Green spaces across Southwark may have been rescued after a ‘landmark’ application to build a four-bedroom house on Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) was rejected.
Campaigners had feared plans to build a four-bedroom house on Somerford Way by Russia Dock Woodland would pave the way for more developments on nature conservation sites.
But at a planning committee meeting on Monday, December 5, councillors unanimously refused the application.
They concluded that the development “fails to protect the openness of the MOL and does not provide a building that supports the open space use, nor protect the nature conservation interest of the site.”
Steve Cornish, a member of local environmental group Green Connections, said: “The unanimous decision by Southwark Council’s planning committee to refuse permission for a new house to be built on Russia Dock Woodlands MOL was a landmark moment.
“This decision was not only arrived at to protect Russia Dock Woodland, but every woodland, park or open space in Southwark, London and the UK.”
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This case was a complex one, with councillors’ final decision hinging on a land sale that took place over thirty years ago.
Between 1983 and 1996, a previous homeowner at 2 Somerford Way bought some MOL land from the council and the now-defunct London Docklands Development Corporation.
The homeowner turned this newly purchased land into a domestic side garden, and it has been used as such ever since.
The applicant recently bought the property from the homeowner and wanted to build a house in the garden.
But it emerged that, despite the purchase, the boundaries of MOL land were never redrafted so, technically, parts of the garden remained MOL.
Under both Southwark’s and the Mayor’s planning guidelines, MOL should be afforded “the highest protection” against “inappropriate development” – much like Green Belt Land.
Despite these protections, an officer recommended it be approved because “selling the land to a householder indicates an intention that the open space use would cease”.
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In an unusual move, Southwark’s own Parks & Leisure team vocally opposed the plans, saying approval “could have unintended consequences for other open space in the borough”.
At the meeting, Labour’s Old Kent Road councillor Richard Livingstone said: “I can see entirely why the family want this home and the difficulty navigating planning laws… however for me that doesn’t take away from the fact this is MOL…”
There were also fears that “magnificent” willow could be felled if the application was approved but it will now be retained.
The News contacted the applicant wanting to build the home but received no response.