Meeting held at the Ecology Centre in Holland Park.

HPRA Committee
Katy Michael- Chairman
Judy De Haas
John Cowdry
Ciahnait Tait
Natalie Cutler

Present: Councillor Deborah Collinson
Councillor Flock Feilding-Mellen
Councillor Warwick Lightfoot (p/t)

PC, Andy Trafford
Special Inspector Etienne Wong

Members of the Holland Park Residents’ Association and
representatives from Abbotsbury House

Katy Michael welcomed all those present and thanked our Councillors, and representatives of our Sater Neighbourhood Police team for joining us. She also thanked all the members of the HPRA Committee tor their hard work and support for yet another year, which is always so much appreciated. Matters arising from the 2013 Annual General Meeting were the thorny issues of basement/garden excavation and the excessive car parking of Ukrainian Embassy Cars. It was suggested that the latter point could be progressed by correspondence at a later date. Discussion of Excavation will take the form of an Open Forum, with the input of our Councillors and some questions and points from the floor.

Issues to be addressed under Any Other Business as the final Agenda Items were:

- The number ot restaurants being turned into estate agents
- The value of filming revenue
- Dog mess left ln little bags under trees in the street
- The proposed development of the Odeon cinema site
- The proposed development of the green strip of land beside Abbotsbury House
- The support for a social gathering amongst our members

1. The first report was from police officers present:
P.C. Trafford reported a considerable increase in fixed penalties for cycling on pavements/going through red lights since 1996. The police also had an increased visual presence in side streets. Operation Q Ball was in force, which was an automatic number plate reading system enabling cars to be seized. 14 vehicles without insurance had been seized. The local police were working with Parks Police on anti-drug strategies. There are also a large number of Land Rover Discovery Series 4 parts being stolen. The statistics were: Burglaries 2, thefts from motor vehicles 9, criminal damage to motor vehicles 2. Crime prevention packs were left at the meeting as well as “jingle bells” and marker pens. Fraud cases were rising, often involving calls from “police” which were bogus. P.C. Keith Hughes, telephone 020 8246 0174 is our Ward Officer.

2. The main area of contention/discussion was the impact of underground excavations. Councillor Feilding-Mellen took the floor. He noted that this issue had been raised frequently during the local election campaign. The Council Planning Officers‘ hands are tied in trying to control them within the current legislation. They can only reject them on "policy grounds”, which is why the Council has been working
to adopt a new planning policy to control the extent of basement developments. Such a new policy has to be founded on solid evidence and approved by an independent Planning Inspector. Before the Council lodged its proposed new policy, some of the big basement developers had submitted various complaints, which revealed their main arguments, so the Council has spent the last few months gathering extra evidence to try to beat these arguments. They are waiting for a date to appear before the
Planning Inspectorate but it is not certain that their arguments will be found to be “sound”. The proposal is to limit new basements to one storey only and up to 50% of the garden. When determining a planning application, disruption to neighbours caused by the construction process is not a material consideration for rejecting an application; that is because the Planning system is primarily concerned with the impact of the building once the construction is complete. With regard to the Water Table and general structural concerns, two engineering consultants commissioned by the Council have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to ban all basements across the borough. The process is slow and laborious.

Council will try to make available a website to assist residents when dealing with applications of this type. A new “Planning Policy” is in the pipeline and an inspector will be determining whether or not the proposed
new policy can come into force. No. 78 Holland Park had applied for a further basement extension and the meeting asked whether there was any action that could be taken against the owners of a building which was permitted to become dilapidated. Could not a “delapidations order” be served? The same issue applied to the chimney of the Cameroon Embassy at No. 84. lt was pointed out by the Councillors that compulsory purchase would mean paying the full market value plus compensation which was out of the question.
There were very few options in this case. Another question from the floor was whether a lease could be
changed to stop basements. Cllr F-M thought that might be possible, but it would be a question for the relevant freeholder, not for the Council. lt was suggested that we require a pool of knowledge and perhaps people could contribute this to the proposed website. lt was reported that Brian May is facing noise and dust with an adjacent basement. He is pooling information from neighbours and he will be asked to contribute this information to the HPRA Committee. Much talent in this regard was said to be available in Abbotsbury House. Someone from the floor ofthe meeting remarked that he had heard that it was more
cost effective for developers to bury some of their equipment in basements. Residents also pointed out that plans rejected were often re-submitted in a slightly altered form. The whole excavation issue was felt to be a political one.

3. The accounts were approved. A small minority of our funds emanated from the HPRA life membership fees of £10, which for some time have no longer been charged, but the vast majority had come from location fees paid by film companies for filming in Holland Park and Holland Park Mews. lt was recognised that this can cause some slight disruption to residents for a day, but is extremely useful revenue in the longer term. There were no objections.

4. The Chairman asked if there were any members who wished to
join the Committee. Mary Holman of 33 Holland Park volunteered and was welcomed. Jaana Tarma offered help on a more ad hoc basis.

5. Dogs in the Park. Holland Park rules are that dogs are allowed
off the lead in certain areas. Up to 6 dogs may be exercised by
one person.

6. YHA. Two years ago the YHA approached the Council and asked to buy back their long lease, which the Council agreed to do. At the same time, it was agreed that the YHA would get a new short lease of two years, after which point the Council would remarket the property. That is what the Council is now doing. The Council has consulted with the Friends of Holland Park and has been running an open and competitive marketing process, in which the YHA has been free to participate in. The Council will ensure that the new tenant uses the property in accordance with the restrictions, as set out in the Act of Parliament affecting Holland Park.

7. Karen Crozier was present to discuss the provision of bins for dog mess inthe area. Dog owners currently often bag the dog mess but leave it to litter the streets. Ms. Crozier agreed to look at siting more bins in the area for this purpose and it was suggested, and agreed, that the Council put up notices asking dog owners to use the bins and not litter the streets as this rather defeated the object of picking up after their animals.

8. Odeon cinema A communication from the Kensington Society about the proposed development of the Odeon Cinema site was circulated to interested parties. A planning application has not yet been submitted but we shall be watching the situation.

9. Abbotsbury House/Holland Park green strip. At present there is no current planning application under
consideration at the Council. There is considerable justified concern from a number of the residents at Abbotsbury House about the impact (noise, dirt etc.) of the development of this green strip at such close proximity although it seems that not all residents object to this development.

10. The issue of approving the change of use from restaurants to estate agents - which has been rife in Holland Park Avenue and its side roads, was discussed. Councillor Feilding-Mellen advised the meeting that ‘use’ was classified as A1 for normal retail, A2 for banks/estate agents/etc, and A3 for restaurants/ pubs/etc; it is possible to change the use of a premises without planning permission if going down the scale (ie from A3 to A2 or At) but not up. Therefore, a change of use from restaurant (A3) to estate agent (A2) does not involve an upward change in classification and therefore is outside the control of the Council. This is all set out in national planning legislation and cannot be changed by the Council.

11. Social gatherings. A residents‘ cocktail party was held in February 2014 for residents to meet and get to know each other in an informal social setting, with no Agenda, with the aim of us all gaining an increased sense of neighbourhood community and to facilitate mutual support where needed. lt was agreed that this was worthwhile and should be repeated.

The meeting ended at 8 p.m. with thanks to all contributors.

The next AGM is scheduled to be on Monday 8th June 2015.