Draft minutes of committee meeting 14 November 2023

Attending: Alex Nicoll (AN), chair Oliver Froment (OF) Vicki Harding (VH) Francesca Agostini (FA) Andrea Lally Kukrika (AL) Katharina Schauer (KS) Vicki Harding (VH) Andrew Haslam-Jones (AH) Clyde Whittaker(CW) Glen Robinson (GR) Carissa Bub(CB) Stephen Taylor (ST) Prof Susannah Hagan (SH)

Apologies: Janine Griffis (JG) Councillor Linda Chung (LC) Councillor Stephen Stark (SS) Councillor Jenny Mulholland Stefano Filippi (SF) Guy Wingate (GW)

1. Minutes of previous meeting (14.09.2023)/Matters Arising

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

Andrea Lally Kukrika kindly invited the committee to meet in her home, and she talked about the renovation of the Victorian house to Passivhaus standard. The renovation took 3 years. Passivhaus standard involves an insulated sealed envelope with triple glazed windows and an MVHR (mechanical ventilation and heat recovery) system. It is entirely heated by 6Kw photovoltaic panels and AK will monitor energy use and performance over the coming year.

2. Neighbourhood plan revision:

AN gave an update on progress.

• A Google poll has been prepared to gather feedback on the draft plan. Will need to be tested.
• A leaflet has been prepared to send out to all households
• Do we need another public meeting to present the plan changes?
• Deborah McCann will carry out a health check on the draft plan
• A separate static website will be set up to present the plan
• Funding is still needed from Locality
• We need to find someone to write basic conditions statement
• Once we have feedback from outcome of consultation, will make any required amendments to plan

A discussion followed about issues with regard to the draft plan.

• Considerate constructors scheme: ST undertook to discuss with OF and GR whether language on contractors being members of the scheme could be formulated.
• Trees — should there be a requirement to replace all trees that are removed? VH advised that sometimes replacing trees is not desirable, depends on situation, better to aim for 10% net biodiversity gain.
• Basements — can we strengthen the rules? Replace Burland scale with something better? A decision was made to do more research on the topic.
• CB mentioned that it was important to have a good relationship with the council and understand their constraints. The Forum should carry out its business with compassion.
• AN suggested delaying Google poll until January so we have more time to research those areas and make changes if appropriate. This was agreed.
• CW — application would be submitted for Locality funding now that contractors’ estimates received.

3. Camden sustainability scheme

AL and KS reported on a meeting with Camden Council’s sustainability officers Maggie Tap and Katharine Frost. They presented a new scheme that is expected to be launched before Christmas. The scheme will provide a subsidy to homeowners who are interested in retrofitting their house to energy efficient standards to get a Whole House Plan. This will greatly reduce the cost of around £600 and be provided on a first come first serve basis to 20 households as a proof of concept. Alongside they will be running a series of workshops to Camden residents and are interested in working with the Forum to send out information to contacts and run a workshop together. AN suggested running this as part of the AGM in March. CB offered to help with this.

4. Police station stables

AN discussed the issue with the solar roof tiles on the stables building next to the old police station, which was not approved by Camden. The applicant has appealed and it was decided that the Forum would write in support of the appeal because the tile treatments were not visually harmful and the solution was sustainable, even though planning permission should have been sought beforehand.

AN also reported on the planned changes to the police station. Plans were presented at an open day to provide housing and commercial offices including an architect’s office and some affordable space. A planning application has not yet been submitted.

5. Any other business

ST reported on a fundraising effort to help the Pentameters Theatre, an ACV, with rental costs. The new owner demands repayments of rents owed. The Forum will mention in next newsletter.