New Homes Delivery Programme - Cheyne Nursery and Children’s Centre with Housing - round 2

Our second round of consultation on New Homes at Cheyne presented updated proposals which sought to respond to resident feedback provided during the first round of consultation, notably reducing the height and number of floors in the proposed building.

This round also gave residents the chance to express their preferences about some of the design proposals being considered for the site, such as architectural features that could be used on the building and in its surrounding landscape.

What you told us:

• Strong support for the Nursery and Children’s centre on the site

We welcome and appreciate the local support for the proposed Nursery and Children’s Centre.

• Concerns about new homes and social housing

We have listened to the concerns raised about providing new homes on the site and considered this alongside feedback from planning officers and other stakeholders.

The intention is to include nine new homes as part of the development which has been reduced from up to 22 homes presented at Round 1. Planning policies encourage the re-use of council sites to provide much needed new homes in the borough. The site is in an accessible location and close to local shops and services, so we think it’s a good site for building new homes.

• Concerns about the building’s height

The height of the development was reduced in consultation Rounds 1 and 2 from up to seven storeys in the original proposal to four storeys in the latest one: a ground floor level and three storeys above ground. This means that nine new homes are now proposed, rather than up to 22 as was previously proposed.

The four-storey proposal was discussed with the Council’s planning department and the design officer considered it to be an appropriate height in the context of the surrounding area.

• Concerns about building density in the area

The borough is typically characterised by low to medium rise developments (the definition of which includes developments up to 6 storeys in height) and often in the form of mansion blocks. The proposed development of nine new homes on a site measuring 0.14 hectares, represents a density of 64 homes per hectare. This is much lower than the Chelsea Waterfront development and we think the scale of development is appropriate for this site.

• Concerns about daylight and sunlight

A detailed technical assessment has been carried out to inform the design of the proposal and a report will be submitted with the planning application.

The technical assessment concludes that nearly all the windows of neighbouring properties tested will comply with the relevant industry guidelines, provided by the Building Research Establishment (BRE). These guidelines are used to assess new developments like this and designed to ensure developments do not have unacceptable impacts.

The assessment concludes that the neighbouring park and the gardens on Thorndike Close will comply with BRE industry guidelines.

• Concerns about traffic caused by the new development

The new homes will be car free with no parking spaces, in line with the Council’s policy requirements. The local area is highly accessible by bus, and cycle spaces will be provided for the new residents and those who work in and visit the Nursery and Children’s Centre.

Over two thirds of the additional trips will be made on foot or by public transport with the remainder by car or cycle.

Design choices

• We have incorporated your preference of paving choices into the design
• Feedback from Round 2 told us that residents and other stakeholders preferred greenery to be incorporated into the façade design. This feature has been enhanced by including evergreens to make sure there will be some greenery all year round. This feature has been praised by the Quality Review Panel in our pre-application discussions.
• Feedback from Round 2 indicated a preference for a calm internal colour scheme, and the intention is to incorporate this at the detailed design stage. There will be design workshops arranged in the future to discuss the interior design of the Nursery and Children’s Centre.
• Responses to the red tone brick presented at round 2 have been muted.  In response to this feedback, the design team is continuing to consider options for the tone of brick.

Feedback in response to residents and stakeholders' views, and actions taken, can be read in the 'You Said' section above.