There has been much recent talk on social media about issues such as parking, noise and litter in Englefield Green East. Those residents particularly affected by these issues during term-time often cite the valued respite they gain during the Royal Holloway’s vacation periods when it becomes quieter. For example, residents who rely on on-street parking can experience the joy of actually being able to park relatively near their home.
Well, all that could be about to change!
Consultation or obfuscation?
Back in March, those residents who sign up for planning alerts received notice of an application made by Royal Holloway to remove the current restriction on the George Eliot halls of accommodation, situated on Harvest Road and the A30. This was the first time those residents had heard about this as the matter had not been tabled for discussion by the RHUL representatives at the Royal Holloway and Runnymede Consultative Group – the very forum that was established to consult on matters such as this! Either Holloway did not deem it to be of significant importance to residents to merit discussion or it was a deliberate tactic in the hope that this would simply be approved without any bothersome fuss from the local serfs or they simply forgot. Whatever the reason for this omission, we feel that residents have the right to know about what this means for us and what we can do if we have concerns about this application making parking, traffic and anti-social behaviour even worse than it has already become.
What does this mean for us?
Essentially they are applying for the right to rent out over 600 beds to commercial guests in these halls during the vacation periods. Not such a big deal you may think as they give the impression in their application the actual number rented out to commercial guests will be less than this figure and that they have sufficient parking for these in the nearby staff car park. However, the reality of this situation is that if this restriction is removed, RHUL will have been given the absolute right to rent out over 600 beds to their target audience of seasonal workers, conference delegates and interns with insufficient nearby parking. While they may currently need many of these rooms for their own students on a 50- week rental basis, there is no guarantee with their current difficulty in attracting students, that this will continue to be the case. In the application, they also highlight the commercial imperative for them to be permitted to maximise this opportunity to generate more revenue. This could mean hundreds of additional cars being brought into our streets with all the attendant issues of parking, traffic, safety, anti-social behaviour and litter.
What can we do?
The application has also raised significant alarm among residents and within the Englefield Green Village Forum given the potential adverse impact on our community. Thanks to the efforts of our councillors, this application has now been referred to the Runnymede Planning Committee. In addition, pressure from concerned residents has resulted in the deadline for objections being extended until 30th May so if you have concerns, residents need to act now to put the brakes on this application – it only takes 10 minutes, it doesn’t need to be an essay and a simple paragraph stating your objection will count.
For those not familiar with the process, here are the easy steps to take:
- Log on to the Runnymede Planning Portal
- Click on ‘Please make comments here’
(The application number is RU.25/0256)
(If you also want to see other letters of representation / objections for more detail about the concerns and issues being raised by residents, click on ‘documents’)