The Council are promoting a local ‘honours’ scheme and to nominate someone you have to complete a short form. Nominations must be made by 7th January.

 

Details on the Council website

 

 

 

This a small local scheme on the site of the current Nicholas Mee (Aston Martin and Lagonda) garage building but which has caused much heat in the locality.

We have written in support of the objections by the Hammersmith and Fulham Historic Buildings Group and the Brackenbury Residents’ Association. They consider the application design to be unsuitable for the site and the street context, and their letter records their objection and comments on the proposals (see attached). The application details are 2017/02065/FUL Garage site at 12 Wellesley Avenue W6 0UP.

 

 This is running approximately a year behind our own Local Plan and the latest consultation incorporating some of the changes proposed during the first consultation in October last year. This round of consultation commenced at the end of June and closes on the 11 September. There are a number of workshops organised by OPDC and I am extremely grateful to Melanie Whitlock and Angela Clarke for sharing the workload on this task in addition to the work which they did on the Council’s Local Plan.

 

Despite objections from us, the Council and most other consultees, the OPDC Committee have continued to approve schemes in Scrubs Lane, the latest being Mitre Bridge which is the site immediately on the left after the canal bridge going north. This involves a 19 storey tower and many of the units are being promoted on the basis of ‘build for rent’. Another scheme with another tall tower is being launched next week for the Nursery Site at the top end of Scrubs Lane. No-one knows at this stage what effect the Grenfell fire will have on the construction of these towers which all involve single escape staircases.

We were concerned to learn in the Spring that the development was unlikely to proceed because of differences between the Council and the developers, King Street Developments.

This has now been confirmed and it seems the scheme is completely dead. This is very disappointing in view of the past history and the community effort (Save Our Skyline et al) to get to where we had got. We have repeatedly requested information from the Council as to how they see a new scheme proceeding and how the benefits of the previous scheme can be retained.

In the meantime we have lost our local cinema which has been completely demolished without the prospect of a replacement anytime soon and leaving a large hole opposite the Town Hall.

For several months we had reported the impending Appeal of the 2015 proposals for the site by the developer Romulus. Just before the public hearing, the Inquiry was postponed by the Inspector ‘for personal reasons’. No new date has so far been offered. In the meantime, the developers and their architects, Allies and Morrison have prepared a new proposal which although very similar in appearance to the Appeal scheme has been reduced in size to overcome some of the principal objections both from the Council and local groups.