May's Committee Meeting spent most of the evening discussing planning applications; there seems to be a lot going on in Kingston at the moment.The application for Market Place has now been submitted, reference 13/12308. There are some details still to be resolved, such as the church gates look to be obscured.
Also some traders are being forced out for selling the wrong sort of goods, whatever they are. It seems wrong to interfere in a market, if they make money then there's a need for them there. We resolved to write in support of traders.
The granite paving is coming from China! This may cause problems with repairs and replacement later on. Concrete in filling is already used in Clarence Street. Why not use York Stone that is used elsewhere?
Penny School. The heritage listing was rejected for curious reasons, e.g. their report said that there was no chimney when there is. We have appealed on grounds of fact, i.e.. errors in their decision. The application itself has been delayed because of issues with the gas holders next door.
Hawkes Road (13/12296). This new submission, is much better than the original and we have no objections to it.
Similarly the proposal for H S S Hire, 117 London Road, next to Tiffin School (13/12235) looks good to us.
High Street new building (13/12328 and 13/12329). This is the demolition of 45-51 High Street to create more student accommodation and it looks like its out of scale with the neighbourhood so we will object.
Thames Side Wharf (13/12264). This was on the cover of the latest Surrey Comet. This is a proposal for 97 residential units (36 x 1 bed, 58 x 2 bed, 3 x 3 bed) and 111m2 of cafe/gallery floorspace provided in two buildings (11 storey and 10 storey). See picture at top.
Currently the plot is a wasteland so the area does need developing. This proposal is not unattractive but is too tall so we will object. We are also suspicious about the proposed arts facility.
The John Lewis underpass issue had finally borne fruit and we have found the person at RBK who is leading on this. We will ask them to speak at an Autumn meeting on the Town Centre Area Action Plan.
The Townscape Awards are scheduled for November and members will be asked to make nominations.
The Coombe Conduit open days continue to be popular and there had been 50 visitors the previous day.
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