Objection to Shrewsbury House School Sports Pavilion 14/16029

Re: Planning Application 14/16029 – Erection of Sports Pavilion – Shrewsbury House School

The residents of Rickards Close would like to object to the proposed erection of a Sports Pavilion at Shrewsbury House School, Ditton Road, Surbiton.

Our objections have been collated from the views held by the neighbouring residents in Rickards Close, which backs directly onto the proposed site of the pavilion. From the outset it should be noted that we are not against building a small pavilion to provide refreshments for spectators (as advised by the school at a consultation meeting), but we are strongly against the proposed pavilion for the following reasons:

1.       Scale & Dominance

a.       The photograph below shows the houses that will be directly affected by the proposed new structure, which has a footprint of approximately two and half one of these houses, situated extremely close to the boundary fence at the bottom of the 6 meter gardens.  This is grossly disproportionate to surrounding buildings.

b.      The applicant has provided no comparative elevations of the proposed structure showing the houses behind or adjacent to it.   The only elevations provided show the proposed structure with an indication of some surrounding trees.

c.       The proposed building is neither in keeping with the architecture of the school or the surrounding buildings

2.       Nature Conservation

a.       The school is sited in a conservation area.

b.      In 2013 the school completed work on an all weather sports pitch (shown on the photo below) removing a large proportion of the grass, natural habitat and drainage from the site.  The shape of the all weather pitch was dictated by the proximity of the trees and the protection of their roots.

c.       The area not covered in astro turf, shown above under the canopy of the large trees, is where the proposed pavilion is to be erected on a cut out from the all weather pitch.  By erecting the pavilion here the roots of these trees will be compromised and damaged.  The structure will require some amount of concrete for its stability.

d.      During the erection of the building the works traffic will disrupt the trees, nature and general habitat of the area.

3.       Impact on natural environment – trees etc

a.       The supporting tree survey is out of date and therefore should not be admissible.  The survey was carried out in October 2012, before the completion of the all weather sports pitch. The report states; “conclusions and recommendations given in this regard are only valid for one year from the date of this report.  These periods of validity may be reduced if there are any changes to built structures or conditions in proximity to the tree” The trees included in this report include the large deciduous trees and the ever greens planted around the boundary, as seen in the image below

b.      The application plan only makes reference to two trees (T69 & T72).  However it fails to mention and does not even show some of the largest trees in the vicinity T70 & T71.  The canopy of which and no doubt the root system will encompass the whole proposed site plan. The red outline in the image above roughly reflects the area shown in the plan below.

c.       The school is situated in Southbrough Conservation Area!  With the removal of more grass this in turn takes away further wildlife and disrupts the local ecology.

d.      Drainage from the all weather pitch is a massive issue already which still hasn’t been resolved.  Removing still more natural drainage from the area will cause yet more problems. 

e.      There has been an omission or discrepancy in the planning application document; section 15 the application asks about trees. Figure 1 clearly shows the trees which influence the proposed development, the type of structure proposed is directly controlled by its location and proximity to the trees as the proposed structure is to be raised on stilts presumably to protect the tree roots underneath

4.       Privacy

a.       The application pack shows no elevation documentation showing the impact of the proposed building on the neighbouring houses, or how the proposed new structure will fit in with its surroundings.

b.      The planned structure will be raised on stilts. When people are within the building or on the veranda they will be able to look directly into our garden and rooms of several neighbouring houses.  There is no advisement to include privacy glass in the side or rear windows.

5.       Parking Provision
There is no proposed parking assigned to the structure.  The school is already spilling into neighbouring roads both with parking and waiting after hours filtering into the small school turning area.  This causes regular dangerous congestion many afternoons a week on Ditton Road, Rickards Close and Langley Avenue.  There are many young and elderly people living down these roads.

6.       Noise/Dust/Fumes

a.       The use of the building in the application has stipulated that it will be used during school hours,  however given that the all weather pitch does not have any time restrictions on times of use we are aware that this stipulation will be revisited given time and we are extremely concerned about noise from events out side school hours.

b.       The nature of the building implies that it will be used to stand infront and cheer support to the boys playing sports. Placing the pavilion in its proposed location shows a complete disregards of the schools neighbours.