Southgate District Civic Trust have drawn attention to an application for planning permission to develop the site of the former Thomas Lipton Memorial Hostel.
The Lipton Memorial Hostel occupied a mansion, Osidge, built in 1808 and later the home of tea and groceries magnate Thomas Lipton. Lipton died in 1931, bequeathing his house to the Queen's Nursing Association. At its opening in 1935 it provided accommodation for 14 retired nurses. Additional buildings were later added, bringing the capacity up to 24 retired nurses, who were able to take advantage of the site's five acres of garden.
The hostel closed in 2014 and the buildings have been vacant ever since.
Although the site is situated in the London Borough of Barnet, the entrance from Chase Side is in Enfield. The building is visible on the left hand side when travelling from Southgate Station towards Cockfosters.
The grade 2 listed building is one of the most important local heritage sites. Whereas the developers of Trent Park engaged in an extensive public consultation exercise before developing a detailed concept, the new owners of Osidge have only engaged with Barnet Council and not with Southgate District Civic Trust or the general public.
The message from Southgate District Civic Trust reads as follows:
The plans for the Osidge estate are finally available following the submission of a planning application to Barnet Council.
The application 16/4514/FUL is for the 'Demolition of 3 no existing buildings and conversion of Osidge House to C3 class residential use providing 13 no. self-contained flats. Erection of 3 storey apartment building with basement level to provide 19 no self-contained flats and basement parking. Erection of 4 no. two storey Townhouses and 7 no. three storey townhouses. Provision of private and communal amenity space, refuse and cycle storage, off-street parking and associated hard and soft landscaping.'
The link to the application can be found at:
This application covers the conversion of the house into 13 flats, the erection of one apartment building containing 19 flats plus 11 town houses. The development will also include work in the surrounding park land.
This site is of significant importance to the history of Southgate, with proposals that impact a Grade II listed building as well as the parkland surrounding the house. SDCT has tried to engage with the developers to discuss their plans, but has not had any success. We also regret that at the moment there do not appear to be any plans for a public consultation on the development.The Southgate District Civic Trust Planning Group will be discussing this application at their next meeting on Wednesday 31st August and passing our comments to Barnet planning department.
SDCT urge you to look at this application and make any comments to the Barnet planning department before the cut off date of 14th September 2016.
If you would like any further information, please contact us on .
Regards
Southgate District Civic Trust
E-mail:
Web: www.southgatedistrictcivictrust.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/southgatedistrictcivictrust
Twitter: @southgatetrust
The link in the message is to a page listing 123 documents. The recommended starting point is the Planning Statement.
