The Pinner Association
– The Voice of our Community
Last night Pinner Business Club held their first ever “midsummers d’lights” event on Bridge Street.
Well done to all of the organising team that made this happened. It was great to see so many people turn out and support the event.
The Mayor of Harrow, Cllr Salim Chowdhury opened the event and then visited the many sponsors and stall holders.
We were delighted that he stopped by our stall to visit our new Chair, John Hinkley.
Dear Watch Member,
This Friday, 21st June between 5pm – 9pm, a new community event is taking place in Pinner. Organised and presented by Pinner Business Club, Midsummer D’Lights is an evening street party event being held to promote independent businesses in Bridge Street, Pinner.
Whilst watching and listening to the live music and dance acts performing throughout the evening, you can enjoy locally made food and drink available from the many food stalls and cafes staying open until late in the evening.
Please come down to show your support to local businesses whilst enjoying the atmosphere and festivities on what will be a beautifully warm summer’s evening.
You will also have the opportunity to chat to officers from the respective Pinner and Pinner South Safer Neighbourhood Teams about any local concerns you may have regarding anti-social behaviour and crime in the area. The Pinner Association will also be there so do pop along to chat to them.
For more details and a programme of the event, please see the attached document.
Dear Watch Member,
This year hasn’t brought us the best weather so far. So you can’t be blamed for wanting to escape to somewhere warmer. And finding a bargain makes booking a holiday even sweeter.
Unfortunately, criminals want to sell you fake holidays. They’ll use genuine selling sites and social media to advertise. They create fake ads to trick you into sharing your details or sending money. From a caravan on the coast, to an all-inclusive trip abroad, they’ll try to trick you no matter where you want to go. But you can make a few checks to reduce your risk of getting scammed.
For straightforward impartial advice to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud, please visit the Take Five website.
If you need to reply regarding this message, tap on this email address: [email protected]
Regards,
Lee O’Brien
Pinner Safer Neighbourhood Team
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 020 8721 2775
Objection submitted to Harrow Council Planning by The Pinner Association:
Planning Application reference: PL/1276/24
Tesco, 1 Ash Hill Drive, Pinner, Harrow, HA5 2AG
Details pursuant to condition 5 (Construction Logistics Plan) attached to planning permission P/0719/22 allowed on appeal reference APP/M5450/W/23/3314704 dated 05/12/2023 for redevelopment to provide three storey building comprising 7 X 2 bed units and 1 X 1 bed unit; proposed vehicle access via supermarket to rear; parking; landscaping; bin and cycle stores; amenity space.
The Pinner Association has the following objection relating to this, and other “Approval of Details Reserved by Condition” compliance applications, for this proposed development.
A new dropped curb has been constructed on the bend in Cuckoo Hill where there is a granted on appeal to the Planning Inspectorate permission to construct flats in a portion of the Tesco car park at Pinner Green – appeal reference: APP/M5450/W/23/3314704.
There have recently been published on the Harrow Planning Portal several applications (references PL/0944/24, PL/1005/24 and PL/0970/24) from the developers to cover some of the conditions applied to this planning consent. One of these shows that a “temporary access” from Cuckoo Hill is to be used during the construction of the development.
A “Construction Logistics Plan” application has now been published, Harrow Planning reference PL/1276/24, on the Harrow Planning Portal as was required as a condition of the grant of the appeal:
“21. The condition requiring a Detailed Construction Logistics Plan (DCLP) is necessary to mitigate risks to highway safety and impacts on neighbouring occupiers during construction. It is a pre-commencement condition because mitigation needs to be agreed before any works on site take place.”
This “Construction Logistics Plan” application Has made make it clear that during construction access to the site is proposed to be on the inside of the bend on Cuckoo Hill Road – see section 5 of the applicant’s “Construction and Logistics Plan” section 1. This states that:
“Vehicular Site Access:
5.4: As mentioned in Paragraph 2.21, a temporary access will be established on Cuckoo Hill (at the northeastern corner of the site) for construction vehicles to enter and leave the site. This will avoid construction vehicles travelling through Ash Hill Drive and obstructing access to, from and within the Tesco Supermarket, which is expected to remain operational throughout the construction of the development.
5.5 Vehicles will drive into the site in forward gear and will then reverse out of the site onto Cuckoo Hill. As Cuckoo Hill will remain open throughout the works, construction vehicles will only be able to leave the site with the help of marshals who will temporarily hold traffic (using stop / go boards) on Cuckoo Hill (in both directions) and guide the vehicle out of the development.”
