Saint George

 Church Field Development

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A NEW VISION FOR ST GEORGE'S FIELD

Background

St George's Field is approximately 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres) of private land, including the 1st Headstone Scout headquarters, which is owned by the Church. The land was purchased by the Parochial Church Council (PCC) in 1922 for the use of St George's Church, and for many years served as a valuable resource. Over a number of years, however, the land has progressively fallen out of use as lifestyles have changed and nearby professionally maintained outdoor facilities have improved.

St George's has a legal obligation to secure the best reasonably obtained price for its assets if no longer required. The PCC has considered a number of proposals for the future of St George's Field since it first endorsed the principle of a partial development of the land over twenty years ago.

Planning Application of August 2007
A planning application, ref P/2569/07, was submitted to Harrow Council in August 2007. The scheme comprised a range of 27 houses and apartments, a new community building, and also retained the majority of the open space designated as such in the Borough Unitary Development Plan. The application was refused under delegated powers on 21 November 2007 and an appeal on behalf of the PCC was received by the Planning Inspectorate in May 2008.
Planning Appeal of October 2008

 An informal hearing took place on 8 October 2008. In his Decision Notice the Planning Appeal Inspector accepted the planning arguments for the size and character of the proposed scheme. Although he endorsed the principle that a more intensive use of the retained open space would outweigh the loss of part of the site to housing, the Inspector considered that such future use needed to be set out in more detail. The appeal was therefore dismissed.
The Inspector's Decision Notice can be seen here.

Planning Application of July 2009

A planning application, P/1546/09, was submitted to Harrow Council in July 2009. A summary of the application can be seen here.  After discussions with Harrow Planning Department the proposal was amended by the Church's offer to donate the retained open space to the Council for public use. The amended application was recommended for acceptance by Harrow Planning Department but refused by the Council's Planning Committee in September 2010. An appeal on behalf of the PCC was received by the Planning Inspectorate in December 2010.

Planning Appeal of May 2011
A Public Inquiry took place 17/18 May 2011. The Inspector awarded the Church costs against the Council for wrongly refusing planning permission at committee stage. The costs decision is here. The Council has received an application for costs for over £113,000. As the Church and the Council were unable to conclude a  Section 106 agreement on the transfer of the retained open space into public ownership, the Church offered a unilateral undertaking to provide for its maintenance and availability to the public.  The Inspector, however, considered there to be a flaw in the drafting of the unilateral undertaking and therefore dismissed the appeal. The appeal decision is here.
Planning Application of August 2011
A new application, P/2336/11, addressing the legal points identified by the Inspector, was received by the Council in August 2011. In planning terms the scheme is identical to the previous application. A summary is here.

 

headstone, harrow