From: Committee of the Twickenham Riverside Terrace Group 19 February 2003
Re: Twickenham Riverside - A lost opportunity

Dear Sir

The LBRuT Cabinet is about to take the decision on Tuesday 25 February to demolish the old baths building that forms an important part of the popular Twickenham Riverside Terrace Garden Scheme.

The TRTG proposals to refurbish the buildings for community use, opens the whole site for public amenity and river use, with a terrace overlooking the Thames.

The Council's decision in favour of their own Option B proposal will only open up approx one third of the site and mean total demolition of the baths changing rooms.

The Council have not considered implementing part of our proposals as a first stage use of the site even though the necessary Planning Permissions are in place and the work could start very soon.

The reason given is that the TRTG scheme is more expensive than the TRTG estimates because the Council's advisors say so, but there has been no discussion, or reconciliation of the alleged differences in costs.

Many serious professional people have spent a lot of time putting together the TRTG scheme outlined above, which has met widespread acclaim and has been discussed with the public at packed meetings.

The TRTG scheme whether short or long term, results in retention of the ground floor of the existing building which can be of use to the community and provide revenue. This is an opportunity that should not be lost.

Twelve good reasons for adopting the TTRG scheme:

Flexibility short or long term
Planning Permission obtained
No delay in implementation
GOL approval obtained
Environmental agency approved
Community accommodation provided
River related use provided
Does not prejudice future development of site
Can accommodate or provide the "public asset" building or facility envisaged by the Twickenham Challenge
Provides recreational open space and facilities.
Is environmentally friendly and results in sustainable development.
Promote improvements on surrounding sites.

Sincerely

The Committee of the Twickenham Riverside Terrace Group

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