Furious residents living in £5M houses in Primrose Rose Hill street near homes of The Crown stars compare development to ‘spaceship crash landing’
- EXCLUSIVE: Locals Primrose Hill say it will be ‘kamikaze’ for their house prices
- Residents fear they will be driven ‘mad’ by a constant nerve-shredding hum
- Primrose Hill made famous by Kate Moss, Jude Law and the Gallagher brothers
Locals in upmarket Primrose Hill are furious at plans for a new building they say will look like a ‘spaceship has crash landed’ in their gardens.
Developers want to build an industrial engine room of ventilation machines which locals reckon will send house prices crashing and ruin the celebrity-filled enclave in north London.
Rich residents also fear they will be driven ‘totally mad’ by a constant nerve-shredding hum from the development at Utopia Village, a home to independent businesses in Chalcot Road.
A number of celebs including broadcaster Andrew Marr and FA chief Lord Triesman have written to council planning chiefs against the plans.
One resident told MailOnline: ‘It’s absolutely awful. There’s lots and lots of reasons why we are against it. The noise would be crazy.’
An artist’s impression of the ventilation machines at the Utopia Village development in Primrose Hill. North London, submitted by developers to Camden Council
Locals in upmarket Primrose Hill are furious at plans for a new development they say will look like a ‘spaceship has crash landed’ in their gardens
The Crown star Claire Foy is a resident of Primrose Hill in North London (pictured, with her musician boyfriend Charlie Cunningham)
Made famous by celebrities like Kate Moss and Jude Law in the 1990s – the area has long been home to millionaires and A-listers attracted to its quiet streets lined with period townhouses and grand mansions.
And now a new ‘Primrose Hill set’ has emerged featuring The Crown actress Claire Foy and Game of Thrones’ Matt Smith who call the upmarket area home.
Homes surrounding the ‘spaceship’ development fetch around £5million but locals say that if it got the go-ahead they would fall dramatically.
The works are at Utopia Village, a commercial building that was once the home of a former piano factory.
Bosses say they need to replace outdated heating, cooling and ventilation systems and claim instead of creating noise, it would lessen the current impact on neighbours.
Artist designs submitted to Camden Council show how the build would change the look of the area.
Law teacher Susan Quick, 46, lives directly behind the development and said it was an ‘absolute nightmare’.
She told MailOnline: ‘The developers say the noise levels from the machinery would be over 100 decibels. It would be like having a spaceship crash landing right behind us. Or a high-speed railway right behind the house at the bottom of the gardens.
‘It’s outrageous. It’s five metres away from our gardens and looks hideous.
‘We are really upset by this. There’s no reason it should be allowed in such a built-up area. Surely they should have thought about ventilation machines and whether they have the right ones when it was being built?
‘It’s unreal.’
Mrs Quick said locals were prepared to ‘take a stand’. She said: ‘Everyone is very unhappy.
‘I cannot see any advantages. Our house prices will decrease. This is one of the nicest areas of London. They are not taking into account the views of local people.’
Musical theatre writer Karen Bishko, 57, said she was ‘really upset’ at the plan.
Mrs Bishko, who has lived in her house which is behind the development for nearly three years, said: ‘Our gardens are an echo-chamber of noise as it is. I can hear everything my neighbours say in their gardens.
‘We all have to whisper in our own gardens. So the idea this massive development will not make any impact is not correct. Of course it will. The noise will be terrible.
‘It will be incredibly disruptive. It’s going to be much louder than they are even saying.
‘I also think it will be very ugly. It does not look good. The view will be spoilt.
‘I work from home and play music no the noise will be very problematic to me.
‘Our house prices will go down and it’s going to spoil a lovely area if it is accepted.’
Michael Yeomans, 44, said he plans to write an objection.
The geography teacher, who lives nearby, said: ‘It’s very ugly. It looks terrible.
‘The noise will be like living in the middle of a busy industrial estate and this is certainly not that sort of area.
‘This is Primrose Hill, not an industrial estate. I am most unhappy about it.
‘There are no advantages to anybody living here. It’s awful.’
Another said: ‘It is a kamikaze attack on our house prices.’
Developers want to build a new engine room of ventilation machines at Utopia Village (pictured) in Primrose Hill
Houses close to the development are worth up to £5million but residents say it will be ‘kamikaze’ to their price
Primrose Hill’s attractive streets have long been the home to A-listers and millionaires
Journalist Hadley Freeman told the Camden New Journal: ‘When my neighbours wanted to re-build their garden wall, they had to prove to the council they would use the same bricks as before, to maintain the character of the area.
‘But the council might allow a giant black UFO spaceship, making the constant noise of a low-flying jet, to be plonked in the middle of Primrose Hill? It is astonishing.’
Planning agents Smith Jenkins, working on behalf of the Utopia Village, said they need to replace outdated heating, cooling and ventilation systems and instead of creating noise, the plan would lessen the current impact on neighbours.
They said: ‘A number of the existing units to be removed are positioned close to noise-sensitive boundaries.
‘Their removal will benefit direct neighbours in terms of mitigating the noise impacts. The proposed location for the new units has been carefully considered having regard to operational, aesthetic and neighbourly considerations.
‘The consolidation of existing dispersed and unsightly plant would result in an enhancement to the conservation area.’
It is not the first time locals have been against a development at the site.
In 2013, Camden Council rejected plans to turn the site into 53 luxury flats.
A series of high-profile residents complained the loss of businesses would be ‘devastating’ for the high street.
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