Croydon (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Ashen Grove in Croydon is heading to auction once more, with developers eyeing the site for a 27-home housing scheme amid ongoing demand for new builds.
As reported by Inside Croydon, concerned Selsdon residents are becoming alarmed when a piece of public open land that sold at auction last month for over five times its reference price was immediately put back up for sale, along with meticulously assembled computer photos of dozens of new homes.
The market pressures brought about by the Labour government’s house-building ambitions are specifically mentioned by the estate agents managing the most recent sale.
For many years, Ashen Grove, a tiny area of woods near Croydon, has served as a public open space. It is a Grade 2 Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, and residents believe it may be categorized as “semi-ancient woodland” because it has withstood most forms of development since the Middle Ages.
Normally, the presence of active and widespread badger settlements in the woods should deter any potential residential developer from purchasing the property.
Developers Taylor Wimpey did, in fact, own Ashen Grove from the time they constructed the Selsdon Vale estate. Additionally, the massive housing developer thought about construction on Ashen Grove, but the badgers and access issues made it seem like a horrible idea.
The newest owners of the land, however, have not been put off by this. Within a month of paying £105,000 for the property, they have flipped it and are marketing it with some cleverly fabricated drawings of hypothetical housing, which appear to be 27 private detached homes crammed onto what the vendors have chosen to call Peacock Gardens.
The Selsdon Residents’ Association, holding a watching brief for now, have taken a sanguine view of the situation: “Ashen Grove is up for sale again, with a guide price of £135,000, this time with some pretty CGI images of what someone imagines could be built there.”
“There is no planning permission associated with this,” they rightly observe.
In any case, there isn’t yet.
Conservative Andy Stranack, a councillor for Selsdon Vale and Forestdale wards, attempted to disassociate his council from Mayor Jason Perry’s administration at the initial sale of Ashen Grove last month.
“This is a private sale of land and has nothing to do with the council,” Stranack wrote.
“Both the Croydon Local Plan and the London Plan have policies that protect this land from development,” Stranack wrote ahead of the initial auction.
“If in the future any plans come forward to develop the site, your local councillors along with residents will come together to oppose the planning application.”
It is not the same as opposing a planning proposal.
Barnard Marcus, an estate agency, is marketing the site.
The lot’s details seem to indicate that it is free of Green Belt and Metropolitan Land planning protections, making it available for any buyer to concrete over.
The estate agents’ pitch states, “This site is in the heart of existing housing within South Croydon and is ideally positioned for ease of access to transport, shopping, and recreation facilities in the area.”
However, it is unlikely that developers would be able to access the site unless they purchased one of the surrounding existing homes and demolished the building to make room for site access.
New house construction and increasing traffic can elevate local air pollution levels, particularly nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, which have an impact on native flora and human health. Residents and wildlife may be disturbed by noise pollution during and after development.
“There is a range of leisure facilities within the area with the open space of Selsdon Wood Nature Reserve within a few minutes’ walk to the south,” the estate agents add, without mentioning that what is being sold is itself an existing open space.
The site is strictly offered on an unconditional basis only and buyers are deemed to rely solely on their own enquiries as to permissions required for intended use or future development prospects, is the caveat emptor.
Under “Planning”, they turn up the seductive come-on: “The land is not within the Metropolitan Green Belt and does not appear to be classified as Metropolitan Open Land…”.
Get that, “does not appear to be“,
Potential purchasers might want to consult the national goal of 1.5 million new homes by 2030, with 88,000 dwellings built annually in London. Thanks to Keir Starmer’s Labour government, we may anticipate seeing this more frequently around formerly undeveloped locations.
Planning authorities may now evaluate locations that were previously deemed unsuitable for construction as a result of this demand, which obviously puts pressure on the availability of land.
Although purchasers must conduct their own research about the suitability of this land, it is reasonable to presume that land that has not yet been developed or is being investigated for development will become increasingly scarce and valuable as demand continues to rise.
On May 20, the 3.17 acres of Ashen Grove/Peacock Gardens will go up for auction.
What are the potential environmental impacts of developing Ashen Grove in Croydon?
Ashen Grove may be a semi-ancient woodland and is a Grade 2 Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC).
Deforestation from development will disrupt local wildlife habitat, particularly those of protected species like badgers that have active settlements on the property. Ecological networks are disturbed and biodiversity is decreased when trees and other vegetation are lost.
Degradation in soil quality and sedimentation in neighboring rivers can result from clearing woods for development, particularly during construction. Eliminating vegetation and tree roots destabilizes the soil, increasing runoff and the chance of flooding.
Natural drainage patterns are frequently changed by development, which increases surface runoff and may contaminate nearby watercourses with chemicals, construction detritus, and higher nutrient loads. As a result, aquatic ecosystems downstream may suffer and water quality may deteriorate.