Loughton Residents Association, supported by Hills Amenity Society, is taking strong exception to plans by The Wheatsheaf public house to turn the gartden opposite the pub into a car park having extended the outside seating area to what was car parking space by the erection of a fence and now a paved area. Your views are welcome.
David Linnell of LRA gave this report to the Hills:
What’s happening: residents have told LRA that the pub wishes to extend its outside seating area at the front of the pub, and to transfer parking to the garden opposite. There are some wire fences up at present on the forecourt. The District Council say that the construction of a wall less than 1 metre high on the pub forecourt is allowed; it will be rendered to match the appearance of the pub, along with the existing wall around the patio area. Unfortunately no.15 York Hill isn’t included on the schedule of properties covered by Conservation Area provisions (“Article 4 Direction) covering boundary treatments and hard-standings.
LRA’s view: the garden is within the York Hill Conservation Area (CA), and is a noted and pleasant entry feature to the York Hill and Staples Road CAs. Since the pub last changed owners, we have noted a vast expansion of parking in the area, often obstructive, and so we think that the existing forecourt parking should be kept. We are also concerned about the trees on the site. The pub will be applying for planning permission to convert the garden into a car-park – the LRA Plans Group (and others) will no doubt put in strong objections to this
Go ahead for Hills picnic
Following requests from a group of local residents, Hills Amenity Society has obtained all the necessary permissions for a Hills picnic on York Hill Green on the Queen’s national picnic day, Monday 4 June. To make the event as safe and as enjoyable for all as possible, York Hill and Woodbury Hill will be closed around the Green before lunch and during the afternoon.
This will be a FREE event: turn up with your picnic with something to sit on and enjoy the biggest Hills event for many years.
Offers of help putting up bunting, picking up litter (though we are sure all Hills residents will ensure they remove their own andany other litter they see) and general security, are very much appreciated. Event organiser is Stephen Cohen, stephenmcohen@hotmail.com, phone 07968 720804.
Oh, and don’t forget to bring the sunshine….
An invitation from the District Council to contribute to an independent review of the conservation areas and locally listed buildings
The Character Appraisals for the three Hills conservation areas have been put on hold while the council waits for a an independent report on all its conservation areas. While the Hills Amenity Society and the Character Appraisals Working Group will be making a submission on behalf of the Society it is open to any resident to make their own submission. Questionnaires may be downloaded from http://dpp-projects.com/efdcreview.
The invitation from Maria Kitts in the district council conservation department reads:
Dear Sir or Madam,
DPP Heritage & Design have been appointed by Epping Forest District Council to undertake an independent review of the conservation areas and locally listed buildings in the District. This survey will provide the Council with a robust evidence base upon which the future Local Plan can be developed.
We are very interested to understand your views on conservation areas & locally listed buildings within the District and have prepared a website containing links to online questionnaires – http://dpp-projects.com/efdcreview
If you could spare a little time to complete those parts of the questionnaire(s) that are relevant to your organisation or Council this would be of great assistance to us in completing the review.
The website and questionnaires will be available until 27th April. Unfortunately we will not be able to consider any responses to the Heritage Asset Review which are received after this date.
Please note that this review process is an evidence gathering exercise in which suggestions will be made to Epping Forest District Council. This is a targeted consultation to statutory amenity groups, neighbouring authorities, existing local groups (including local residents associations and historical societies) and Town and Parish Councils. Should any suggestions be taken forward there will be further work and full public consultation will be needed to formally consider any changes to designations and prepare detailed Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans were appropriate.
(signed for EFDC)
Maria Kitts
Conservation Officer
Mrs Rita Machin of 69 Baldwins Hill was the 2011 winner of the Hills
Garden Shield for the best kept front garden. The shield was presented to Mrs
Machin at the autumn lunch on 12 November along with garden vouchers worth The shield was presented by Hills chairman, Wendy Fisher (left). The awa
rd encourages attention to maintaining front gardens in good condition – an important feature of the conservation area.
