Hampton Online

Spotlight again on Twickenham Riverside

Local people have been arguing in defence of their proposals for the old baths site on the riverside at Twickenham.

The Secretary of State has called in Richmond Councils plans for a short-term scheme and a public inquiry is underway at York House.

The Twickenham Riverside Terrace Group would like to see the art deco building largely retained, while the Twickenham Society Group does not oppose demolition, but has reservations about the council's temporary proposals.

The council is again - as with the UDP inquiry - employing lawyers, this time Mr James Maurici from the London office of the international practice of Mayer Brown Rowe and Maw. And again, as at the UDP inquiry, there have been complaints from residents about the aggression they faced under cross-examination of their evidence.

Both local groups have concerns about the long-term future of the site, which has been the subject of a series of planning applications, none of which have been successful.

The last, in early 2002, was the biggest and most dense of all the applications and bitterly opposed by a majority of local people. At present, there are no firm proposals by the council for this key area of publicly-owned land.

Both local groups share doubts about the short term scheme - the limited portion of the site proposed for use as a playground, the security fencing that would be necessary for the rest of the site, and the position of the play area at the little-used upstream end of the site, away from the popular bird-feeding slipway and Eel Pie Island bridge, are all questioned by local people.

The inquiry will resume on 20 February and again on 26/27 February.