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Victory: Around Station Development Proposals Unanimously Refused
News |
Mon - December 13, 2021
10:58
On 18 November, the RBKC Planning Committee unanimously refused the Native/Land/TfL proposals for redeveloping the area around South Kensington State. This was a very welcome but by no means guaranteed outcome, as the Council's Planner Officer recommended approving the application.
The refusal was a resounding defeat for Native Land/TfL and would not have happened without the unwavering efforts of the ONA Committee, our partner Resident Associations, and our members.
The RBKC planning committee considered the application and unanimously concluded that the harm to the heritage assets of South Kensington and to the conservation area outweighed the benefits of the scheme. The existing low scale of the station was mentioned as a key element to the harm, as was the height and massing of Bullnose and the Pelham Street commercial units and their inappropriate design. This should make it less likely for another application to be made incorporating any similar massing and non-contextual design language.
In the short term, the applicant may well appeal. We are not sure on what grounds. In the meantime, please watch this space as we cannot afford to lower our guard.
Special thanks are owed two key members of our association: our Treasurer, Susanna Trostdorf, who worked night and day for month after month to defeat this application, and our President, Julian Lloyd-Webber, for his powerful and impassioned intervention at the hearing.
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The refusal was a resounding defeat for Native Land/TfL and would not have happened without the unwavering efforts of the ONA Committee, our partner Resident Associations, and our members.
The RBKC planning committee considered the application and unanimously concluded that the harm to the heritage assets of South Kensington and to the conservation area outweighed the benefits of the scheme. The existing low scale of the station was mentioned as a key element to the harm, as was the height and massing of Bullnose and the Pelham Street commercial units and their inappropriate design. This should make it less likely for another application to be made incorporating any similar massing and non-contextual design language.
In the short term, the applicant may well appeal. We are not sure on what grounds. In the meantime, please watch this space as we cannot afford to lower our guard.
Special thanks are owed two key members of our association: our Treasurer, Susanna Trostdorf, who worked night and day for month after month to defeat this application, and our President, Julian Lloyd-Webber, for his powerful and impassioned intervention at the hearing.