Bromley Unitary
Development Plan Proof of Philip
Kolvin Crystal Palace
Park Crystal Palace
Campaign Section 1
"A measure of a City's greatness is to be found in the quality of its public spaces and parks."
John Ruskin
1 Qualifications and
background 1.1 I am a barrister, having
qualified in 1985. A substantial proportion of my work is in
planning, local government and licensing. 1.2 In planning, I act
principally for local authorities, but have also worked for
developers and third party objectors. I have promoted, and
opposed, major development schemes, and have also promoted a
Unitary Development Plan in Sheffield when, in an inquiry
lasting a year, the Council was successful in defeating over
300 live objections to the Plan. I have appeared in a number
of leading cases in the field of environmental assessment.
Over the last year I have helped to promote or defend two
major development schemes - a 200 hectare industrial
regeneration project on green land in Rochdale and a
conjoined call-in inquiry into 3 housing schemes totalling
2,450 homes on three sites in Kent, including a Green Belt
site. 1.3 In licensing, I have acted
for local authorities and for independents and national
multiples in the fields, principally, of entertainments,
betting and night café licensing. 1.4 I was for three years the
Vice Chairman of the Upper Norwood Improvement Team, a
cross-borough forum of local authorities, and business and
residents' associations devoted, as its name implies, to the
improvement of the area. 1.5 I am the Managing Editor
of a major new work on licensing: Licensed Premises, Law and
Practice (Butterworths, 2004). I am a contributor to
Halsburys Laws on the Environment, with a specialist
contribution on Contaminated Land. I have written and
published many articles in the fields of licensing and
employment law, and wrote a commentary on the Security
Services Act 1995. I have also written on criminological
matters, and have co-published articles and chapters, for
example in the leading text the Principles and Practice of
Forensic Psychiatry and the British Medical Journal, on the
transmission of delinquency through generations. 1.6 In 1997, disturbed by the
proposals for the multiplex cinema development at Crystal
Palace Park, I offered the Crystal Palace Campaign the
opportunity for pro bono advice. In January 1998, the
Campaign invited me to become Chairman. Although I knew that
it was likely to be a substantial drain on my time and
energy, I felt it my civic duty to accept. I have been
Chairman ever since. 1.7 I am not an independent
witness, obviously, but have spent 6 years listening closely
to the stakeholders in this Park. I have directed their
consultation studies, and am principally responsible for the
genesis of the Crystal Palace Park stakeholders' forum. I
therefore feel able to offer a balanced view. In any event,
I would wish that the evidence I present be judged on its
merits rather than its provenance. 1.8 This proof is written by
reference to objections made by myself personally and on
behalf of the Crystal Palace Campaign. In addition, I am
speaking to support the objections of the Dulwich Society,
the Sydenham Society, the Norwood Society, the Crystal
Palace Foundation (in all but two of its objections
[1]) and the Stradella and Springfield Residents'
Association. The first three bodies are substantial amenity
societies, the fourth is the main body concerned with the
heritage of Crystal Palace, and the fifth is a residents'
association. Brief statements from the Dulwich, Sydenham and
Norwood Societies and the Crystal Palace Foundation are at
appendices 37-40 respectively. I am also speaking for
approximately 49 individuals. 1.9 For the sake of clarity, I
have appended copies of the Crystal Palace Campaign's
objections to the First and Second Deposit Drafts of the
Unitary Development Plan [2]. I have highlighted in
bold those objections which are the subject of this proof of
evidence and therefore of my appearance at this
Inquiry.
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Notes:
[1] - The Foundation will speak for itself on the removal of the MOL designation at Proposal Site 9, embracing policy G2 (Chapter 8) and the Schedule of Proposal Sites (Chapter 16).
[2] - Appendix 41
©Philip Kolvin