Councillors voted to approve the latest planning application at Wentworth Hall, 80 Ruskin Road, Carshalton on the evening of Wednesday, 8th August 2012.

The council-owned site is located at the corner of Ruskin Road with Woodstock Road and is currently leased to the Muslim Cultural Welfare Association of Sutton (MCWAS).

A number of local residents and Cllr. Hamish Pollock attended the meeting. Hamish asked a number of questions of council officers on behalf of local residents before the decision was made.

1) The proposed flat at first floor must stay purely residential. If the applicant wishes to change the use then we were told that a fresh planning application would be required.

2) The community hall at ground and first floor must stay purely for community use. Again, if the applicant wishes to change the type/nature of use then again a fresh planning application would be required. There were concerns from residents that there might be sleep-overs in the hall at night-time.

3) The front/main entrance ramps are to be installed to be fully compliant with current Building Regulations as a planning condition. Additional steps would be provided at the front if also required by current building regulations.  Hamish asked that full and proper consideration be given in the design of the ramps and staircases to assist disabled people entering/exiting the building.

4) The landscaping improvements at the front would be clarified as a planning condition.

5) The rear entrance staircase serving the flat would be further enclosed as a planning condition.

In due course we were told that there will be some meetings between the council’s planning officers and the applicant to resolve these planning conditions/planning issues and finalise/revise details on the drawings.

More in a future posting.