10 Dorchester Drive was given Grade II listed status by Historic England in June 2022, following an application by the 20th Century Society, strongly supported by the Herne Hill Society. It is a very rare surviving example of a house designed in the mid-1930s for the Ideal Home Exhibition in what was considered a cutting-edge modern style. It is also unusual in being one of a group designed by the same architects in a similar aesthetic, the other buildings in the group being the mansion blocks of Dorchester Court and Dorchester House (5 Dorchester Drive). The applications for listed building consent and planning permission arise from the proposal to demolish most of the rear wall of the property up to first floor level and add a glass-faced back extension, thus enlarging ground floor rooms and altering the building’s original plan. The Society has objected to the applications, as has the 20th Century Society.

Details of the proposal can be found on the Lambeth planning website ref. 22/02824/LB and 22/02823/FUL. Our full objection can be read in this PDF

The Society has responded to an appraisal by Lambeth which, if followed, will see the enlargement of the Brockwell Park Conservation Area. In particular the appraisal recommends the inclusion of the area around the station, but is silent on extending the Conservation Area to include the Cressingham Gardens Estate on the Tulse Hill edge of Brockwell Park. Here is the Society’s response [PDF]

The Society has made an extensive objection to two planning applications by Manaquel, owners of Dorchester Court. Read the full text of our objection.

Dorchester Court, near the top of Herne Hill, is a locally-significant Art Deco-era building. It is Grade II-listed and on the Heritage at Risk register, having being seriously neglected by its owners for many years. The landlord has submitted planning applications to build 16 penthouse flats, along with eight terraced œtownhouses (three storeys high) on the site of the garages.

The former Dairy on Rosendale Road, once an Express Dairies depot, has been a sorry sight for many years. It ceased to operate as a dairy in 1981 and was later used for storage and gradually fell ever further into decay. The Society, especially through the work of John Brunton, who lives round the corner, has been advocating the need to find a new use for the site and now it looks as if an answer can be found. 

The site has been acquired by North London developers Lipman Properties who will shortly be putting in a planning application for housing on the site. The scheme will retain the characteristic façade of the old dairy dating from 1906, a structure that is locally listed.

From time to time residents and traders contact us about issues that are causing concern. These include noise and disturbance arising from late-night venues or behaviour by neighbours; problems in the street such as potholes, unauthorised parking, graffiti or fly-tipping; breaches of premises licences or planning conditions; unauthorised developments; and public nuisances.

Full details of the planning application can be found on the Lambeth planning website. You then need to search for 19/04280/FUL. The Metaphorm application has 137 documents, many running to multiple pages.