Back to the drawing board with Bridge Street Car Park. There were many sighs of relief at the news that Bellway Homes had pulled out of the Bridge Street car park development. We wrote to the Leader and the Chief Executive of Spelthorne Council pointing out that this is the second time an overblown proposal for this site has collapsed (Wimpey backed out in 2009), and that a smaller scheme more attuned to the neighbourhood might be more likely to succeed. (The full letter is on this website under the Local Planning News). We received an acknowledgement but no reply.
Revised plans for the Town Hall omit the basement car park and thus avoid breaching the integrity of the Listed building by making a hole in one side for a ramp down to it. But as well as increasing the parking deficit, this would produce the absurdity of a building where all flats are designed with space for wheelchairs etc., but there is no level access. The ground floor is about 3 feet above ground level, for flood protection, and all entrances have several steps up. No decision has yet been made.
The High Street will soon be overshadowed by the 10-storeys of flats on the Majestic site, where once we had a Post Office. This is being marketed as the hottest address in Staines, and no doubt these small flats will get quite hot in summer.
There are also revised plans for the Centrica site, where the old British Gas tower was in London Road. We think the revisions are minor, but have objected that it is not possible to work out the actual changes from the information on the SBC website.
The application to redevelop the ex-service club site in Laleham Road was withdrawn. There is an application to demolish the Conservative party office at 55 Cherry Orchard and build 4 flats instead. The number of house extensions is increasing to about 800 per year and we continue to argue that this reduces the need to build new houses.
Residents in Richmond Road, who have long suffered noise nuisance from Hy-Ten steel suppliers will be pleased that they have applied to build an acoustic barrier fence to shield their neighbours from some of the noise. This is at the insistence of SBC Environmental Health, after requests from us.
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