Dear Supporters,
Since we last wrote to you, we have been following the planning application submission and responding as new documents and amended plans were submitted.
The planning application to convert Christ Church Longcross into five residential flats is now going to Planning Committee on Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019 at 7:30 pm which will be held at the Runnymede Civic Centre in Addlestone and is open to the public.
The planning committee can only consider items which are relevant to planning law and policy. Therefore we have limited our comments to these areas and as noted before, this is the second planning application for residential use, the first was refused.
Wholly unsuitable amenity space for the potential 14 residents
We consider that the key planning consideration is whether there would be acceptable amenities for the future occupiers such that the proposal complies with the Council’s policies* for residential development and overcomes the reason for refusal of RU.18/0620.
We have reviewed the final plans for the amenity space in the current application (RU.19/0694) and compared it to the previous refused application (RU.18/0620) and find that the amount of space available to residents has been reduced although the number of proposed flats remains the same.
The amenity space is significantly and materially interrupted by both a plant/boiler building and the allocation of a fence around existing graves. These graves sit in the middle of the amenity space, splitting its usable space. On the west side of the graves, all that remains is a small long dark corridor which is heavily overshadowed by trees and on the east, a protrusion limits that usable space.
The designated amenity space is wholly unsuitable for the up to 14 residents which could occupy the building (5 flats with a total of 7 bedrooms x 2 people).
Lack of clarity on the treatment of the 17 Grade II listed Stained Glass Windows
We have also questioned the treatment of the 17 stained glass windows which are not suitable to be opened and significantly reduce the amount of light into the building.
The planning application does not make clear which windows will open to provide natural light, an outlook and ventilation. There are no diagrams provided to indicate which windows are stained glass and will be retained and which windows will get what treatment. The flats on the ground and 1st floor are primarily impacted as 17 out of 23 (74%) of the windows are stained glass and thus will be very dark, in addition to the rooms already being very small and pokey.
Parking
No disabled parking bay is provided for visitors who will be visiting the graveyard and we still contend that it is not possible to manoeuvre into two of the allocated parking spots, one of which is for visitors.
Longcross Road is wholly unsuitable for parking given it is at national speed limit, unlit and has no pavements.
Fence
We previously communicated that the fence was planned to be 1.8 meters high, this has now been reduced to 1.2 meters.
If you have any questions, or are a resident of Runnymede and would like to reach out to the councillors sitting on the Planning Committee in advance of the meeting to register your objection, please feel free to email us at fochristchurchlongcross@gmail.com.
Thank you for your support,
Theresa Burton
Founder, Friends of Christ Church Longcross
*Saved Policy HO9 (New Housing Development) of the Saved Runnymede Local Plan 2001 and Draft Policy EE1 (Townscape and Landscape Quality) of the Emerging Runnymede 2030 Local Plan