The shield was introduced soon after the Hills Amenity Society was set up 40 years ago in 1972.
Extension completed but no sign of retrospective permission
At its last meeting the Hills Amenity Society Committee heard that the owner of 22 Stony Path had been required by the District Council to seek planning permission by the end of November for a two-storey extension erected without permission.
The committee will be told at its meeting on 16 January that no retrospective permission – or any permission – was showing on the Council’s website at the end of the December.
56 York Hill – extension to comment
Two week extension to comment on 56 York Hill plans
Residents of York Hill have been granted a two week extension to comment on plans for a two storey extension to one of the prominent cottages on the north bank before Kings Hill.
The letters dated 19 December were received as the council planning offices shut for the Christmas/New Year period, leaving little time to comment.
The new owners have asked for Conservation Area consent to demolish a conservatory and erect a two storey extension in its place.
Hills Amenity Society committee will be examining the plans at its meeting on 17 January.
Corporation alerted to York Hill Green damage
Prompt action by a local resident has resulted in the City of London Corporation swinging into action to remedy damage damage on York Hill Green including deep rutting and smashed and uprooted guard posts.
Corporation executive Lara Lawson has asked fort the damage is to be surveyed prior to deciding on remedial action.
Update on Vodaphone/O2 mast
Vodafone/O2 phone masts
Residents of the western end of Baldwins Hill, who have voiced strong concerns about plans for a giant mobile communications mast planned for the corner of Baldwins Hill and Goldings Hill, may be encouraged by a helpful update prepared by David Linnell of Loughton Residents Association Plans Group which has been received by the Hills Amenity Society.
He writes that regarding site 18379 Junction of Goldings Hill and Baldwins Hill, ” they propose to redesign the mast as a telegraph pole, with only two antennas, to limit the impact on the area and decrease the visual harm, and to move the pole slightly to reduce the impact on the area.”
David Linnell believes the Government has stacked the planning system in favour of the phone companies, “making it hard for councils to resist these applications (and making appeals on council refusals likely to succeed)”. However, Baldwins Hill/Goldings Hill mast would appear to be one where the objections made so far have resulted in proposed masts being re-sited or where attempts have been made to make the masats less obtrusive.
The current position, says Mr Linnell, is that the applicants’ agent has approached the District Council with revised proposals. “These are preliminary discussions, and no action can be taken – when planning applications appear on the Council planning list we will consult nearby residents again.”
Other masts are planned for the junction of Borders Lane and Traps Hill, the north side of Chester Road opposite Droveway, and the Junction of Westall Road and Etheridge Road, Loughton, where it is proposed to move the site to the pavement outside the Clydesdale Pub, subject to underground service searches, and to redesign the mast as a telegraph pole at the lowest height possible, with three antennas instead of six.
The application for a mast on the High Road outside Oaklands School went to appeal and a decision is awaited.
RIP in 2011 – or fings ain’t what they used to be
They’ve turned our butcher’s shop into a funeral parlour
Bosworths the Butchers on Church Hill, pictured in c 1875 by Mr Waller – and in 2012 as Danial Robertson and Sons by HAS photographer. The new Chapel of Rest was blessed at a service conducted by Rev Jovce Smith, rural dean and chaplain of St Clare Hospice.
…the Wheatsheaf on York Hill is no more
The old Wheatsheaf public house now has a very night-clubby look, feel and name, FIFTEEN, but with a forlorn empty sign hanging beside it
…Brian Dash – outfitters for so many weddings down the years – has closed up shop
….and the Montessori Nursery at the bottom of York Hill
has been replaced by The Pavilions on the corner of the Loughton Cricket Field
…and fings ain’t what they used to be
(with acknowledgments to Frank Norman and Lionel Bart)
Autumn-Winter Newsletter – Oct. 2011
Download the Hills newsletter for autumn-winter 2011