Planning application R.17/1726 Old Bridge House, The Hythe Staines TW18 3QJ
Staines Town Society is a local amenity group with member households living in and around Staines, including in The Hythe and Simmons Place. Staines Town Society objects to this application for the following reasons:
The amended scheme, while an improvement on the first version, is spoiled by several features which are out of character with the ambience of the Hythe Conservation Area and its listed buildings. The worst of these is the brutal oversized porch on the front, like a large bulbous nose on an otherwise unremarkable face, out of scale with the rest of the building and dominating the view along the Hythe.
The balconies on the river side are also too dominant, and ensure the building looks bland and featureless from the Spelthorne side of the river.
The front windows of the building are said to pick up on existing features of the listed buildings in the Hythe. This claim is not justified as none of them have 20 foot tall windows with tinted glass. It is ironic that residents of the modern houses in Simmons Place will look out on the perfectly reasonable windows at the back of this building, while residents of the listed buildings, and visitors admiring the Hythe, will be faced with tall industrial windows out of place in the Conservation Area.
The application therefore breaches Policy BE 2, as it does not respect the townscape character . . by reference to existing buildings ( pitched roofs, fenestration etc ).
It breaches Policy BE 5, as it clashes with the townscape of the Conservation Area and does not respect scale, height, materials and architectural details characteristic of the Conservation Area.
It breaches Policy BE10 as it adversely affects the setting of 26 listed buildings and has an adverse impact on significant views or aspects, viz the view along the Hythe to the far end, which will be filled and dominated by that intrusive porch.
We feel that the development is not in keeping with the surrounding riverside, contrary to Policy NE 8.
Claims are made in the application that there is a need for more office floorspace in this area. Recently we have seen many application to turn offices into flats on the grounds that there is a surplus of office space. For example the website www.londonsquarestaines-upon-thames.co.uk lists 22,150 sq m. of unoccupied office space nearby, including space at Strata, Pine Trees, Lotus Park and Thameside House.
The Hythe is a Residents’ Controlled Parking Zone, and there are very few parking places in the narrow streets round about, so any overspill parking from this development will cause significant nuisance. The Hythe is a very narrow cul de sac, already congested and overburdened with traffic, and has suffered damage from vehicles even without traffic from Old Bridge House. It cannot accommodate any more vehicles.
The proposal is therefore in breach of Policy MV4 which says Proposals should not aggravate traffic congestion, accident potential, or environmental and amenity considerations in the vicinity.
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