More parking spaces retained in new scheme but building heights stay same, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Transport for London’s developer has rowed back on its plans to build over public car parks as part of its tube station housing programme.

Connected Living London’s (CLL) latest plans would provide 47 publicly-accessible parking spaces and a “dedicated pick-up and drop-off area” at its development at Cockfosters Station.

It is an extra 35 spaces on top of the twelve parking bays for blue badge holders included in the previous plans.

The developer – a partnership between Transport for London and Grainger – said the changes were made following feedback from the local community and stakeholders.

There are currently 370 publicly accessible parking spaces at the site, including the twelve blue badge bays that would be retained.

CLL claimed the extra parking in its plans would not led to a loss of amenity space, and the new scheme would increase the amount of open space compared to previous designs.

It said the parking had been provided by moving the spaces planned for London Underground staff to “operational land adjacent to the development site”.

People living in the flats would not have access to their own on-site parking, apart from blue badge spaces and a car club bay. The pick-up and drop-off area would be made up of seven short-stay parking spaces close to the station entrance.

CLL now plans to provide 351 rental homes in blocks up to 14 storeys at the site – a reduction of 20 homes compared to plans revealed in January last year – with 40% classed as ‘affordable’ by habitable room.

While there have been changes to the heights of some buildings, the developer said this came in response to feedback from local stakeholders and pointed out the size of the tallest tower had not been increased.

Ben Tate, on behalf of CLL, said: “We have received a lot of feedback from the local and wider community in relation to our proposals at Cockfosters, including at our engagement events.

“Throughout the past year, we have been actively exploring ways to respond meaningfully, while still delivering both the homes and levels of affordable housing that Enfield and London desperately need.

“In response to feedback, our proposals now include a new dedicated vehicle pick-up/drop-off area, and 47 publicly accessible parking spaces to help support the local area.

“We have also made a number of other improvements, such as increasing the amount of public cycle parking, refining the building and landscape design and maximising the amount of open and play space for the community as well as future residents.

“We look forward to submitting our plans to Enfield Council shortly.”

The plan to build flats at Cockfosters Station has already run into significant opposition from local residents’ groups.

Commenting on the revised plans, Colin Bull, chair of Cockfosters Local Area Residents’ Association (Clara), said: “There is no point in CLL fiddling with trivial allocations of car parking allocations when they plan to remove around 90% of the present capacity. This is not a deal in the public interest, and we cannot support it.”

Responding to the ‘affordable’ housing pledge, Colin claimed that on a similar scheme planned by the same developer at Arnos Grove Station, only 11% of the homes would have been “truly affordable”, rather than the developer’s 40% figure.

He said this level was of “no real value to the needy families of Enfield” and was “justly refused by our planning committee”. “We will examine the detailed Cockfosters plans closely to see if TfL are trying the same approach and expose it if so,” the Clara chair added.

“Clara’s committee is intensely concerned that these station car park schemes are disingenuous – shaped not for the relief and benefit of local families, but the revenue demands put out by the mayor of London.”

For more information on the latest proposals:
Visit givemyview.com/cockfosters

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