Scores of NIMBY objectors have lodged complaints about plans to flatten 10 dilapidated garages and build 11 new homes – including five council houses.
If approved, Mandeville Street would be the first development in Hackney Council’s “housing supply programme”, which will see more than 400 new council homes built on underused council-owned land including garages, car parks and depots to help tackle the housing crisis.
Five of the properties in Mandeville Street would be for social rent, six for shared ownership and none for outright sale – and no private developer is involved in the scheme.
But the council has received some 165 objections, including two petitions, and just one comment supporting the “much-needed affordable housing” the site will supply.
Others have moaned the housing proposed will not in fact be affordable for people in the area; that the three-storey building is too tall, “visually intrusive and overbearing”; and that it will block sunlight from and overshadow and overlook Mandeville Primary School next door.
Parents have complained the development will be “dangerous and noisy for the children”, and that the building site will cause dust and disruption and impact on extra-curricular activities.
Council planning officer Gareth Barnett, who drew up the report, conceded the development will lead to a temporary loss of playground during construction, but said there would in fact be a net gain after works are completed.
Complaints were also lodged that the council didn’t properly consult with the school, and that the site would be better used by Mandeville Primary as an extended play area or garden.
The council and design team did, though, hold three drop-in events before applying to itself for planning permission – and one was specifically for staff and parents and guardians at Mandeville.
All new homes at Mandeville Street will be prioritised for Hackney residents, with the social rent properties available to those on the housing waiting list, which has 13,000 names.
Councillors sitting on the council’s planning sub-committee are due to make a decision on the development – which is recommended for approval – on Wednesday night.
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