A planning application has been submitted for development of the bus depot at Portswood. The development will provide a new Sainsbury’s supermarket with a 325 space car park, a medical centre with a 40 space car park, a public play area and 22 houses and 119 flats with 119 associated car parking spaces. The consultation period ends on 1st May.

Peter Sheridan, Netley Furze Joinery, Kanes Hill, Southampton, tel: 8040 2713, for the manufacture of wooden windows.
IRM Bristol Ltd, tel: 01454 321311, for supply of Crittall steel windows.

Local (Ethelburt Avenue) semi-professional Baby & Child portrait photographer, looking to build portfolio and offering free sitting and big discount for HCERA newsletter receivers. Contact Annya on 07846 979336.
2 Georgian paned Collins-style double-glazed wooden casement windows [new] 1200 wide x 900 mm high,

Reprinted from the Spring Review, 2007 of the City of Southampton Society.

Developments in Conservation Areas should preserve and enhance their character. There are two such areas in Southampton which have both been designed by one architect in the Garden Suburb style. Not all houseowners in them recognise the distinctive design features of a Herbert Collins’ property. The plans with a recent application for a rear extension and a new garage in Ethelburt Avenue showed no recognition of the Collins’ original design or that any additions should reflect this. The overlarge extension approx 7.4m x 4.7m filled a considerable part of the back garden of this modest semi-detached house. There were eight roof lights and a non-Collins’ window and door. These and the fact that the proposed new garage had no Collins’ design features were listed in the Society’s rejection. An improved application was later submitted, probably with help given by a planning officer.

As Shelley Anderson told us in the last Newsletter, an application was made for Monks Brook to be designated as a village green on the grounds that it has been used by the inhabitants to indulge in sports and pastimes as of right for not less than 20 years. It is certainly rare for residents to be able to put such a big spoke in the Council’s wheel. A travellers’ transit site would clearly be incompatible with village green status but even if the application is unsuccessful, the process will take at least 9 months and probably longer. The delay is estimated to add at least

Many houses already have extensions and we see much building work currently going on around the Estate. But for any one householder, having an extension is likely to be a novel experience and he may feel he is voyaging on uncharted seas alone.
It would be of great help, if people could share their experiences by writing a short article for the Newsletter. Include an account of preparing plans, the hurdle of getting planning permission, obtaining estimates and choosing a builder, how the work progressed and how satisfied you are with the result. Articles can be emailed to hcera.

When replacing much of your front garden with an impervious hard surface for cars, it is necessary to consider drainage. The rainwater cannot now sink into the ground and may flow out onto the pavement. The Council as the Highways Authority can take action and give notice to the occupier to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, surface water flowing on to or over the footway of a highway.

A good example of where drainage has been provided is 50 Bassett Green Road.

At the end of October, I was greatly surprised to receive a letter from Dawn Jones, the Coordinator of North Neighbourhoods Partnership saying that the City’s Cabinet, at its meeting on 12 November, was likely to abolish Neighbourhoods Partnerships immediately. In previous Newsletters, I have told you of meetings called by Council officers in which an enhanced role for Neighbourhoods Partnerships was envisaged to implement the “Neighbourhoods Agenda”.
The view of the new City administration is different and they propose to work directly with residents’ associations. Indeed, Councillor Phil Williams, Cabinet Member for Housing and Neighbourhoods is holding a meeting on 30th January with the subject “Listening to Residents Associations in 2008″. Read the rest of this entry »

Most wooden windows are still in good condition even after seventy years. It remains to be seen whether they will last another seventy. Where they have needed replacement, sometimes the result has been disappointing because some feature of the original has not been faithfully copied. A clever feature of the Collins design was to make the small opening light at the top of a window inconspicuous because the frame has the same thickness as the other glazing bars. A new factor is compliance with Part L, Conservation of Fuel and Power, of the Building Regulations for which the replacements will have to be double glazed. The rebates will need to be deeper and the glass no longer held in by putty but beading which is usually put on the inside. In the two cases where we know this has been done the appearance has changed and one was the subject of planning enforcement.

HCERA would very much like to hear from people who have had wooden windows made either as replacements or in extensions which are good matches to the original windows so we can recommend the maker to other residents.

It is not too late to return the form which accompanied the previous newsletter to request a home fire safety visit. The visit includes free supply and fitting of a smoke alarm with a 10 year battery, advice on fire safety and what to do in the event of fire etc. Return the form to your street rep.