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Substantial developments that usually feature public consultations and exhibitions. Controversial or long-running projects such as the Town Hall may be allocated a dedicated topic also
Since the Town Hall extension was shrouded in scaffolding last year, internal strip-out has been progressing, and this year a gentler strip-out has been taking place inside the old Town Hall building, pictured.
We’re told that this continued where permitted during lock-down, but now we can see that the real demolition has started at last, and the destruction of the concrete steps and walkways is wonderful confirmation that the new Town Hall and the new Civic Campus are on their way.
The steps and walkways recently featured in the wedding episode of BBC2’s well-received series Trigonometry, together with the entrance hall of the old Town Hall itself as wedding venue, a space facing the new Town Square that will be hugely improved by the removal of the ugly 70’s construction. Nearby filming locations included the adjacent Riverside Gardens and Macbeth Streets.
Developers’ teams remain busy during lockdown. Last week we reported on the planning application for 181 Talgarth Road, with nearly 130 application documents and reports prepared and coordinated by a team operating from their home based computers – a remarkable feat.
Olympia theatre – as submitted for planning
In April the Society joined an on-line consultation meeting when the Olympia development team presented their draft proposals due to be submitted shortly to amend the original approved scheme. We have been following their progress on the design of the theatre on the southwest corner of Olympia, and the scheme has greatly improved, now providing a lively and interesting façade to introduce Olympia on the Hammersmith Road frontage. Details of the submission should be available on the LBHF planning website shortly.
We are expecting further news about the Triangle development on Beadon Road, after the developer held an uninformative public exhibition in March to show a proposal for a combination of hotel and office uses in the new building.
The huge Earls Court site is now in the hands of developers Delancey, who have invited the committee to an introductory presentation to take place in the near future. This of course is likely to be on-line, given the circumstances, or much delayed.
181 Talgarth Road is the site where the former West London Magistrates building stands, located between the Ark office building and the BP garage, at the foot of the flyover.
After the closing of the court facilities in 2017, the site was sold for commercial use, and in January 2019 the new owner submitted a planning application for a 800-bed hotel development. The proposals attracted widespread opposition from the local community including the Hammersmith Society, and as a result, in an unusual and public-spirited move, the developer, 🔗The Dominvs Group, chose to set aside the application, despite receiving a planning report recommending approval.
After discussions with LBHF, the Dominvs Group appointed a new design team with architects Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners (RSHP), who are also the architects for the Town Hall Civic Campus project.
The new design team were set to work to a demanding programme, and the Society joined a series of consultation meetings with the site neighbours, in particular the residents of the streets south of the site, whose outlook would have been dominated by the double slab block of the earlier scheme.
A planning application for the new scheme was lodged at the beginning of April, and the Society has now reviewed the proposals and returned comments to LBHF. The application may be viewed on the planning website here: 🔗2020/00915/FUL.
UPDATED: Our detailed review is here:
Letter to LBHF – Hammersmith Society comments
Continued →
We reported in the Winter 2019-2020 newsletter that a proposal was being prepared by Architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris for a new 25-storey tower block to the north of the A40 on Wood Lane.
The proposals replace Browning House, which is a 4-storey social housing block owned by 🔗Women’s Pioneer Housing (WPH). They are a housing association providing specialist accommodation.
🔗An application has been submitted for a 29-storey tower, the proposals increasing the number of 2-person, 1-bedroom flats for WPH from 36 to 80, plus creating an additional 350 co-living accommodation units to be rented by developer HUB. These provide compact 1-person studio flats serviced by communal kitchens, living spaces and other facilities.
One justification for the 29-storey tower is the approval granted for the recently completed 34-storey ‘Ziggurat’ tower on the Imperial College White City campus site on the opposite side of Wood Lane. The latter was unpopular locally, but was approved on the basis that it was within the White City Regeneration Area. Tall buildings are only permitted under LBHF Planning Policy and the Mayor’s London Plan if they are considered ‘appropriate’, and are within one of four development areas identified in the Local Plan.
The proposed tower is located outside of the White City development area, which raises the questions: how are applications decided for tall buildings located outside, but adjacent to the outer boundary of development areas ? And whether approvals within development areas can be used as precedent to justify nearby developments outside of the area, that would otherwise not comply with planning policy ?
Continued →
The Hammersmith Society decided to make a £300 donation to the costs of a legal opinion from Landmark Chambers on a new planning manoeuvre, because it looks to set a precedent and become frequent in Old Oak and elsewhere.
Henry Peterson of the 🔗Old Oak Neighbourhood Forum and Grand Union Alliance – whose planning knowledge has been invaluable to local groups such as our affiliate 🔗St. Helens R.A. in the past – spotted that developers were seeking increases in height to approved planning permissions by means, not of a new planning application, but through a technical route using 🔗Sections 96A and 73 of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 to seek minor material amendment approval, to “optimise” a planning consent. The amendments in question are often by no means minor and should warrant a new planning application.
This route has been used in a permission for North Kensington Gate (South) on Scrubs Lane where the developers have sought to increase the approved height of the development from 19 to 22 storeys, and the housing units by 20%. The Society and others have opposed the application as the planning context has dramatically changed from the original permission, where intensive development was envisaged on that side of the area – now no longer part of the development plan following the exclusion of the Car Giant site – and with significant public transport additions planned via a new Overground station at Hythe Road – also no longer on the agenda, partly because of the many pressures on TfL finances.
Continued →
Our 12-page newsletter has been published, and printed copies circulated to subscribing members. Subjects include:
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The Special 20-page Anniversary Newsletter has been published, celebrating 30 years of Hammersmith Society Awards. Printed copies are being distributed to subscribing members.
In this edition, as well as news stories, we discuss some recurring themes in a little more depth. Subjects include:
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(Click on images for full-sized versions, then scroll through the set)
The big and complex application for redevelopment of the 14 acre site, which includes a cluster of Listed Buildings, was approved by the Council’s Planning Committee on 30 January, having been been given a very speedy journey through the planning process.
In our view it was not fully ready to be approved, and we had hoped to gain some modifications on height and architectural detail. There are also serious concerns about how the local area will cope with the numbers of additional workers and visitors to the exhibition halls and performance spaces, while TfL has stated that there is no prospect of extending regular District Line service to Kensington Olympia station in the immediate future, and adjacent bus routes have been recently curtailed.
In our comments we stated that the new development would breathe new life into a very special part of Hammersmith. But the proposed theatre block on Hammersmith Road, the height of the central office building rising above the original Olympia buildings, and the Thomas Heatherwick – designed hotel extension on the south-east corner, which will date very quickly, should have been given more time and thought to get right.
It seems entirely reasonable to have a consultation on the introduction & sizing of such intrusive clutter. In front gardens planning permission is required to put 1m high plastic lumps (AKA cycle sheds - they're "buildings"), so why not for these ugly things ? twitter.com/bushw12/status…
— Hammersmith Society @(HammersmithSoc) 1 day ago
Good to see that existing gas main infrastructure will be repurposed for the Hydrogen economy - and quite soon. The original 19th century "Coal Gas" was ~50% #hydrogen, so it's actually not a completely new idea. eandt.theiet.org/content/articl…
— Hammersmith Society @(HammersmithSoc) 3 days ago
So proud @HammersmithSoc persuaded Bernie Sanders to join the campaign to get the Bridge open again! Come on @grantshapps and @CharlotteV, please finance the work and get the Bridge reopened. twitter.com/HammersmithSoc…
— Hammersmith Society @(HammersmithSoc) 3 days ago
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