Richmond Council's short-term scheme for the old baths site at Twickenham riverside, to provide public open space and children's playgrounds, came before the Cabinet on July 22 and should be considered by the Planning Committee on 31 July.

The Government Office for London, on behalf of the Secretary of State, will also consider the scheme.

Cabinet agreed that if the short-term scheme receives planning consent, there should be:

• Detailed research undertaken into providing a terrace café overlooking the Thames with alfresco refreshments, baby change facilities and disabled access WCs. Since the café would be temporary, the Cabinet requested that an approach be considered for it to be reused at another public space once the long-term scheme at Twickenham Riverside is implemented.
• Provision by the council of £7,500 towards a mural and community art project at Twickenham Riverside. The project would build on the highly successful Hill with a view and Community Canvas projects. The project would incorporate the history of the river and river craft, linking into the Arcadia in the City project, and reflect environmental and ecological aspects of the Thames as it is today. There is a wide range of potential partner organisations.

The Cabinet also agreed to further funding of £65,000 to support the community organisations in the Twickenham Challenge to develop their proposals for community benefits at Twickenham Riverside.

Cabinet members heard that an application by the Twickenham Riverside Terrace Group (TRTG) to have the 1930s pool building listed had been refused by the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport.

The group also made a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman of maladministration by Richmond Council when it decided not to pursue the Twickenham Riverside Terrace scheme. However, the Ombudsman found no evidence of maladministration and has not pursued the matter.

Cabinet also noted that the Port of London Authority had raised objections to a pontoon.

Commenting after the meeting Council Leader Tony Arbour said, "We are delighted with the response to the playground and open space scheme. The short-term plan is designed to remove dereliction and squalor at the main public faces of the site, make the area much more attractive and, critically, change what is now a "no-go" area for some people to one which they perceive to be safer and more welcoming.

"The Council has sought to be a responsible developer and has consulted the Environment Agency on flooding and other environmental matters - and we have undertaken a full and attributed ecological assessment of the site. I hope the planning process will go smoothly and that by this time next year we can all enjoy a Twickenham Riverside with new life breathed into it.

"Our approach at Twickenham Riverside is practical and balances regeneration and realism. In this approach, buildings are important but people are more important still. That is why we now want to explore providing a café, baby changing and disabled WC facilities - but we will check whether it is realistic before claiming that it will work "This site has been the cause of conflict for 20 years. It is time to move on. I want the whole community to be involved in the arts project and for it to bring heritage, education and collaborative working together in a fun way at Twickenham Riverside. This is what civic pride is all about - people working together with a common aim, and often a very simple one.

"We said earlier this year that we would provide further funding to support the development of the Twickenham Challenge proposals for public benefits - and we stuck by our word. Shortly, there will be very wide publicity for the proposals and the work will begin in earnest to research the feasibility of each proposal.

"The end result will put the riverside at the heart of Twickenham and provide an asset of which we can all be proud."

Members of the TRTG have criticised the council's long and short-term approaches for the site.

"There is still no information available as to what they propose to provide on the site under their long term redevelopment proposals, except that the cost of consultants' fees for all schemes are growing." said Ron Chappell, group member. "These short term proposals reveal a further tentative step towards site use by the public in line with the proposals most of which which already have planning permission put forward by the Twickenham Terrace Garden Group.

"There is a planted area, children's playground, seats, and the possibility of a cabin providing a combined café and public toilets. Unfortunately the scheme only provides:

• Public acess to ¼ of the site.
• Views of the River are through a 1.8 m high security mesh screen.
• Does not achieve the election pledge of public acess to the whole site described as a Thames side jewel.
• It demolishes the building that could provide the planning requirement of River related uses.
• It also demolishes the building that could provide the café, toilets and an unobstructed view of the River from the Terrace that the TRTG would provide

"We recognise that this application is the first stage of the Conservative election pledge to provide public acess to the whole site, but we are concerned that their intention to redevelop the whole site will leave the public with little open space. We await with interest the Council's long term proposals for meeting their election pledge to 'create a landscaped public riverside open space for this thames-side jewel'."

See the July 31 Planning Committee Agenda

Wednesday, 23 July, 2003