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The end of Twickenham as we know it? |
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Richmond Council's Deputy Leader, Cllr Geoffrey Samuel, has emphasised the importance of planning guidance to try to ensure that development in Twickenham should be compatible in scale and character with the local area, and acceptable in traffic and transport terms. A report to Richmond's Cabinet in July pointed up concerns over cumulative impacts from several major development proposals likely to come forward for areas near and within the Crane Valley area of Twickenham. The major sites are at the Harlequins Ground, the Post Office Sorting Office, Richmond Tertiary College and the Council Depot - and also Regal House and Twickenham Station. There is also major development in the pipeline for Twickenham RFU stadium. Cllr Samuel outlined the likely proposals so far as they are known for the sorting office, Harlequins Rugby Club and Richmond Tertiary College.
"Currently, Harlequins are applying for permission to build some 65 dwellings whilst a figure of 200-300 dwellings has been mentioned for the Post Office site," he said. "An application from the college is awaited. However if it is on a large scale, the consequences are obvious: the end of Twickenham as an attractive, low-density residential area. "Nor would local people want blocks of inner-London style high-rise flats. The traffic implications are horrendous. In so far as most of it would enter the Chertsey Road it would make a heavily-used road unmanageable." As residents are aware, Twickenham Town Centre is already frequently gridlocked. Cllr Samuel believes that it could not cope with additional traffic. "Add to all of these the already-agreed developments at the Rugby Ground and you have irreversible damage to Twickenham," he continued. "After all, one of the Council's principal objectives is 'significant environmental improvement' and an 'open wedge' between Hounslow and the Thames." Cllr Samuel points out some serious infrastructure implications. "There is already virtually no spare capacity in our Twickenham Primary Schools. The addition of even a small number of new houses will require a new Primary School; large-scale development would need an even larger new school," he said. "Where ?" But there is even more to come, says Cllr Samuel, at Regal House and Twickenham Station, which is only a single storey building.
Mr Phillips set up a new £100m company, Glebe Holdings, according to the Gazette, and the article revealed that together Clifford and Phillips would use their joint ownership to work up plans with Network Rail for a major regeneration of Regal House and Twickenham station over the next five years. This would include development over the tracks of around one million square feet and a car park, and is expected to coincide with the £70m new development at the RFU. "This means either a Hammersmith Broadway type scheme or it could produce a planning application for 1,000 dwellings," Cllr Samuel continued. "The consequences are obvious." Cllr Samuel fears that the council, as the planning authority, may find it difficult to counter developers' aspirations for major build.
"However the Council is absolutely determined - as we promised - to preserve the character of our attractive Borough. "I think the principal problem is the enormous increase nationally in one-person households. In addition the Government is committed to siting most of the development of our economy in the South East and Ken Livingstone's policy is a considerable increase in the population of London. "If you add those together and bear in mind the view of both Government and the Mayor that it is the greener outer-London Boroughs that should provide the bulk of the housing, then you have a recipe for irreversible change in Boroughs such as ours. If you visit Kings Cross, for example, it is interesting to reflect that in the nineteenth century it was an open, desirable residential area. There is a failure to recognise that exisitng residents who like a low-density area will simply move out and away - as happened to Kings Cross. "I don't want our successors in years to come to gaze at tower blocks and wonder how it ever happened that anyone thought Richmond an attractive area," Cllr Samuel concluded. See the report to Cabinet Report to Cabinet, July 10 Thursday, September 30, 2004
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The
"Estates Gazette" of 10 July reported that entrepreneur and director
of Chelsfield, David Phillips, had bought a 50% stake for £20m in
Regal House from Malory Clifford's Blackfriars Investments.
"A
principal difficulty is that both John Prescott and Ken Livingstone
are in favour of high density developments in the greener outer London
Boroughs and they would undoubtedly welcome proposals which would
spell the end of Twickenham as we know it," he said.
