SADC Planning and Building Control have just (21 March) refused plans for a large rear extension to the public house at 43-45 Verulam Road, to which many of our members had objected.

BUT the owner has continued building during the lengthy review procedure (see Herts Advertiser, 20 March and our reply jointly with our neighbouring Residents Associations, published on 10 April), and the extension is now virtually complete (and even larger than shown in the refused plans!). The refusal is largely based on over-development of the original building – objection to noise and visual intrusion to neighbours was essentially dismissed.

We shall continue to press SADC to ensure that this intrusive extension doesn’t creep in by the back door.

Application for mechanical car park withdrawn

As a residents association we were too late on the scene to affect the outcome of the application to convert the old Nationwide office block at 20 Lower Dagnall Street into 14 flats, which was approved in July 2013 despite objections from individual residents.

Under the Government’s relaxation of planning laws for such conversions, the Council itself had very limited grounds for refusing the application (which it had done on three previous occasions).

Conversion is now proceeding: many of us are content to see the building brought back into use, but feel that too much is being squeezed into a difficult site, especially with regard to overcrowding and car parking.

On the other hand, we organised objections to the installation of a mechanically operated double-stacking car park at the rear, which would have had major deleterious impact both on the lives of neighbouring residents and on future developments in our Conservation Area. The application was withdrawn in January, and we shall be vigilant in watching for any such plan in future.