A campaigner has vowed to fight “crazy” plans to turn half of Rayners Lane Tube Station’s car park into apartments.
Herbie Crossman, who lives close to the station in Alexandra Avenue, says Transport for London’s attempt to earmark the car park for 50 new flats will be fought by commuters and local residents.
Part of the 244-space car park on a narrow strip of land is being considered for the new homes – “with retention of adequate car parking provision” – as part of the council’s Heart of Harrow regeneration strategy.
But Mr Crossman says the facility is nearly always full and has labelled the plans “crazy”.
He told the Harrow Times : “I am going to go door-knocking around all the homes that back onto it because they are not going to want apartments backing onto their houses.
“They might not have much of a view at the moment but it’s better than nothing.
“How they can think about selling it off when it’s full all of the time is beyond me.”
The council’s documents say that any attempt to win planning permission for a development on the site would need to show evidence of car parking demand and how that demand will be catered for if the plan goes ahead.
The documents also show that TfL want to sell off part of Stanmore Tube Station’s car park in a similar scheme to create 44 new homes in London Road.
And Ruth Cunningham, senior environmental planner in TfL's consents and environment team, wrote to the council in June to ask them to consider the car park at Canons Park Tube Station in Donnesfield Avenue in the plan.
She said that “a residential-led mixed use development scheme on the sites would complement the surrounding land use, whilst encouraging economic growth in the area”.
None of the sites have planning permission and even if included in the council’s regeneration plan would need to gain consent from the planning committee before any construction could take place.
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