Decision on flats plan for Harrow's ex-Post Office site due tomorrow

COUNCILLORS will decide tomorrow night whether high rise flats and shops can be built on Harrow's ex-Post Office site - having been warned the scheme may not bring the regenerative benefits first promised.

Harrow Council's planning committee is due to consider an application by developers Dandara to tear down the vacant building in College Road and construct three towers containing a total of 410 apartments, with the highest structure 19 storeys tall.

Planning officers had presented committee members with two alternate recommendations - one for approval and one for rejection - with evidence to support both.

Their report stated: "Whilst the details of the scheme are considered to be acceptable and appropriate to the site, its town centre location and the current policy background, the scheme has implications for the developing policy background that could mean that the proposal is premature."

What this means is that the planning brief for the centre of Harrow was written before the credit crunch when the council envisaged receiving a substantial sum in community contributions from several developers, of which Dandara was one.

The idea was to pool this money and revamp the area around Harrow-on-the-Hill station, including creating a new bus station and building a pedestrian bridge across the Metropolitan line.

However, following the collapse of the Gayton Road proposals and news that the replacement Harrow College campus may yet fall through, the brief needs to be rewritten to reflect the current, less lucrative economic outlook.

Officers were therefore worried that approving Dandara's scheme, having judged it against objectives that are now redundant, may be too hasty, especially given that the firm could may only chip in a maximum of £5 million towards the aforementioned aspirational transport improvements.

Dandara pointed out, however, the officers' warning that despite being genuine concerns, the arguments for rejecting the plans may not meet the requirements of Planning Policy Guidance 1, the Government's sustainable development policy document under which the scheme could be thrown out for "prematurity".

DANDARA - THE FACTS
n demolition of ex-Post Office building
n construction of three towers containing 410 flats
n basement parking for 87 cars
n build 1,120 sq m of retail and entertainment premises
n contribution of up to £5m to boost public transport based partly on sales
n provide pedestrian bridge over railway line
n create public open space
n allocate 15 per cent of housing as affordable
n incorporate police office
n provide work placements for local people