CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE NEWLY BUILT BALCONIES AND APARTMENTS- GREAT EASTERN BUILDINGS

[dario]

Dear residents of horton road,

We have instigated an investigation into the great eastern buildings project with Hackney council planning.  We have complained in the strongest possible terms into the balconies that are being built there,  we believe they infringe privacy laws of the residents in horton road. 

  MY name is Dario dirienzo,  and together with my sister Cristina and brother in-law Simon, we are campaigning to protect my mother Pina Dirienzo's property at number 40 horton road.  A balcony is being built there that is very close to her property whereby the new residents in the newly built flats will be able to directly see into my mothers bedroom and property, we are appalled that this is happening and are trying to gather support to get these balconies abandoned. I have attached a photo of the view from our 78 year old mother's bedroom.

 

We would invite you to join our campaign and contact hackney planning to voice your concerns against these balconies and apartments. We understand that some of the residents have previously complained to the council about the amount of windows and balconies that overhang and infringe on their properties when the original plan was drawn up. In 2014 the issue of privacy was discussed in council meetings but the balconies remained in place.  We urgently need as many people to support and contact the council to increase the pressure on them to do something about this issue  please, as they are about to complete the balconies.

 

If you would like to contact the council here are the details including the reference number of the investigation.

 If you would like to respond, please reply to plan...@hackney.gov.uk. In any correspondence, please quote the Council reference number.

Subject:  REF  2017/0290/ENF

Mrs Guiseppina Di-Rienzo Hackney Reference:

 2017/0290/ENF 

40 Horton Road Hackney London E8 1DP

 02 June 2017 

Dear Sir/Madam Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as Amended) Address: Great Eastern Buildings Reading Lane Hackney E8 1FR 

Alleged breach: Unauthorised works. Thank you for your request for an investigation into an alleged breach of planning control at the above mentioned location. 

This investigation has been given the following reference: 2017/0290/ENF.

 Please quote this reference in all communication with us. 

If you can assist us and  contact the council we would be very grateful.

Thank you very much

kind regards

dario

[Jeremy Williams]

Hi Dario,

This does seem very intrusive and I'd be happy to write to the council about it.

To help me when I contact them, do you know if the balcony in question was on the original plans? Is your complaint that they have deviated from the plans or that they have contravened their own planning guidance in granting consent in the first place?

Jerry

@ no. 11

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[Nici Hildebrandt]

Hi there. I fear that unless they have contravened the plans that were approved, there will be nothing that can be done, but I will contact Planning and voice concerns, certainly. The final design of these flats was a long way from what the Horton Road group were shown or gave their verbal agreement at consultation meetings to - much larger, and very much closer to the existing houses on Horton Road.

Best,

Nici Hildebrandt at No.34 

On Mon, Jun 5, 2017 at 10:08 PM, dario di-rienzo <d.dir...@btopenworld.com> wrote:

Hi Jeremy,

Thank you for your interest in this matter.

The balconies were discussed in council meetings in 2014, and the privacy issue was raised then, however i believe all they did was to amend the design of the balcony with a higher side facing our garden.  Even with one higher side residents can clearly see through our mothers bedrooms from the main part of the balcony.  We believe they were in the original plans, however  i have seen the plans recently and they are not clearly apparent with the angle of the drawings..  We only became aware of the matter recently when they began constructing them.  Our mother never concerned herself with the dealings of the council as she was looking after my unwell father  at the time,  who has passed away now.

Would it possible to contact other members in the road by email please?

kind regards

dario

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[Elizabeth Melen]

Hi everyone

It's a long time since I posted on here, so warm greetings to old friends and a friendly hello to new ones.  I and my sons live in the ground floor flat at 39.  I know Dario has contacted everyone after I passed the hortonroad group address to him, and I am really glad to see support for my neighbour Pina and the intrusion from overhanging balconies that she is faced with.   

I explained to Dario that when we initially campaigned against the demolition of a fine building and the plans for the current mixed use development, I had various issues in my life, including caring for and losing my elderly mother, that prevented me taking more part at a crucial time.  I believe others did too, and I think it's fair to say that our campaign waned and the development went ahead. We on this side of the road have been horrified at the scale and proximity of the building.  The noise, dust and inconvenience has gone on for many years now and we face the prospect of being overlooked at all angles, at all times of day and night.

I have been incredibly angered by the duplicity and corruption of the planning and other councils department's involved in this.   The building and its environment is nothing like the plans we were shown.  A lovely habitat for plants, birds and animals was destroyed. Our concerns were allayed at the time by the smooth talking Max Anderson and the then housing officer, now Mayor, who with his family may have some vested interests;  indeed backhanders may have been involved and at least one opaque transaction took place that I know of.  I complained a while back, and was issued with a formal response denying all by the legal department.  I have found it all incredibly depressing, as you will see from a photo I will post later, to be overlooked by 30 windows, when I was previously hardly overlooked at all.  

While fully supporting the campaign to prevent the overhanging balcony literally peering into Pina's bedroom window, I would be very grateful for any campaign we now mount to include the serious detriment suffered by myself and others facing this development.  I wonder if I should make another formal complaint about the windows?  Or is the current complaint enough? Please, if anyone has specific knowledge about this, let me know. 

Thank you all for your support.  

Warmest regards

Elizabeth

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From: dario di-rienzo <d.dir...@btopenworld.com>
To: horton road <horto...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, 6 June 2017, 4:53
Subject: Re: CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE NEWLY BUILT BALCONIES AND APARTMENTS- GREAT EASTERN BUILDINGS

Hi Jeremy,

Thank you for your interest in this matter.

