now finished.
2 people signed this Petition.
Council response
Dear Mr & Mrs Leech,
Can I first apologise for my delayed response to your enquiries made during the Gill Street consultation events, a number of the issues raised required further investigation or comment from colleagues.
I will respond to your enquiries in the order they were raised.
Managing the effects of increased traffic in the area caused by the new development
With the exception of providing parking spaces for fully accessible homes, the proposed development will be car-free, in line with the Council’s planning policy; therefore they should be no significant increase in the number of cars in the area and on the estate caused by the development of new homes.
Restricting car and people access to the estate from those using the faith space
The council does not support the creation of gated communities; therefore we will not place a physical barrier between the faith space and the rest of the estate. However, our architects have been asked to review their design to the entrance to the faith space so that non-residents to the estate can access the building without going through the estate.
A previous travel plan carried out on how service users travelled to the current mosque, identified that most were local residents, many of who live on the St. Vincent’s Estate and surrounding areas with over 93% travelling by foot. However; there is a recognition that some service users will travel by car and may seek to drive through or park on the estate. The Council will work with THH to consider measures which can be put in place to prevent this.
Why is the a need for another mosque
The proposal put forward at our consultation is for the ground floor space to be let to the existing Limehouse mosque users, who currently occupy the arches
The under use of community facilities in the E14 area, i.e., youth centres and community buildings
The Council appreciates your concerns regarding the under use of some community buildings and is currently carrying out a review of provisions in the area with a view to optimising the use of these facilities. As part of the Gill Street development, a proposal is to remove the portacabins at the junction of Trinidad Street and Limehouse Causeway and return this area to green. The existing users will be expected to move into other local provision.
Removal of trees and the impact on the local environment
In your response to the consultation you expressed concerns regarding the removal of mature trees on the site. There are six mature trees within the site of which five will remain along the boundary with Gill Street, the only tree to be removed is in the centre of the proposed development. In addition the council will improve much of the local space, this will include some additional planting to green the area. They will be additional improvements to the local amenity space and play area. At the moment there are three amenity areas on the estate, which include an open grassed area, a ball games area and a play space for younger children, all of which would benefit from significant improvement as part of this development.
Why is there a need for more affordable housing in an area which is already over-crowded
The affordable housing need in the borough is significant, with over 19,000 households on the Common Housing Register, meaning that underused sites across the borough are being considered for the development of new council homes
The following issues have been passed over to THH as managers of
the Council’s housing stock and the appropriate officers will
be in contact to discuss your concerns in due course.
• Managing the accumulation of rubbish on the estate
• Responding to anti-social behaviour on the estate and the
need for additional policing and wardens
• Estate management and how THH could improve local services
to residents
• Support to develop a tenant and resident association on the
estate. THH has set aside resources for local comm