This would create a road safety hazard at the inside of a blind bend on a cambered incline which has been the site of many road traffic accidents in the past. Cuckoo Hill is a busy route used by a steady stream of vehicles and stopping this traffic whilst a large vehicle was manoeuvred both in and out of the “temporary access” could result in severe congestion with a queue of vehicles affecting the exit on to Cuckoo Hill from roundabout at the junction with the A404 Rickmansworth Road. The proposed use of the narrow section of Cuckoo Hill between the roundabout and the “temporary access”, where residents’ car parking effectively reduces the carriageway to one vehicle width, as the route for construction vehicles would again cause severe congestion and which block the roundabout exit and hence affect traffic flow on the A404 Rickmansworth Road .
During the consultation on the planning application for this development – reference P/0719/22 – the Pinner Association and many others objected to a vehicle access on the inside of the bend in Cuckoo Hill on the basis of road safety and as a result the applicants changed the proposed vehicular access to be via the Tesco car park and that is the basis upon which the application was allowed on appeal.
Even a “temporary access” on to Cuckoo Hill would create such a hazard to road safety that the other conditions compliance applications for this proposed development should be refused until a “Construction Logistics Plan” application which shows vehicular access to be via the Tesco car park during both construction and occupation of the new flats has been submitted and granted by Harrow Planning.
There would be a greater number of vehicle movements and by far bigger vehicles using the “temporary access” during construction that there would be during the occupation of the flats and therefore the potential road safety hazard of a vehicular access at that point would be even greater than that considered unacceptable when the planning application was modified to change the location of the vehicular access for the flats.
We are concerned that once the development is constructed the “temporary access” on to Cuckoo Hill could be become the de facto vehicular access for the new flats thus resulting in a permanent extreme hazard to road safety in Cuckoo Hill.
Contrary to the pre-commencement condition 21 of the allowed appeal:
“21. The condition requiring a Detailed Construction Logistics Plan (DCLP) is necessary to mitigate risks to highway safety and impacts on neighbouring occupiers during construction. It is a pre-commencement condition because mitigation needs to be agreed before any works on site take place.”
works have commenced on the site as the “temporary access” dropped curb on to Cuckoo Hill is already in place and the part of the Tesco car park to be used for this development has been fenced off.
Pinner Business Club need volunteers to Stewards between 4pm and 10pm, with the actual event programme running 5pm-9pm.
Interested Contact [email protected]
Stewards will be needed between 4pm and 10pm, with the actual event programme running 5pm-9pm. Types of stewarding roles needed are:
Please email [email protected] to let them know what you would like to be assigned to and what sort of timings would suit you. It is fine also to suggest two different time slots over the period if you want to go off and have something to eat and come back refreshed for another stint. We will accommodate whatever everyone can manage! This is very much a trial event as having a musical street party like this has not been done in this way before, and it is a really important opportunity to highlight Pinner’s businesses and attract more visitors not just for one event but for the long term.
The Pinner Association sent a message to Simon Roberts, CEO of Sainsbury’s, re the Pinner Station Car Park charges that have been introduced for weekend parking:
The Pinner Association, Registered Charity number 262349, is an amenity society representing over 2,000 households in Pinner Middlesex. There has been a Sainsbury’s store in Pinner for some 90 years, since 1986 on a site adjacent to Pinner Station (TfL Metropolitan Line).
We are given to understand by TfL that Pinner Station Car Park is operated under contract to your company by Euro Car Parks. Last November it came to our notice that, after 37 years of free weekend parking, a notice had been erected at the Station Car Park main entrance to the effect that the sum of £5.25 was payable on all days of the week, including at weekends.
When we raised the matter with TfL, who obviously operate the Station itself, their Director of Planning knew nothing of any change to the charging regime, and referred us to you. It therefore appears that Euro Car Parks introduced the additional weekend charge without any consultation with stakeholders whatsoever.
Following the erection of the notice, a number of our members and other users received letters from Euro Car Parks alleging that an unspecified offence had been committed. Some wrote to Euro Car Parks asking for clarification of the nature of the offence, and received no reply. Others either ignored the letter or thought it had been sent in error, parked a second time during a weekend, and received a parking ticket.
