Hill Top Farm

Description

The scheme creates two areas of amenity space, one public space at ground level and another semi-private space at podium level. The building line on the High Street has been set back to accommodate a new public space. The area is designed as a shared surface, with street furniture and signage forming an integrated part of the landscape design. The podium garden is designed for the use of all the residents and includes shrub planting, lawn with trees in planters to define places and edges and informal natural play provision.

Planning History

The site was formerly developed in the 1960s as a shopping mall with eight residential units on upper floors. Waltham Forest Council acquired the site through a compulsory purchase order in 2001 and the buildings were demolished in 2003. In 2010 the Council revised the Interim Planning Policy Framework which covered the site and a new masterplan was adopted in 2011. The Council aspired to bring a cinema to the borough and saw this site as the obvious location. The submission of the planning application was dependent upon reaching a contractual agreement with a cinema operator. This was achieved in June 2012, and a successful planning application was made later in that year.