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We’ve reported on progress of this substantial development three times over the last two years; the plans are now complete and public, with 385 documents under planning reference 2023/03129/FUL. We’ve been in regular contact with the developers and attended meetings, as have the immediately neighbouring residents, and groups including Residents Associations either side – Ravenscourt Square – and our affiliate in Ravenscourt Gardens RA. These public consultations are summarised in the proposal’s Statement of Community Engagement on the planning portal.
We’ve said publicly many times that rescuing and repurposing this Grade II* set of hospital buildings is most welcome, but as usual, not at any cost. We review the proposal in that mindset. On the plus side, it’s a relatively sensitive proposal without the usual gross overbuilding we see in almost every other development. The team has engaged widely and openly with interested community groups, and many of our concerns have been considered and several addressed in the plans now proposed.
We welcome the refurbishment of this precious building, and appreciate the care that has been taken in the design of the alterations necessary for the new residential use; however we still have some significant concerns, most of which have been expressed in previous updates and are summarised as follows:
Site access is proposed via Ravenscourt Square to the north, with a new gate to the development. This is a narrow, low traffic area, and existing residents are naturally concerned that they are now to be subject to significant loss of amenity. The developers have tried to assure residents that traffic levels would be lower than at the time when the site was used as a hospital, but that’s a long time ago, and not really comparable. The southern access route remains underused. We’d hoped that the travel plan, included in the proposal, would address this, but it really restates what locals already know about PTAL: buses, trains, walking and cycling, and fails to address this key issue. More to do here.
Blocks E / F are the new proposed care home and residential construction to replace the 1978 unloved and dilapidated extension. While work has been done to integrate the design into the adjoining style, we don’t think it’s been successful enough to meet planning policy DC2, and not enough work has been done to integrate with neighbours at No.17 and the listed building at No.11 Ravenscourt Square. It also significantly reduces the light to some of the adjoining houses in the road known as ‘Ravenscourt Park’. With a significant excavation of the basement proposed, we, along with Historic England, the London & Middlesex Archaeology Society and Friends of the park believe that an archaeological assessment should be carried out in this Archaeological Priority Area.
See attached letter to planners with details of the points raised above.
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