Saturday, October 25, 2014

HALLOWEEN PARTY


THE GARDENS RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION (GRA)
Present in the
THE GARDENS COMMUNITY GARDENS
Doncaster Gardens, off Stanhope Gardens.
HALLOWEEN PARTY
WITH
MAGICIAN - HOT DRINKS - MUSIC & FUN
Ages 3-12 years of age

7pm to 8pm
FRI 31st Oct 2104

Children must be Accompanied by an Adult

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Objection to proposed phone mast on Stanhope Gardens


Please help to raise objections against a proposed phone mast installation on Stanhope Gardesns. Either use the letter below, or personalize it as you wish, and ensure that you respond to the appeal by 3rd September at the latest. You can either respond electronically or by letter.  

By e-mail:
• Go to
www.planningportal.gov.uk 
• click on “search for an appeal online” (bottom right hand side of webpage)
• on the next page, click on "search for a case" and then enter the last 7 digits of the appeal reference in "case reference" to find it– 2221148
• Click on the case reference number which will then take you through to the form

By letter:
• You must provide your name and address
• You must provide the Planning Inspectorate appeal reference number (APP/Y5420/A/14/2221148)
• You must provide the address of the appeal site (Footpath of Stanhope Gardens near Junction of Warwick Gardnes N4 1JE)
• Say either “I am against the appeal proposals” and explain why; or “I support the appeal proposals” (which we don’t!) and request to be notified of the result
• Write legibly in black ink, or type, your letter, and send three copies to the following address

The Planning Inspectorate
3/10b Kite Wing
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Temple Quay
Bristol
BS1 6P
 



Dear Madam/Sir,



Town and Country Planning Act 1990



Location: Footpath of Stanhope Gardens Near Junction of Warwick Gardens N4 1JE

Proposal: Prior notification for installation of a 15 metre high monopole along with 4 no. radio equipment cabinets and 1 no. electrical metre cabinet

Appeal by: Vodafone Limited

Appeal Reference: APP/Y5420/A/14/2221148



I am against the appeal proposals. I agree with the reason for refusal that due to the size and scale of the equipment it would have an adverse effect on local residents and the area.



I oppose the proposals for the following main reasons:



·       Insufficient evidence that alternatives have been adequately pursued

·       The mast and five cabinets would result in excessive street clutter and obstruction in an unsuitable location.

·       Dominant and out of character with the character of the street and the height would be unduly prominent and intrusive in views along Stanhope Gardens

·       Would be overbearing and unduly dominant from the windows and garden/balconies of neighbouring properties



I support the significant number of original objection responses to the local authority which I hope you will also take into account. These include detailed objections which set out how the proposals are contrary to local plan policies, the NPPF and operators code of conduct and guidance.



There is insufficient evidence that alternatives have been considered:



·       Relocation at the land at St Annes Hospital which is over 10 hectares in area and could accommodate such equipment in a significantly less obtrusive manner.

·       Evidence that other owners have been actively engaged in a dialogue to relocate the equipment. Further evidence of correspondence with owners/occupiers and any follow up actions is required. 

·       The railway lands are ignored due to lack of power supply. It does not appear unfeasible to run connections to existing utilities infrastructure

·       The railway lands are ignored due to lack of access. Network Rail carries out regular works and have previously created a temporary access from Stanhope Gardens and have only just carried out major works to the railway involving diggers and laying new drainage infrastructure where access was obtained via the St Anne’s site.

·       That other options were discounted due to proximity to low rise residential properties and inadequate footway widths; exactly the same circumstances in this proposal.

·       For example the appellants say (5.4):  “It was recognised from the outset that the majority of roads in the area are purely residential in character, presenting no appropriate stretches of adopted highway controlled land to site a streetworks style installation. Indeed in trying to identify possible adopted highway land opportunities to site a ground based installation, it became apparent to the appellant, that the majority of the target area was unsuitable given its residential layout and built character.” Stanhope Gardens is part of that residential character that is rightly discounted.



Prejudice safe and accessible pedestrian movement:



Vodaphone’s agents say that the location is a “wide section of pavement”.



·       The pavement is too narrow and the equipment would cause obstruction. The appellant and highways authority pay little attention to the width of the pavement and the impact of the proposal. It is only about 2.3m wide. One of the five cabinets is 800mm deep and will reduce pavement width to only about 1.5m including the kerb. A light column at the front edge of pavement next to the installation effectively reduces the pavement width to a gap of approximately 0.8m when walking along the street.

·       The extent of pavement covered by the mast and cabinets is excessive in this location and this amount of equipment will add to clutter and cause obstruction to accessible pedestrian movement.

·       The Council are currently dealing with  planning applications at St Anne’s Hospital for up to 463 residential units (Ref: HGY/2014/1691) and are promoting redevelopment through its Site Allocations plan. A new pedestrian access is being promoted through the car park of the neighbouring block of flats directly onto this section of Stanhope Gardens. This proposal will seriously impact on the pedestrian links from this very significant development to public transport and shops.

·       The appellants recognise constraints as they say that “due to the proposal positioning upon a section of footpath there is no option to introduce soft landscaping in this instance”



Visual impact



·       The mast would be clearly visible and prominent in the middle of views along Stanhope Gardens far in excess of the height of other features .The 15m mast will dominate the streetscene and views even more in the seasons when trees are not in leaf. Network rail are also due to cut back vegetation in the near future.

·       At 15m high the mast will be unduly overbearing when viewed from neighbouring properties including windows and balconies

·       The light columns (shown at 6m in the submitted drawings) are significantly lower than a 15m mast in this specific location, not the “notable vertical features” as claimed.

