NEWS

It is essential to send as many objections to the Council as possible.

Please send your objections to the Council by Wednesday 2nd November 2022.

Planning application ref. 2022/02647/FUL.

See the bottom of the poster shown above for details on how to send your objections.

In July 2022, residents of Colehill Mansions and Waldemar Avenue Mansions received notification of a pre-planning application consultation from Whitegold Properties Ltd which owns the central and ornamental section of the Colehill Gardens green space.

The consultation proposed a four-story block of 13 dwellings to be built in the central section, with the existing ornamental garden section re-landscaped for use by residents of the new block; residents of Colehill Gardens mansions; and the general public between 9 am and 5 pm.

We believe the new development will be harmful in principle as:

• It will be positioned precisely in the middle of the small, but locally important, Colehill Gardens Conservation Area – the central core of which IS the green, open space.
  
  
• Its vast mass at the centre of the green space will destroy the great sense of space that the gardens currently provide and completely block the important long views in and out of the space between Fulham Palace Road/Colehill Lane and Waldemar Avenue.
  
  
• It will physically divide the green space into two completely separate halves and significantly reduce the gardens’ amount of green, open space that serves as a crucial biodiversity habitat and wildlife corridor and that also helps protect residents from the pollution from the heavy traffic on Fulham Palace Road.
  
  
• It will be on greenfield land – the remnant grounds of Colehill Cottage, a villa established circa 1750 – that, unlike much of Fulham, has remained free of building development for more than 115 years.
  
  
• It is likely to adversely affect heat levels in the area. The Colehill Gardens act as a neighbourhood 'cooler' which helps to offset higher temperatures expected to be more common in the future. Any significant building development risks damaging this.
  
  
• Once the land is developed, this unique green, open space that provides such high visual amenity value to this part of Fulham, will be gone forever.

Since 2007, there have been three other attempts to build on the Colehill Gardens green, open space – on the adjacent section of land fronting Waldemar Avenue – and all have been opposed by many in the local community, refused by the council and refused again on appeal.

One of the main aims of the Friends of Colehill Gardens is to protect the green space from harmful development. We will, therefore, be strongly objecting to the application when it is eventually submitted.

All members of the Friends will be notified when the application is submitted.

In June 2022, telecoms company Telefonica applied to install a 20 m (66 ft) high 5G mast and three ancillary cabinets on Bishop’s Avenue – just 80 metres from the Colehill Gardens green space boundary on Fulham Palace Road. The site proposed was on a grass verge in front of All Saints’ Primary School and adjacent to Bishop’s Park Tennis Courts. It was within the boundary of Bishop’s Park (Grade II Listed) and at the beginning of the main tree-lined gateway to Fulham Palace (Grade I Listed).

The picture shown gives an impression of the detrimental impact the mast and ancillary cabinets would have on this particularly attractive part of the Bishop’s Park Conservation Area.

A co-ordinated objection campaign consisting of posters and leaflets was carried out by parents, whose children attended the primary school, and many other concerned members of the community. There was a huge response from local residents and organisations including those affiliated with the primary school; Fulham Palace; and Bishop’s Park with 568 objections received by the council.

The council refused the planning application (Ref. 2022/01759/FUL) for the following reasons:

The proposed development is considered unacceptable on visual amenity grounds and its impact on the setting of the scheduled monument, the grade II registered park and garden at Fulham Palace, and the grade II registered park and garden at Bishop’s Park.

The proposed development would have an impact on pedestrian safety, particularly the children of the nearby primary school, as the mast and associated equipment location would result in a loss of vehicle visibility from the highway and primary school vehicle driveway.

The great spotted woodpecker species has been sighted many times in recent years but usually at the top of the tallest trees, so it’s difficult to get a good image. The woodpecker shown was in the beautiful False Acacia tree on the Waldemar Avenue boundary.

Many butterfly species and bird species including robin, blackbird, great tit, blue tit, coal tit, long-tailed tit, goldfinch, dunnock, tree sparrow, song thrush, jay, carrion crow, wood pigeon and rose-ringed parakeet continue to live in and visit the Colehill Gardens green space. A magpie pair have nested in a large Leyland cypress tree for the last few years. Last summer a blackcap pair nested in the garden area fronting Waldemar Avenue.

The landowner of the central and ornamental sections of the gardens periodically sends contractors to cut back all vegetation. Cuttings have been left in a pile in the centre of the ornamental section and litter along the boundary fence is not removed. No real gardening takes place.