Simultaneously an issue was identified with the ground level section of the Car Park, which for years had been accessible from the Sainsbury Car Park without any barrier or warning signage, and was being used by your store’s clients at busy times, either as an overspill facility or because the small size of the parking spaces was making dent-free parking an increasingly rare event. In January a number of Sainsbury shoppers using this section also received notice of having committed an unspecified offence, and those who wrote to Euro Car Parks asking for clarification so that residents could be aware of what had changed were once again not afforded the courtesy of a reply. As with the weekend offenders, they too were fined before it being made clear what they were doing wrong. It was only after several fines had been paid that first a scruffy handwritten notice, and a week or so later, a printed notice, appeared, telling drivers that they were actually entering part of the Station Car Park rather than an overspill section of the Store Car Park.
In recent weeks the store itself has posted an official notice warning customers that the ground level section of the Station Car Park is not part of the Store Car Park, itself a prima facie admission that the signage in the Car Park itself was either inadequate or non-existent.
Some residents have appealed, but there has not been a consistent response, and some of your clients are still £50 or £85 out of pocket. As a result, some have transferred their allegiance to your rivals and others are threatening to do so failing a satisfactory response on your part.
As an Association what we are seeking is listed below:
– an explanation was to why the weekend free parking was summarily discontinued with no consultation with stakeholders;
– an explanation as to why TfL as the Station operator, was not informed, so that train passengers could be Informed of the change;
– an explanation why there was not for several years any signage explaining the different status of the two ground level parking areas
– an explanation from Euro Car Parks of their failure to reply to the perfectly reasonable requests by “offenders” to know what offences they were deemed to have committed;
– expeditious restoration of the free parking facility at weekends in the Station Car Park;
– repayment by Euro Car Parks of all fines levied as the result of inadequate or non-existent signage where appeals on those grounds have been rejected.
We have photographic evidence of the absence or inadequacy of relevant signage, which we can provide in support of the issues raised above. We hope that this will not be necessary and that you will respond positively to this email, thereby restoring your company’s good name in Pinner.
The following reply has been received from J Sainsbury PLC:
Thank you for your recent email which has been read and received by our Group CEO, Simon Roberts. Simon has asked that I review your concerns and personally respond on his behalf.
For many years we operated a Pay On Foot barrier system on our Pinner station car park, but in recent times we found this prone to recurring faults and failures, causing significant inconvenience for commuters using the car park, and undermining our basic ability to manage the car park properly.
Therefore, in November 2023 we implemented a brand new ANPR camera controlled Pay On Exit system. This is a state of the art, and far more convenient and effective way of managing the car park, removing the delays and hassle associated with queuing at barriers. The installation included brand new touch screen pay stations.
We supported this change with a full signage replacement across the car park, Euro Car Parks colleagues were on site to help customers adapt to the new system, and we also had a period of time where ECP issued information letters rather than PCNs, again to help customers move over to the new system.
In light of the significant investment in the parking system we have extended charging to include weekends, and we have also been advertising this widely via supplementary signage. Weekend charging is typical for all TfL station car parks in the vicinity and ultimately it was no longer sustainable for us to offer free parking.
However, there remains two hours free parking for all those who park on site, via the Sainsbury’s shoppers car park.
We sympathise with your frustration and as such I have asked ECP to review on-site signage once again, to ensure the parking rules are as clear as possible. This includes reviewing the point the customer makes regarding the ground level parking area.
We believe the following road closures and bus diversions will be in place.
From about 15:00 on 28 May until about 8:00 on 30 May; the following buses will be diverted down West End Lane.
H11, H12 & H13.
The 183 will start and terminate at near Pinner Library.
Vehicle traffic restrictions will also apply see below:
We are assuming that the following roads will be closed or have restricted access:
No access to vehicles
Restricted Access
If you are going to the fair, I would suggest that you use public transport or walk as parking will be restricted in the area. I haven’t been able to find out which car parks will be available.
Sainsbury’s will also be closing early at 6pm on the 28th may and closed all day 29th May.
Chapel Lane & Staion Park Parks will be closed.
Love Lane Car park will be accessible but not from Bridge Street.
For the first time in more than 50 years we will have cattle at Headstone Manor Park, to help manage and improve the grassland & vegetation within the Wetland area.
The Cattle will arrive on Saturday (4 May) – it is anticipated that they will remain for approx two weeks.
https://chat.whatsapp.com/H61h0ZYty3L8VpK8vt8XFP.