Other matters:

I would ask you to address the genuine perceptions and fears that such equipment could pose a health risk particularly in such close proximity to housing including my home..



Also, the Planning Inspectorate’s guidance states that after you accepted the appeal as valid, the LPA should notify any person who was notified or consulted about the application and any other person who made representations about the application that the appeal has been made.


You should be aware that it appears all original consultees and objectors do not appear to have been notified of the submission of this appeal and that despite the LPA extending the deadline to make comments we would like to draw to your attention this issue to consider whether the views of interested parties will have been prejudiced. It has taken the work of the residents association to identify a failing in this respect and put up site notices about the appeal.



This is particularly important as some people may have had limited notification and time to respond in the summer holiday period.



Taking into account the above and other objections I would respectfully ask the inspector to find these proposals unacceptable and dismiss this appeal.



I would like to be notified of the result.





Regards



Name

Address

Email

Sunday, June 15, 2014

GRA Meeting Dates 2014

Tuesday 1st July
No meeting in August
Wednesday 3rd September
Thursday 2nd October
Monday 3rd November
Thursday 4th December

7:30 - 9:00 PM at the Kurdish Community Centre, Fairfax Hall, Portland Gardens (off Portland Gardens), Harringay N4 1HU

Thursday, April 24, 2014

GRA AGM - 8th May

The 2014 GRA AGM will be held at the Kurdish Community Centre in Portland Gardens on Thursday 8th May at 7:15 PM.


Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Annual General Meeting - Thursday 9th May 2013


Meeting Dates for 2013


Thurs 9 May (AGM)
Tues 4 June
Wed 3 July
No meeting in August
Thurs 5 Sept
Mon 7 Oct
Wed 6 Nov
Thurs 5 Dec

7:30 - 9 PM at the Kurdish Community Centre,  Fairfax Hall, Portland Gardens, off Stanhope Gardens,Harringay, N4 1HU.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Gardens Community Garden 10 Year Anniversary Celebration




On 29th September 2012 we celebrate 10 years of community volunteering in the Gardens. The Gardens’ Community Garden opened on 14th September 2002, an amazing achievement by local residents and the residents association, the GRA have worked hard to create & maintain this pocket oasis for all.

The site of the Community Garden used to be an entrance road way to the once famous Harringay Stadium, which following years of disrepair, was eventually demolished and redeveloped as Sainsbury’s circa 1987, sadly with no one to take ownership of the strip of land and railway arch at the end of Doncaster Gardens. This caused serious problems with vandalism, trespassing, dumping and maintenance issues to local residents, Haringey Council and the railway company. Formed in 1999, the Gardens Residents Association (GRA) through a series of consultations, conceived the idea of securing the land, designing, fundraising and building the community garden for everyone to enjoy.

Now ten years on, with 20 local and national awards to date and many fantastic events behind us, the space has truly become a
‘”Community Centre Without A Roof” , The Oasis of the Gardens”.

We would like to thank all the funders for initially funding the Gardens, Network Rail (our landlord), our local three St Ann’s Ward councillors and Haringey Parks Dept who have supported us along the way, without their support we would have had to close the gates years ago.

And a very special thank you to all our garden and event volunteers. The only way the garden works is by people being involved and keeping it open and growing, driven through the residents association. Without regular income from volunteer’s activities and events, the garden would certainly not be here.

So here is to 10 years more of great memories and gardening for young and old being created in the Community Gardens. With funding in place for the Community Streets Project, we have fantastic future for our streets and “ the Gardens”, with your involvement we have a fantastic future for the Gardens Area.

Andy Newman – Vice Chair & Community Garden Co-ordinator
&  Francois Ballay Chair of the Gardens Residents Association



Friends Of Chestnuts Park (FOC)  


FOC who are funding the evenings film event, are very pleased to be working with the GRA and supporting the Community Gardens 10th Anniversary event.
Friends of Chestnuts Park have worked hard for many years and campaigns for improvements to our local park. Recent successes include transforming the playground area and development of the senorary play area and Multi sports play space. We have lots of ideas for what needs to happen next in the park. What are your ideas?. There are challenges ahead with cuts in the Parks Services so there is never been a better time to get involved. We meet every two months on the third Saturday of the month in the park cafĂ©.  The next meeting is 11am Sat 18th Nov 12.  Most meetings include a practical planting session or other activity.  


Do come along or get in touch at Friendsofchestnuts@hotmail.co.uk
 

Ceri Williams – Chair of FOC

• The Wildcat Arts Collective  
WAC is delighted to be working in partnership again with the GRA’s Community Garden. WAC organizes cultural/arts events around comedy, music, poetry, dance and film/outdoor screenings. These events, aimed at three groups: children (Kids Collective), younger teenagers (11PLUS) & Parents / Carers, they are affordable, progressive and inclusive.
We are open to new ideas & projects & like to make links with other community groups. We are always looking for people to get involved.
For further information,  you can e-mail us wildcatartscollective@hotmail.co.uk  or call: 07966096482 


www.wildcat-arts-collective.org.uk/
 

Dave Downes – WAC

OUTDOOR FILM  - THE SIMPSONS MOVIE – 7pm to 9pm
2007, USA, 87mins.Director, David Silverman.

The locals' casual disregard for the environment leads to Springfield being sealed off from the outside world - not even Greenday can make a difference. The Simpsons Movie is right up there with the classic TV episodes  such as 'Radio Bart', 'Homer Badman' and 'Flaming Moe's'.

Very, very funny and genuinely cinematic - a rare opportunity to see this film outdoors on a big screen, with  communal laughter ringing in your ears (and you get to see Bart's doodle, too!).