Several residents of Colehill Gardens mansions – who have access to the ornamental garden section for recreation via a clause in their lease – were determined to combat the litter and lack of gardening. In June and July 2022, these residents, many of whom are also FOCG members, started clearing the garden of litter and weeds.

FOCG hopes to continue to meet with some of the residents of Colehill Gardens mansions to look for ways to improve the appearance of the ornamental garden.

After felling trees without planning permission in January 2019, the landowner of the central and ornamental sections of the gardens was served with a Tree Replacement Notice (Enforcement Ref. 2019/00117/TREECA). This required the landowner to plant four new trees by the end of March 2020. The trees specified were lime, evergreen, English yew and native holly.

In February 2022, we contacted Planning Enforcement as replanting had still not taken place. Four new trees were planted on the ornamental section on 29 March 2022, two years after the original deadline. We notice that the landowner was not instructed to replace trees that had been felled in the central section, which has now effectively become an open field.

In December 2021, the company that owns the central section of the gardens, installed a concrete panel fence – to separate its land from the section of land that fronts Waldemar Avenue (which belongs to a different landowner).

The concrete fence can be seen when walking along Colehill Lane and after its installation, several residents and passers-by commented on the incongruous and detrimental impact it created, not just on the gardens specifically, but the Colehill Gardens Conservation Area generally.

We contacted Planning to check if the fence was permitted and were advised that if it is within permitted height restrictions and not abutting a highway planning permission is not required.

There have been two telephone boxes positioned in front of the Fulham Palace Road boundary of the gardens for many years. They spoil the attractive appearance of the green space, so in the autumn, we were pleased to see that the telephone box nearest the corner of Colehill Lane had been removed. We hope it does not reappear and that the second box is also removed in the future.

On 13 April 2021, FOCG (Friends of Colehill Gardens) noticed a contractor on the central section of the gardens in the process of felling a tree. The contractor was not able to confirm if the landowner had planning permission, so we asked him to stop the felling until we could confirm with the council.

On 15 April, before we could get confirmation, we noticed that the tree had been felled. Unfortunately, the enforcement officer dealing with our enquiry left the council and the case was not followed up by a new officer. In February 2022, we enquired with a different officer if permission to fell in April 2021 had been sought and granted, or if the tree was felled illegally. We are still waiting for confirmation.

Application to install a 20m high 5G aerial mast

is refused by the council

 6 July 2020

At the end of May, telecoms company Hutchison 3G UK (Three UK) applied to install a Phase 8 Monopole ­– a 20m (66ft) high 5G aerial mast with a large wraparound cabinet at its base and three large ancillary cabinets on the pavement in Colehill Lane near its junction with Fulham Palace Road.

The design, materials, bulk and scale of the proposed mast was completely at odds with the character and appearance of the Colehill Gardens Conservation Area. Its planned position, directly in front of mature trees contained within the Colehill Gardens green space, would seriously degrade the conservation area and negatively impact the visual amenity that the green space provides. The two pictures shown above give an impression of the impact of the mast and ancillary cabinets during the summer and winter.

Hutchison 3G suggested the mature trees would camouflage the presence of the mast. This is a flawed rationale as the mast would be considerably higher than the trees (and nearby mansion blocks) and the trees are without leaf for half the year. They also suggested that as the mast would be positioned at the edge of the Colehill Gardens Conservation Area it would not be harmful to its character and appearance. As the Colehill Gardens green space is the central core of what is a very small conservation area it was inevitable that the position of the mast would have a detrimental impact.

The government’s recent changes to planning policy effectively ensures local councils have limited powers to challenge the installation of these large-scale 5G aerial masts. So it was imperative that as many local residents were informed of the application in order to voice their concerns to the council. Members of the Friends and other local residents posted and handed out flyers in the streets surrounding the proposed site. There was a huge response with 467 objections registered.

The council refused the application on 3 July 2020 and the first reason for refusal states: “The proposed development is considered unacceptable on visual amenity grounds and its impact upon the conservation area. More particularly the development, by virtue of its excessive height, bulk and mass, its position on the footway, the increase in street furniture and the location within the Colehill Gardens Conservation Area, would be visually prominent, incongruous and would harm the character and appearance of the Colehill Gardens Conservation Area, and setting of the adjoining Bishop’s Park Conservation Area.”

To read the council’s refusal notice in full please see the pdf below.

Wholesale removal of long-established trees
and shrubbery

31st October 2019