The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) has unveiled steps to protect its last remaining launderettes in response to recent planning changes.
RBKC writes:
The Royal Borough has unveiled steps to protect its last remaining launderettes in response to recent planning changes which puts them under threat.
In April the Government granted a new permitted development right for launderettes located outside conservation areas, removing the need for planning permission to change their use to residential.
To ensure any changes to a launderette’s use still require planning permission, on Friday 22 July 2016 the Council applied for a ‘non-immediate Article 4 Direction’ which would remove the new permitted development right. This would come into effect after a year in July 2017 (subject to the results of a consultation).
Councillor Nick Paget-Brown, the Leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, said: “While times have changed and washing machines are no longer as expensive as they once were, launderettes are still used by many of our residents who cannot afford a washing machine or when their homes cannot accommodate one. With such high land values in the Royal Borough, without proper controls in place we would undoubtedly lose many premises that play a vital role in our community. We aren’t saying launderettes should remain launderettes forever but that any change of use must be properly scrutinised against all of our well-developed planning policies.’
The consultation on the Article 4 Direction for launderettes will run until Friday 2 September 2016.
Full details are on the Article 4 Directions webpage
Read the press release
