North London Jamaican restaurant out, 7-storey housing block in – 0 affordable

Attempts to refuse the plan based on affordable housing numbers and the height of the building failed

Plans to demolish a Caribbean restaurant in North London to make way for a seven-storey apartment block have been given the green light despite concerns about the building’s height, a lack of affordable housing, and its impact on local night-time businesses.

Harrow Council has approved plans by Quintas Homes to build the new housing block by demolishing the existing building at 382 – 384 Station Road in Harrow-on-the-Hill – currently occupied by Jamaican restaurant Smokey Fridays – to redevelop the site into new homes, alongside commercial space on the ground floor.

The developer claims the brownfield and underutilised site offers “an excellent opportunity to enhance the streetscape and provide new flats” in the area but it was met with opposition from some long-standing local businesses and members of Harrow Council’s planning committee.

The development involves the demolition of all existing structures on the site to enable the construction of a seven-storey building, comprising 12 flats and commercial space on the ground floor. The residential units would be made up of one one-bedroom, ten two-bedroom, and one three-bedroom apartments.

Concerns were raised about the potential impact residential units may have on the existing night-time economy – as new residents may complain about the nearby Trinity Bar music venue being open until 4am. The owner of the bar, Christopher Perdue, believes the development is “unsuitable for the location” and made a representation at the planning committee to object to the proposals.

Mr Perdue said: “The proposed residential flats are located directly within what one could call the West End of Harrow – an area of numerous late-night bars, restaurants, takeaways and Trinity. […] The music venue will be 30ft from the door of any new development on this site.

“The location is already subject to high levels of noise from customers leaving the premises, conversations, music, vehicle movements, deliveries and general late-night activity. Introducing new residential accommodation in this environment is likely to result in an unacceptable living environment for future occupants and may subsequently lead to complaints regarding noise and disturbance.

“This creates the potential for conflict between established businesses and new residents – placing unnecessary pressure on long-standing venues that contribute significantly to the town centre economy, as well as the borough’s cultural significance.”

The agent acting on behalf of Quintas responded to say that this part of Station Road “already has an established residential presence” and they “co-exist successfully” alongside the night-time economy, with the new development best suited to those who want to live in a busy town centre.

The agent also pointed to a noise assessment that has been carried out, which concluded that – with mitigation measures in place, including acoustic glazing, mechanical ventilation so windows don’t need to be open for cooling, and appropriate internal layout – the impact would be negligible.

Members of the committee raised further concerns regarding the height of the building and the lack of any affordable homes to be provided but the Committee Chair, Cllr Marilyn Ashton, didn’t feel there was a planning reason to refuse the proposal “that would sustain an argument if this was appealed”.

Cllr Ashton said: “It’s not particularly a tall building […] I’ve seen much, much taller buildings go up in our town centre than this one and it’s actually quite an attractive design. I don’t think it’s going to look out of place there at all.”

Although the London Plan outlines that private developments need to deliver 35 per cent affordable housing numbers, the scheme would fail to deliver any. Financial viability assessments commissioned by both the developer and Harrow Council stated that the scheme could make no affordable housing contributions – with commercial losses of between £353,000 and £678,240 even when it is formed of 100 per cent market housing.

Cllr Ashton said: “I just think it’s very important […] to understand how hard it is to provide affordable homes. The viability of many developments is at rock bottom, frankly, and the build costs have skyrocketed.

“It’s a combination of global events, the economy, perhaps lack of confidence, but build costs have soared. If anything, if you get a spade in the ground and you get anything built, it’s actually quite an achievement nowadays.

“So, from my point of view, it’s 12 additional homes. It’s a shame that there should be some affordable because it’s over 10. But I can’t see how we’re going to get enough affordable homes built.”

There were two separate votes to refuse the plan on the grounds of the building height and issues with affordable housing numbers but both ultimately failed. The plan was subsequently approved by split decision along party lines – with the five Conservative members voting for and the two Labour members voting against the scheme.

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