LOCAL NEWS
The vandalised swimmer has been repaired and returned to the Memorial Gardens.
Marks & Spencer has closed, except for the food hall, which has gone to the Waitrose site. There will be a new Co-op in the High St at the Majestic development. Debenhams has closed.
Spelthorne BC has set aside £76m to develop the Oast House – as what? We would like to see a theatre or other community use, preserving the buildings, which are listed and form one of the last complete brewery complexes left in the South East.
We think shops & offices should be encouraged to turn their lights off at night to save energy and reduce light pollution. Do members agree? (if you would like to comment or respond please use our Facebook page or email info@stainestownsociety.co.uk).
Air pollution has reduced by 46% round Heathrow in recent months.
SBC has strongly opposed the Surrey bid for a single unitary authority covering the whole county. So have the other boroughs and districts.
SPELTHORNE LOCAL PLAN
The Government’s housing requirement for Spelthorne has probably been reduced from 603 per year to 489, for the next 15 years. The reduction is very welcome, but 489 per year is still far more than the borough can absorb without serious adverse effects. The proposals in the emerging Local Plan are an attempt to spread the impact across the borough, with high-rise blocks of flats in the towns and lower density development elsewhere, including on some areas of Green Belt which had been independently assessed as weakly performing.
The new administration at Spelthorne BC have set up a Local Plan Task Force to review the Plan proposals, but it is not clear if they intend to make major changes at such a late stage – the Plan is due to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in 2021 after a final round of consultation. If it does not make provision for all the required extra housing, it will be rejected.
The Staines Masterplan committee has also been reconstituted, and a firm called David Lock Associates appointed as consultants. They invited the Town Society committee to give our views on the future development of Staines. You will not be surprised to hear that we opposed packing the town centre with high-rise blocks of flats (particularly on sensitive sites like the Bridge St car park, the entrance to the town), asked for enhancement of the riverside, and said that as retail shrinks the spaces in the High St should be taken by community facilities such as an expanded Museum. The Council meeting on 10 December will consider a motion to put all major development proposals for Staines town centre on hold until a development policy for Staines has been agreed. We hope this will be agreed.
The campaign to ‘Save the Green Belt’ continues, still without mentioning that this would push yet more extra housing into our towns. Naturally, many people have signed up – who would not sign, when the action is presented as having no consequences? The campaigners also complain that the planners have rejected ‘29 brownfield sites’ without explaining that these sites are already occupied, mostly by facilities we would not wish to lose. They include the Leisure Centre, the Tesco’s at Ashford Hospital and Sunbury, and the garden of one of our members. We fear that this misleading campaign may do great damage to Staines.
Incidentally, much of the turmoil among councillors over the summer was about the level and risk of property investment by the outgoing leadership. We notice that criticism now focuses, perhaps properly, on the transparency of the decisions rather than the financial outcomes, so perhaps the investments are proving sound so far. Certainly the increased income has allowed the Council to maintain services and support residents despite the loss of Government grants.
MORE FLATS COMING
There is an application for another tower of 66 flats at the corner of Mill Mead and the High Street, where the Garibaldi used to be. This will complete the Charter Square development on the Majestic site. In the middle of this final patch is a large garden with mature trees, which belonged to our member Cynthia Wilmshurst, now somewhat neglected since she died. We have argued strongly that, as Covid has highlighted the need for green space, the development should be reduced and this garden space retained for the benefit of all the residents of Charter Square, to complement the inadequate green space in the earlier phases of the scheme.
We have commented on the Inland Homes scheme for 206 flats in two towers (12 and 14 storeys – much too tall as usual) in flood zones 2 & 3 at the Masonic Hall site between Debenhams and the Tothill Car Park in Thames Street. This has a reasonable amount of affordable housing, but inadequate green space and no proper play area.
Next in the queue will be the Renshaw site, between Charter Square and Moormede. We have spoken to the new developers, who plan 391 flats and 6 houses, all rented and furnished, with a gym and other facilities. No planning application has yet been made, but to get all that in it will have to be substantially taller than the previous scheme for the site.
There is no planning application yet for the Arora hotel & flats scheme at the Bridge St car park, which has produced considerable opposition among residents.
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