Campaigners Vow to Keep Fighting as King Street Scheme is Approved
Local supporters asked to write to GLA and Secretary of State
As expected, Hammersmith and Fulham Council granted planning permission to King Street Development's proposed scheme for the redevelopment of the Town Hall area in King Street at a Planning Applications Committee meeting held at Latymer Upper School last night, December 1.
Campaign group Save Our Skyline, who have fought a long battle against the scheme, say permission was granted in spite of huge opposition from local residents, including over 1,000 letters of objection from individuals, and objections from 38 local residents’ associations, heritage and statutory groups, including English Heritage and the Greater London Authority, and over 8,500 signatures to petitions opposing the scheme and calling for the retention of the cinema.
SOS now says they will continue to fight this scheme along with other groups, requesting that the scheme be blocked by the Greater London Authority or called in by the Secretary of State.
John Jones, Chairman of SOS, said: “While we are tremendously frustrated and disappointed by the decision of the Planning Applications Committee, we are hardly surprised.
" It only serves to demonstrate the arrogance of this Council and the inherent conflict of interest in the Council having power to grant itself planning permission for such a controversial scheme.
"We will continue to ask the Secretary of State or the GLA to use their power to block this flawed scheme and stop the very real damage that it will wreak on Hammersmith and the historic riverside. We call on residents to maintain the pressure by writing to the GLA and the Secretary of State to make their views known.
" In short, this is a disgraceful deal, which shames Hammersmith and is particularly galling as all the Councillors that approved it live in Fulham!"
SOS are asking local people to write to the GLA asking them to block the scheme, and the Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, to ask for him to call in the scheme. The address is:
Giles Dolphin
Head of Planning Decisions, Policy and Partnerships Directorate
The Greater London Authority
City Hall
The Queen's Walk,
London SE1 2AA
The Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Department for Communities and Local Government
Eland House
Bressenden Place
London
SW1E 5DU
eric.pickles@communities.gsi.gov.uk
SOS say that to see a list of points you might raise in your letter, visit their website.
They ask people to state clearly that they oppose the plans, and to give the planning application reference numbers in the letter:
- Main Planning Application Reference: 2010/03465/FUL
- Listed Building Consent Planning Application Reference: 2010/03466/LBC
- Conservation Area Consent Planning Application Reference: 2010/03467/CAC
SOS also ask supporters to please email a copy of your letter to them at isupport@saveourskyline.co.uk.
Save Our Skyline is a group of concerned local residents, in association with more than 30 residents' associations and community groups which has fought a sustained campaign agains the recently revised scheme.
The group say changes in the revised scheme (taken from the Planning Supporting Statement Addendum Document) are as follows:
- A four storey reduction in height of the tallest south block to 10 storeys
- Slightly slimmer profiles of the tallest parts of the north and south blocks
- Reduction in the number of flats from 320 to 290
- Small reduction in the footprint and reduction in the height of the civic offices by one storey to five storeys
- Elevated section of Nigel Playfair Avenue now curves around the west facade of the listed Town Hall, giving more room to the lightwell between them
- The footbridge crosses the A4 at a slight angle and lands 5m further east from the corner of Sussex House. The earthmound in Furnivall Gardens is unchanged.
- Cosmetic changes to the cladding of the blocks facing the new public square and to the monumental steps, and to other blocks
- Four new town houses at the back of the civic offices in Cromwell Avenue
Full Planning Application
Listed Building Consent
Conservation Area Consent
December 1, 2011