The balconies were discussed in council meetings in 2014, and the privacy issue was raised then, however i believe all they did was to amend the design of the balcony with a higher side facing our garden.  Even with one higher side residents can clearly see through our mothers bedrooms from the main part of the balcony.  We believe they were in the original plans, however  i have seen the plans recently and they are not clearly apparent with the angle of the drawings..  We only became aware of the matter recently when they began constructing them.  Our mother never concerned herself with the dealings of the council as she was looking after my unwell father  at the time,  who has passed away now.

Would it possible to contact other members in the road by email please?

kind regards

dario

On Monday, June 5, 2017 at 3:13:01 PM UTC+1, dario di-rienzo wrote:

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[Kiri Witton]

Hi everyone,

 

I’m happy to support with anything for Pina that would help reduce the intrusion of the new development for her.  However for my part I am relieved that finally something has been done with the back section which has a) buffered my house from the extremely loud railway line noise, and b) removed the plague of gypsies, squatters, drug users who were using that back section for so many years.  I’ve, of course, however found the noise and dust of the development difficult and annoying, especially with the early Saturday starts – and do not look forward to being overlooked once the new residents move in.

 

I had (very expensive!) bi-fold shutters installed in my bedroom some years ago as felt totally overlooked and worried by the squatters in the back yard at the time, which have protected me partially from being overlooked by this long build.  I don’t have to keep my room kept dark with shut curtains to retain privacy as can open the top half, or the just adjust the slats accordingly.  I wonder if at the very least, and if there is no other recourse at this very late stage in the build, that the council can be put on the hook to have something similar paid for and installed for the purposes of maintaining an elderly ladies privacy.

 

Dario - please feel free to contact me directly if I can help you in anyway.  I’m in the top floor flat at number 39.

 

Best,

 

Kiri

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[dario di-rienzo]

On Tuesday, June 6, 2017 at 4:43:00 PM UTC+1, dario di-rienzo wrote:

Hello Nici,

Interesting comments you have made regarding the plans you were shown,   i was emailed plans and the balcony in question is not clearly apparent, as they do not show the side angle of that segment of the project,  they show all other sides clearly  but not that side.  

Our mother never concerned herself with the council plans as she struggles with understanding written english.  We believe she should have been consulted by the council in person especially when they discussed the privacy issue re the balcony in 2014.

Thank you for your interest and for contacting the council,  we hope to put the council  department under enough pressure to do something about it if we can.

kind regards

dario

Virus-free. www.avg.com

[dario di-rienzo]

On Tuesday, June 6, 2017 at 4:43:00 PM UTC+1, dario di-rienzo wrote:

Hello Nici,

Interesting comments you have made regarding the plans you were shown,   i was emailed plans and the balcony in question is not clearly apparent, as they do not show the side angle of that segment of the project,  they show all other sides clearly  but not that side.  

We believe she should have been consulted by the council especially when they discussed the privacy issue re the balcony in 2014.

Thank you for your interest and for contacting the council,  we hope to put the council  department under enough pressure to do something about it if we can.

kind regards

dario

On Tuesday, 6 June 2017, 14:21, Nici Hildebrandt <nici.hil...@gmail.com> wrote:

Virus-free. www.avg.com

[dario di-rienzo]

On Tuesday, June 6, 2017 at 2:21:33 PM UTC+1, Nici Hildebrandt wrote:

Hi there. I fear that unless they have contravened the plans that were approved, there will be nothing that can be done, but I will contact Planning and voice concerns, certainly. The final design of these flats was a long way from what the Horton Road group were shown or gave their verbal agreement at consultation meetings to - much larger, and very much closer to the existing houses on Horton Road.

Best,

Nici Hildebrandt at No.34 

On Mon, Jun 5, 2017 at 10:08 PM, dario di-rienzo <d.dir...@btopenworld.com> wrote:

Hi Jeremy,

Thank you for your interest in this matter.

The balconies were discussed in council meetings in 2014, and the privacy issue was raised then, however i believe all they did was to amend the design of the balcony with a higher side facing our garden.  Even with one higher side residents can clearly see through our mothers bedrooms from the main part of the balcony.  We believe they were in the original plans, however  i have seen the plans recently and they are not clearly apparent with the angle of the drawings...

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[dario di-rienzo]

[dario di-rienzo]

Hello Elizabeth,

thank you for your support in this matter,

I took some pictures yesterday while i was down visiting my mother,  and i have to say the view from the 1st floor window is shocking really.  I was under the impression that the project would be set much further back, in effect the numerous windows that you mention are staring you in the face  and compromise the privacy of all the residents opposite. I would like to know about the vested interests in this project and who exactly is profiting at the residents expense, so i am quite happy to support you if you contact the council with a separate complaint on this issue.

kind regards

dario

dario

[dario di-rienzo]

Thank you for your support.

My mother along with you Kiri, and all the residents, have had to put up with the noise and dust for far too long now. Deadlines have come and gone.  The latest finish date on their  side is 19th June.  They still need to restore the garden after that date.  And of course many residents will not be able to enjoy their gardens due to being overlooked.  Our main concern at the moment is the balcony from which the new residents can literally jump into my mum's garden..it is that close to the wall boundary..we will of course have to look at other ways to protect privacy as you suggest, thank you,    We welcome your support and contact details.

kind regards

dario

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