The 32-storey student skyscraper proposed for 30-60 South Lambeth Road, would ‘overshadow’ Vauxhall Park and so further disadvantage people in an area of social deprivation that is short of open space. This and more is what the Friends of Vauxhall Park say in their objection to the scheme, sent to Lambeth planner Jonathon Fullelove and copied to Oval Ward councillors Ishbel Brown, Jane Edbrooke and Jack Hopkins.

 What the Friends of Vauxhall Park say:

Dear Jonathan Fullelove,

Ref: 30-60 South Lambeth Road

We are writing on behalf of the Friends of Vauxhall Park to comment on the planning application for the 32-storey tower at 30/60 South Lambeth Road. We have concerns regarding the overshadowing study of the park, produced as part as part of this planning application. We would also like to register the need for significant contributions from this development to ameliorate for the increased usage that would follow from the 500+ units that are proposed.

We first of all want to acknowledge that the developer consulted us in the lead up to their planning application and that they have attempted to address some of the concerns raised by residents – in particular increasing the size of the swimming pool. We see great potential for the park and the swimming pool to work well together for the benefit of local people, provided that the entrance to the pool is set at an affordable rate for everyone and access is open.

However, the height of the building, in such close proximity to the park, is of great concern to us. We live an area of social deprivation and open space deficiency and there is no doubt that this building will overshadow the park and impact on it. Antsy Horne’s study on overshadowing concluded that the sundialling effect of the building’s shadow over the park would be negligible in its’ impact which we dispute for the following reasons:

• the study is misleading in that it exaggerates the impact of the trees thus diminishing the impact of the building. Dappled sunlight caused by the trees is not the same as the dense shadow from the building. To give a more accurate impression of the impact of the building’s shadow, the colours used in the study (in Appendix H) should be reversed that the trees’ shadow is shown in a lighter colour to reflect their dappled and moving shadow, and the buildings’ shadow should be shown in grey to reflect the dense shadow it would produce.

• we also note that the playground for the young children is impacted by the shadow from just after 5pm in the height of the summer, just when there are likely to be many children about. We would draw your attention to a recent study by Professor Newton-Bishop of Leeds University about Vitamin D deficiency the UK caused by lack of exposure to sunlight – a piece about this was filmed for BBC News in Vauxhall Park. If you make the Park a less attractive place to be, people and particularly young children will not go there and will not be exposed to sufficient sunlight. The relationship between rickets and lack of Vitamin D is well documented. We should be protecting open spaces such as Vauxhall Park from any reduction in sunlight.

• the park shuts at sunset in the summer (roughly 9.30pm) and people use the park right up until that point – however the overshadowing study for 21st June stops at 8pm. We have photos, presented at the Bondway enquiry, which prove that the park is far from dark at 9pm. We believe that the developers of the Bondway site were required to produce an overshadowing study showing the impact of shadow later in the evening.

• the study wrongly assumes that the tees will be there forever. Many tree species are under threat because of a number of new diseases affecting them – for example the devastation caused by horse chestnut canker. If the trees used the overshadowing study were no longer there, the visual impact of this building and the effect of the shadow are potentially even greater in the future.

During consultation we requested a financial contribution in the form of an endowment to help maintain the park – in particular the flowerbeds nearest the building. The developer did not respond to this request but we think it is essential to help mitigate the increased usage. We always welcome people to the park as a piece of countryside in the town and a relief from the urban landscape – the impact of this building, which provides no publicly available green space, comes at a cost.

Yours sincerely

Polly Freeman, Membership Secretary

Helen Monger, Secretary

The Friends of Vauxhall Park: www.vauxhallpark.org.uk