Stanmore tube station in North London is the latest London Underground site that’s been earmarked to have a housing development added to it. If their plans go ahead, then around 280 new flats are to be built on part of the car park.
It’s all part of a programme delivering around 500 homes across 3 station car park sites in Harrow — at Stanmore, Canons Park and Rayners Lane stations.
The car park at Stanmore is quite a large one and is often used as a drop-off point for people visiting Wembley Stadium, which is just a few stops away on the Jubilee line. Currently, it has 450 parking places, managed by NCP, and this will be reduced to around 300. They will also have added 150 secure cycle parking spaces, which might finally see the currently totally unused cycle lanes outside the station finally getting some traffic.
These proposals will also enable — currently unspecified — improved step-free access to the station, which is currently only accessible via steps from the platform, or a long winding ramp up to the street.
The station at Stanmore is already seeing housing built up next to it, on the other side from the car park, where an old office block was recently torn down and replaced with a cluster of flats. A series of consultations are taking place this year, with planning permission expected to be sought early next year.
One of the responses to the current consultation complained that the “shops are not easy walking distance. Have any of the designers walked this distance themselves?” The town centre shops are about 5 minutes away on foot, and all the buses that go from the station go through the town centre.
Many of the comments note that due to the terminus location of the station, the car park is already straining to cope with demand, and some suggest the addition of a multi-story car park to offset the loss of space.
If the development goes ahead, then the first homes — all be sold as “affordable” — will go on sale from 2022.
So, more car parking spaces being removed and flats being built on them. I live in Walthamstow and the council is determined to remove all cars(except disabled vehicles) from the streets. Car parks are being built on and none of the blocks of flats have parking spaces below or round them.
Great!
I for one welcome removal of car parking spaces.
Cars are so twentieth century.
Very easy to say that if you’re in London or another large city that hasn’t had its bus services axed due to cuts. Unfortunately a lot of people have no choice, try getting from Stepney to Dartford in less than an hour and at about £3 for 2 people each way?
A car in London is as you say, so twentieth century, but travel less common routes, unsociable hours or too far from London you’ll struggle to get to many places.
As an aside, perhaps when crossrail finally gets built it might solve one of my problems but for many thousands it won’t.
As soon as you get a lift at Stanmore station I will do with without my car.
The disabled access a Stanmore is a joke no two people can pass each other. With all the buildng start with a lift a.s.a.p
A couple of years ago, I had an interesting chat with a property developer on a train. He was developing several sites near or on top of stations in London. He said, that flats on top of stations with no parking sold at a premium and were quickly snapped up. He was concentrating on that type of development, as it was more profitable. But he did say, you had to get the development right, with the right site and access to services and facilities.
Reading the article and some of the comments, Stanmore might not be the best place!
And so it continues. Hard to argue with on the one hand, and certainly rather there than on greenfield sites, but within a few miles of Stanmore NW London is being crammed with development after development, by no means all car-free (the consultation site says this dev will be “car-free for future residents”, whatever that means). As for “planning permission [is] expected to be sought early next year”, you might more accurarelt say ‘granted next year’. The consultations are window dressing for the most part.
“car free for future residents” means the new residents have no dedicated parking or right to a local resident permit scheme. the development is not car free in total because it still includes the station car park
As for the “sought next year” they just mean the application hasn’t been put in yet, the consultation, as you say, is total window dressing as usual.
If I come from outside the area and need the tube where do I park now? This is a key car park for out of town visitors accessing the tube. Flats = vast profit and a home for those who can afford to buy them !
These are homes being sold to locals at affordable rates — so to turn the question around, why should Londoners go without homes so that people who don’t live here and wont use the mainline trains to get into town can drive to Stanmore?
There will be a presentation on the proposals for the development on land at Stanmore and Canons Park Station car park at the Major Developments Panel meeting. Members of the public are welcome to attend and there is the opportunity to submit public questions by the deadline of 3pm on Thursday 14 November:
Major Developments Panel
Tuesday 19 November 2019 6.30 pm
Proposed venue: Committee Rooms 1 & 2, Harrow Civic Centre, Station Road, Harrow, HA1 2XY.
Contact: Miriam Wearing, Senior Democratic Services Officer Tel: 020 8424 1542 E-mail: miriam.wearing@harrow.gov.uk