17-37 William Road, LONDON, NW1 3ER

the redevelopment of no. 35-37 to provide a 15 storey building with basement level for use as student accommodation with affordable workspace at ground floor level of no. 17-37 and improvements to ground floor façade of no. 17-33, together with public realm improvements, servicing, cycle storage and facilities, refuse storage and other ancillary and associated works

Authority: London Borough of Camden
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: residential · Other Major Developments
Inspector: Downes T

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal would result in an unacceptable loss of employment opportunities and floorspace
The effect on the character and appearance of the area
The effect on the setting of nearby heritage assets
The effect on the living conditions of nearby residential properties
Whether the proposed development offers an acceptable standard of accommodation for the student occupiers
Whether the occupiers of the proposed development would be suitably protected in the event of fire

What decided it

The very significant planning benefits of high-quality student housing (including affordable units), affordable workspace, design improvement and efficient use of a highly accessible brownfield site outweighed the moderate adverse impacts under the paragraph 11d)ii) tilted balance.

The adverse impacts (moderate weight, including some loss of daylight/sunlight to Winchester Apartments and a small shortfall in BRE daylight compliance for some student rooms) did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the very significant package of benefits (student housing supply, affordable student units, affordable workspace, design quality, optimised site use) when assessed against the Framework as a whole, so the tilted balance favoured granting permission.

Framework references: 11, 56, 57, 74

Plan policies cited: Policy E1, Policy E2, Policy D1, Policy D9, Policy D3, Policy D2, Policy HC1, Policy HC4, Policy A1, Policy A2, Policy A3, Policy DM1, Policy H15, Policy H9, Policy H6, Policy H1, Policy H5, Policy D12, Policy D5, Policy D4, Policy S1 2, Policy S1 1, Policy CC2, Policy CC3, Policy CC4, Policy T1, Policy T3, Policy G6

Judgments cited: Rainbow and Guerry High Court judgements

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.